Four weeks ago, last Tuesday, Fermanagh hurling manager, Joe Baldwin, suffered a stroke but such is his determination and love for the game that he was in Carrick-on-Shannon watching on from the stand and taking the stats as his side overcame Leitrim with a comprehensive 1-26 to 1-5 victory the first day out.
While coaches Peter Galvin and Daithí Hand helped steer the team to their opening round win, today (Wednesday) Joe will find out if he can get back behind the wheel himself – finding out if he’s allowed to drive again after his health scare.
Making the long journey from Coleraine to games and training has been made a lot easier by his partner Fran doing the driving, as well as strength and conditioning coach Aaron Smiley.
It has been a challenging few weeks for Baldwin but “every day I feel a lot better,” said the 51 year-old.
Getting back in the game has been a godsend for Baldwin who says;
“Psychologically, when you’re at home and thinking about what happened, you think of things that maybe you don’t want to be thinking about – about not being well and what ifs. But, if you’re busy and the mind is busy, you definitely feel a whole lot better.”
Baldwin was in Lissan on Sunday for a challenge match with Sligo and was delighted to see his team rack up a 2-25 to 2-11 win. The Erne men were without their Jordanstown contingent but chose to play 30 minutes of the second half with 14 men, taking their captain Ryan Bogue off to up the ante.
“What you saw yesterday (Sunday) is that everybody in this squad can make a serious contribution going forward.
“There are no passengers in the panel and I don’t mean that to sound disrespectful but everybody is training so hard now and the ultimate goal is to try and win both competitions (Division 3B and Lory Meagher Cup).”
Baldwin hopes they can put two more points on the board this weekend when they take on English side Warwickshire on Saturday (2pm) in Brewster Park.
“Warwickshire is a bit of an unknown quantity and you still don’t know exactly what you’re going to get from them.
“Let’s just take it one game at a time in the league. We’ve three at home now – Warwickshire, Lancashire and Longford.”
Fermanagh may be without prolific scorer Luca McCusker this weekend after he picked up a knock to his ankle playing for Jordanstown in the Ryan Cup with a fitness test set to determine his fate. Long term injury absentee Francie McBrien looks set to miss the entire league campaign but Baldwin hopes to have him back for championship and Aidan Flanagan is still recovering from a torn hamstring.
A big plus for Fermanagh is that Sean Corrigan is back after being away travelling since Christmas. He played against Sligo and scored five points from play, slotting right back into the team seamlessly.
“It’s as strong a Fermanagh panel as I have been involved with in five years – very, very strong. It’s as good a management team as you would get anywhere at this level, so we’re all really excited about the next couple of months,” he said.
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