Brewster park and Stand ready for the Championship game on Sunday
Fermanagh manager, Peter Canavan, has urged the home supporter to come out in numbers to cheer on the county as neighbours Cavan come calling in the first round of the Ulster Championship this Sunday.
“Every time we have played at home this year there has been a great support and it does make a difference and the fellas really appreciate it. These players have worked and trained so hard this year and I would like to think that come Sunday there will be more Fermanagh support in the stand than Cavan. We saw what a home support can do when Donegal played Tyrone so we would be hoping for a big home support on Sunday.”
In the All Ireland qualifiers Cavan beat Fermanagh at Brewster last year but Canavan believes that both sides are better now than they were on that day;
“We conceded 3-13 which is just too much. Since then we have tightened up a fair bit and I think they have improved too and with it being a local derby I think it will be a tight game.”
The two sides met in the league earlier in the year at Breffni Park with Fermanagh coming out on top but the home side were without their under 21 contingent and Canavan knows that Sunday is going to be a different Cavan team,
“They have a lot of young talented players who are used to success and they played very well to beat Armagh so we know we will have to play well on Sunday.”
The two time All Ireland winner revealed that Fermanagh picked up another injury in the shape of Anthony McGuinness who broke his collar bone in a recent challenge game against Cork.
“It is a big disappointment as Anthony had been going very well and had played well against Cork. It just adds to the list of players who are definitely out and then when you take into account that a lot of players are just coming back from injury and have missed a lot of training it has been a very frustrating year.”
Also definitely out are Nial McElroy and Dary Keenan with Eoin Donnelly another doubt.
Another source of frustration for Canavan has been the length of time between competitive games;
“It has been a long time since the last league game. That is one of the reasons we were so disappointed that we did not reach the final of the league and get one more game against Monaghan in Croke Park.”
Turning his attention to the players Canavan says that he hopes his team will continue to show that they are heading in the right direction;
“We judge these players every time they go out and one thing we felt was very important was to raise the level of consistency and I think we have done that in the league this year and we will be hoping that there will be more improvement on Sunday.”
And looking at the long term future of Fermanagh football the Errigal Ciaran clubman explained that the players are definitely heading in the right direction;
“In terms of strength and conditioning the boys have been working hard but to get to the level of other teams it needs to be something that is continued over a four or five year period. When you see the likes of Cork, Tyrone, Dublin and Donegal and the physicality they have that is the sort of strength and conditioning you should be aiming for. Fermanagh have a lot more to do but the boys are putting the work in.”
Finally, returning to the game this Sunday Canavan says he doesn’t expect there to be much in it come the final whistle.
“Both teams know plenty about each other and it is a local derby. Cavan will be confident after their preliminary round win and we have to match that and make sure we go out and perform like we know we can.”
A big championship derby at Brewster Park should have the ground full on Sunday and provide the perfect atmosphere for what is sure to be a titanic struggle on the pitch.