Eoin Donnelly will be to Fermanagh’s hope
The National League now approaching the half way stage and for Fermanagh last Sunday’s setback against Longford has been a body blow to the chances of featuring in the shake up for promotion.
One win from three outings has left the side well adrift of the pacemakers in the division of whom one of that leading group is Roscommon who are the visitors to Brewster Park tomorrow (Sunday).
There will have been huge disappointment in the Fermanagh camp at the circumstances surrounding last Sunday’s reversal down in Longford. A matchwinning lead of nine points simply evaporated and the team is now facing into a fight to get out of the relegation zone.
Four games left on the schedule so adequate opportunity to secure the necessary points but it is going to be a close run thing.
There’s no point in dwelling on the disaster which befell us in Pearse Park, nothing else to do but to put the experience behind and get on with the next assignment.
Without doubt it’s going to be a very testing affair for Roscommon have won all three of their fixtures and are obviously on track for promotion. They will be travelling in fine form, confident that they can maintain their winning sequence against a side who have shipped troubles.
Fermanagh have had mixed fortunes in recent meetings with the Connacht side. A defeat down in Kiltoom but against that a win in Brewster though, if memory serves correctly, that was something of a steal under the floodlights.
Despite the setback against Longford, Fermanagh can still extract some positives from the game.
For those opening twenty plus minutes there was some excellent football played. The ball was worked confidently through the park with eager support play and the Quigley brothers in attack were proving a handful for a labouring home defence.
Strong running from centre forward Ryan Jones and adventure from Declan McCusker and Tommy McElroy at half back added to the overall punch before it all went pear shaped.
The team eminently capable of producing a neat, attractive brand of football and after being under the cosh for so long they still had a streak of determination to make a fighting finish of it hitting three late points that trimmed the Longford lead down to the minimum.
But it has to be acknowledged that high flying Roscommon will presumably be a step up from a Longford side who were lying at the foot of the table.
They produced a very effective attacking display to rout Limerick with full forward Cathal Gregg the leading light for them, he finished the seventy minutes with a seven point haul. Also to the fore for them was the familiar figure of Donal Shine, operating at centre forward and contributing four points.
Fermanagh then have their work cut out in Sunday’s clash but they should still be approaching it in a positive frame of mind. The quality football has been delivered and at the end of the day the defeats that have been suffered have only been marginal.
Not expected that there would be any appreciable wholesale changes made and while Roscommon will obviously be viewed as the favourites, Fermanagh can make it a hard battle for them.
A home win and the chance of a top two remains tantalisingly open.
A defeat however and the scenario changes dramatically.