As predicted in last week’s match preview, it was a much more chipper Pete McGrath taking the post match interviews on Saturday evening.
And after such a convincing performance it was only proper that he didn’t stint on the praise.
“The work rate, the energy, the intent of the players and at times the football they played was really really good. Once they got the free flowing movement going they were really effective and there’s awful lot to build on there,” said McGrath.
“There’s no doubt physically we’re quite fit, and in terms of the matches we had in the McKenna cup which were all very good competitive matches which stretched us in different ways, I think the benefits came through tonight. Whenever the game was there to be won, those four games stood us in very good stead I thought. There were aspects of the game that were less than satisfactory which we’ll look at, but you’re never going to get a flawless performance at this time of year.
“For long periods we were getting the lion’s share either in the air or breaking ball in the middle third. The tackling, with people tackling on their feet and getting the hands in and out and really sticking at it and putting serious pressure on the opposition, that’s a very important part of the game now and it was very gratifying tonight to see that our players to a very high standard.”
A feature of Fermanagh’s game this year has been the greater spread of scoring responsibility. It was a feature Louth struggled with increasingly as the game wore on, with Fermanagh attacks appearing to spear in from every angle.
“That’s the way the game is played now, with people getting back and defending you have to be coming from deep positions to score, because there’s not a great deal of room to score right in the front line. So to see that spread of scores tonight was very important in the overall performance of the team. It’s very important to bring that forward into next week’s game.”
What was particularly heartening though, was Fermanagh’s ability to reap the attacking dividends, while containing Louth with an unforgiving exhibition of defensive miserliness.
“I’ve said all along that it’s a question of getting the balance between defending resolutely and having numbers back and yet not robbing yourself of forwards in the attack all the time,” said McGrath.
“We looked at that during the week and it was impressed upon people in the middle third, if the play was there that some people would simply have to take that chance and get forward and support the attack. The likes of Barry Mulrone and Declan McCusker and these people did that and they got good scores.”
If there was an archetype for that punishing work ethic, it would have to be Paul McCusker. The Ederney man grafted like a dog all night. Now getting up the pitch for a score is just another part of the job for the industrious half back.
“Paul gets through a mountain of work and that’s kind of the mantra of the team at the moment,” said McGrath. “We’re looking for a very high work ethic from everybody and if you’re getting that then you’re always going to give teams difficulty.
“You do that first and then you go on and try to play your own game and in periods tonight I did think we played very good football. We finished very strongly and I think that’s a tribute to the fitness of the players and the work they have done to date and obviously you’ve got push on with that and try and reach higher levels in the weeks ahead.”