Fermanagh manager Pete McGrath.
Fermanagh manager Pete McGrath didn’t pull any punches as he fielded the post-match questions in the bowels of Croke Park on Saturday night. But while the Down man was unflinching in picking apart Fermanagh’s failings he was also mindful to take on board the positives and point out that the result does not alter in one scintilla Fermanagh’s number one target for 2015: Victory against Antrim in Brewster park on May 31st.
Fermanagh started the game in hugely encouraging fashion, streaking into a three point lead, but once Tony Kernan kicked Armagh ahead in the 24th minute the Ernesiders could never claw back past Kieran McGeeney men.
“We started the game very well,” said McGrath. “In the first ten minutes we were the better team, very free flowing and adventurous and things were moving very well. We were supporting each other well and the handling was good. Then Armagh got a grip and got into their flow we did struggle for a period and then we came back again for a period towards half time.
“Two points in it at half time and they were a man down, we thought we were maybe in a healthy enough position. But Armagh took a grip on the game in the first ten minutes of the second half. When we got possession they defended well. They were getting men back in numbers and it was very difficult to penetrate. At critical times we gave possession away we had 12 wides over the course of the 70 minutes, and three dropped short. Those things maybe came back to haunt us at the end.
“Having said that you would have to concede that Armagh physically were the stronger team and quite possibly had the stronger bench, they were able to take Ciaran McKeever on.”
If Armagh could spring McKeever, McGrath would only have loved to have been able to call upon his own midfield wrecking ball.
“I would say as well now when the dust has settled that Eoin Donnelly’s loss was a big loss to us. Our captain, midfielder an influential and inspiring player. It was just very unfortunate that he wasn’t fit to play,” said McGrath.
There is no doubt Fermanagh failed to take full advantage of the extra man after Finnian Moriarty was lined, but prime among the lessons to be learned from this game will be the need for greater precision and economy in attack. It was a deficit which had not escaped McGrath’s attention.
“In some cases a bit of inexperience, just not taking the right decision,” said the Fermanagh manager. “Hasty shooting, on a couple of occasions shots agonisingly just tailing off wide. If one or two of them had gone over and you had got that bit closer to Armagh then you could have got something out of the game, but it wasn’t to be.
“We had a lot of possession in the second half, but we were going up the field and being forced back down the field and across the field. They were getting men back, they were tackling very well. Their superior physical strength told as well. Maybe in some instances people should have lifted their heads and picked a better option instead of shooting. When people shoot hastily or when people give the ball away needlessly then you say to yourself, ‘Where is the extra man here?’ He’s there, but he’s not actually being used or he’s not been seen by people.
“Every chance that was missed was giving Armagh that extra power for them to surge down the other side and do what they did. Armagh could maybe have had a couple of goals tonight. We were maybe living dangerously at times defensively.
“Tonight in the second half from medium range distances 35, 40 metres our shots were off target and I think it was a mixture of bad execution, people shooting too hastily or shooting when they actually should have been passing. We’ve got to look at that and more importantly we’ve got to learn from it.”
Valuable lessons they are, if they can be applied. And Fermanagh have the perfect opportunity to do that when they seek revenge for last year’s stunning defeat by Antrim.
“I’ve said this to the players inside that at the start of season if you were to say to me pick one match that you really want to win this year, it would have been the Antrim game,” said McGrath. “That hasn’t changed. It would have been lovely to win tonight. Fermanagh don’t win too many titles. We came tonight, we didn’t let ourselves down. We competed, we were manly, we were resilient, we played some good football.
“Serious lessons were learned tonight and as I said to the players we have to have the maturity and the courage to look at what the lessons are tonight and take them on board and go forward to 31st May. That’s all that matters now. If we had won that trophy tonight I would have been telling them to put it under the bed somewhere because the Antrim game is of much greater importance.
“We came here tonight to give everything and Armagh gave everything and I think as a consequence of that we will benefit. Our players will benefit from the experience of that game tonight, the good things, and the lessons. We would love to have won it, and we are bitterly disappointed, but we will not let that depress us or push us off course.
One gripe that one might have had with Armagh’s otherwise worthy victory was the way they stopped the game as Fermanagh attempted to build attacking momentum in the second half. But for McGrath, that’s an element of the modern game this young Erne side need to incorporate into their repertoire if they are to push on to the next level.
“Apart from one or two incidents I wouldn’t have accused them of being cynical,” said McGrath. “All the good team play the game on the edge and maybe we’ve got to learn a bit about that as well, so I wouldn’t be critical of Armagh one bit.”