WHILE the curtain is drawn on another inter-county season for Fermanagh, team captain Declan McCusker feels that county supporters should be excited about the fresh cast set to take centre stage next year.
The Erne men missed out on an appearance in the Tailteann Cup Final, and potentially Sam Maguire football against the big guns in 2026, when they lost out in disappointing fashion 1-13 to 0-9 to Kildare at rain-lashed Croke Park in the semi-final on Sunday.
A last minute goal from the Lilywhites put the issue beyond all doubt but in truth they adapted better to the difficult conditions across the seventy minutes as they advanced to a meeting with Limerick in the decider.
Declan McCusker remains one of the experienced leaders within Kieran Donnelly’s fold but the 34-year old feels that the future is in good hands with a plethora of emerging young talent having staked their claims across the past few months.
“ There is a lot of young boys there and those experiences will stand to them over this next few years. Hopefully they get back here (Croke Park) a lot more often.
“ We will hope to go a step further next year alright. There is enough quality there to push on and hopefully we do.”
Reflecting on the Kildare loss, the veteran Ederney man admitted that Fermanagh struggled to cope with the physicality of their opponents, who clearly had their homework done.
“ It’s just disappointing. I thought the game was there for us in the second half at times but we struggled big time on our own kickouts. We couldn’t get our hands on the ball. When we did they surrounded us and turned us over.
“ We also struggled to create the scoring chances that we did in the last few games. Part of that is down to their quality too. They were fit to stop us in one v ones whereas we had been able to get away in other games. They are clearly a good side.”
Though Fermanagh were second best for long periods, McCusker ruefully conceded that they could have really tested Kildare’s mental resolve if they had been able to swoop for one or two goals in the latter stages of the contest.
“ I thought we had a chance to get it back to one or maybe two points. I think if we did we could have put real pressure on them but we didn’t take those opportunities and then they also got a two pointer which was a big kick and made it a bit more comfortable for them.”