DEVENISH St Mary’s kick off their Intermediate Championship campaign at home to Derrylin on Saturday evening, before travelling to Tempo and finishing the group against Division Two winners Aghadrumsee in Kinawley.
It’s a tough draw, but manager Enda Lyons believes his squad can go all the way if they put it all together, after a productive league campaign.
“Overall, we were pleased with our league performances. We won five games, lost four, and we had quite a few injuries during the middle of it,” says the Carrygallen-native.
“The way the fixtures came, we picked up a couple of bad injuries and that kind of hampered our progress in the last four games. So, we were delighted to finish with a win against Belnaleck.”
Lyons adds that the league was as much about assessing players as results, after he took on the role in January.
“It was my first proper look at different teams in Fermanagh as well as getting to know our boys in competitive games. So, it has been positive, and we had a really good players’ league as well, so we’re happy coming out of it.”
Injuries remain a challenge. Ciaran Cullen is sidelined with an ACL, Jason Love is struggling with a calf tear, and Terry is out of their opener with a fractured jaw. On the positive side, players like JJ O’Brien are returning to fitness, giving Lyons more options.
“We’ve had some bad knocks but we’ve a few coming back; JJ’s coming back, Cian O’Brien, whether they’re ready for the first round or not we’ll see but we’ve got bodies coming back which is positive.”
Lyons is realistic about Group B.
“It’s a very dangerous group for us because Derrylin and Tempo had kind of mixed results in the league and Aghadrumsee obviously had a brilliant win in the Division 2 Final against a very strong Roslea, so they must be respected.
“We have our eyes wide open: we have to play well in every game to win each of the games in the group and ultimately try and get to a semi-final. It’s going to be tough; we must do our work on the pitch. The league is gone, and full concentration is on trying to get through to a semi-final and out of the group.”
With bodies returning and a solid setup in place, St Mary’s will be keeping their eyes on the prize as they look to steer a tricky Group B run back into Championship contention.