Pete McGrath was impressed with Fermanagh’s second half performance
Fermanagh boss knows the importance of Sligo’s visit on Saturday night
At half time in the bowels of Breffni Park, with Fermanagh trailing 0-10 to 0-04 to a rampant Cavan team Pete McGrath reassured his team that there was still plenty to play for. And they responded to that rallying call producing an excellent second half display that came up just short.
Now the Down native will hope that his young Fermanagh team can bring that positivity and turn it into a tangible result on Saturday night when Sligo come calling to Brewster Park.
“I was very impressed with the energy and the character that the players showed in that second half and I would like to see them take all the positive things from the Cavan game and use them to produce a performance against Sligo, because let’s not dodge the issue this is a game we have to win.”
McGrath is yet to see his side chalk up a victory in 2014. Four competitive games have all ended in defeat yet he argues that he has seen plenty of evidence that the squad are making great strides;
“I know the work that the group are putting in and I can see the improvements that they are making and I am telling them that they are getting better but sometimes, especially with a young side, they need that one victory to give them that bit of confidence that they need. That one win can make all the difference and give them the belief that they can win matches at this level.”
Sligo got just that boost last week with a victory against promoted Limerick. A stirring second half display saw them come from three points down at the break and finish up winning the game by two. They will travel to Brewster Park full of confidence although the Erne boss stated that he does not concern himself with the other team too much in the build up to matches;
“To be honest I would not know too much about any of the teams in division three but I tend not to concentrate on who we are playing. I think if we can get ourselves right and reproduce for seventy minutes what we did for the second half in Breffni Park that we have a very good chance of winning the game.”
McGrath was especially pleased with the performances of some of the younger players in the squad in the Cavan game;
“I thought the Cullen boys were excellent as was young Tiernan Daly. And then you had the experience of Johnny Woods who I thought was very good and Ryan McCluskey was assured and his black card was a blow to us.”
Another aspect of the game that would have pleased the two time All Ireland winning manager was the display of Tomas Corrigan who landed seven points in total. Corrigan will be likely joined in attack by Sean Quigley this Saturday who has served his one match suspension although big brother Seamus is an unlikely starter due to a hamstring injury.
“We need to score more than 11 points and there were times in the second half especially where we would have liked to have the physical presence that the Quigley brothers give you. Sean is back for this Saturday and that will be a help,” McGrath explained although he was quick to point out that an over reliance on route one football would be a dangerous path to go down;
“We moved the ball very well at times against Cavan and we have to ensure that we don’t become a team who simply hammer the ball in long. We have to be able to score in a number of different ways. We have to have both mobility on the ball and also have the option of delivering the ball long.”
On Saturday night there will be an opportunity to display both styles of play against visiting Sligo. A win would set Fermanagh up nicely for a visit to Longford in the next round of the league. There is a 22 day break between those games which would give Fermanagh an opportunity to get some of their injured players back on the pitch.
It is of course too early to be talking about make or break games but visiting Longford with two points in the bag and a host of players returned is much more palatable that travelling toward the midlands with no points knowing a win is vital to your survival in division three.
Saturday night against Sligo has the look of a must win game and it should bring out the best in this young Fermanagh team and hopefully show signs of a brighter future than many expected.