Londain 0-15 Fermanagh 0-09

[drici]

Londain 0-15  Fermanagh 0-09

History will mark this game as a seminal moment for London - their first Championship victory in 34 years. As the final whistle blew at the Emerald GAA Grounds in west London, the London players salmon-leaped into embraces, huddling together for pouncing cameramen before briefly hoisting their manager, Paul Coggins above their heads. Against this background of blissful celebration, Fermanagh's players and staff slinked off the pitch, heads bowed reverently, hoping no lenses pointed in their direction. The Erne County were the invisible extras in this historic occasion, conversely achieving their most humiliating Championship result of recent times.

Just over 1000 spectators packed into the grounds in Ruislip. Among the crowd were a surprising number of Fermanagh shirts, some of them day-trippers and others who had long said goodbye to their native land. As clear favourites for the game, the fans came expecting a Fermanagh victory, and an easy one at that.

John Woods breaks out of defence for Fermanagh at Ruislip on Saturday as Fermanagh tamely exited the All-Ireland qualifers

Last week, Fermanagh's assistant manager Sylvester Mulrone described the game as a "no win situation" for his team, perhaps aware of the expectation of victory against a side they had already dispatched in the league, with an attached reputation as the whipping boys of inter-county football.

The display however was much worse than anybody could have envisaged.

The Fermanagh team and their entourage flew to London on Friday night, apparently forgetting to take their hunger and game plan with them. The first half performance was worse than even the most severe case of jetlag could render.

Tomas Corrigan registered their only score of the period after 31 minutes; the error-strewn performance leaving John O'Neill's side trailing by nine points to that solitary score at the interval.

The London side is nicknamed the Exiles, but it was Fermanagh who appeared the outsiders from the start of this fixture. Indeed, the Erne County were lucky not to have been the victims of a more embarrassing score line at half-time, such was the lopsided nature of the opening period.

In humid conditions with a stiff breeze blowing in their favour, London attacked from the off with corner-forward O'Neill slotting over twice in the opening nine minutes, adding to full-forward Padraig McGoldrick's contribution.

Fermanagh's midfield of Richard O'Callaghan and Kevin Cosgrove struggled to cope with the physicality of London's spine, with Galway native Mark Gottsche proving a lingering pain. The man-of-the-match against Mayo - a side London surprisingly took to extra-time in the opening round of the Championship - powered through, feeding Kevin O'Leary, who ensured that London's full-forward line had all scored after only 13 minutes as they led 0-04 to 0-00.

Fermanagh's attacking game in comparison was non-existent; London's superb half-back line suffocating their every thought of an attack. Rattled by the physicality of the home team, the young Fermanagh side looked their age as their passing game disintegrated.

The Londoners intercepted countless Fermanagh passes, while the visitors kicked passes with faint hope rather than direction. Paul Geraghty's bull-like presence was causing Barry Owens problems at centre-half back, and the Galway man slotted over brilliantly, followed by a Gottsche point.

The crowd was mute as Corrigan eventually put Fermanagh on the scoreboard. And any sense of quiet resurgence was quashed by the ravaging London side who smelt weakness and retorted with three further scores. It should really have been more. Coggins' team struck the post twice and shot a catalogue of wides in an all-dominant first half as they went in at the break 0-09 to 0-01 ahead.

A group of 21 Lisnaskea men who had ventured to London, incorporating the match as part of a stag weekend, looked awash with bewilderment as the half ended, probably questioning whether they could have offered more, in spite of their hedonistic all-nighter. But after what was described as a "scary" dressing down at half time, Fermanagh at least turned up for the second half.

John O'Flanagan scored (free) within the first minute, but London replied immediately. With the wind, and the breath of their management team, on their backs, Fermanagh livened - Brian Og Maguire chipping over, followed by another O'Flanagan free.

Barry Owens' advancement to midfield coincided with a more assertive Fermanagh presence in the middle third and O'Flanagan's work rate was rewarded by a further two points from play, taking the score to 0-11 - 0-06. But London weren't going to lie down as they had in April, when Fermanagh steamrolled them by six points in Brewster Park.

McGoldrick scored after a surging run from hearty centre-half back Tony Gaughan. A foul on Lisnaskea's John Woods gave fellow clubman Daniel Kille, whose set-piece skills had already faltered on a number of occasions, an easy score. But London's tempo and effort was persistent, and they should have buried Fermanagh one minute later. Corner-back Barry Comer waltzed around two Fermanagh defenders, developing a one-on-one situation, but Comer showed his defensive intuitions, opting to fist an effort that drifted limply wide.

Fermanagh's chances were buoyed when O'Flanaghan scored a gigantic point with ten minutes remaining, reducing the deficit to four points. But London had desire - a quality the Fermanagh team apparently forgot about. Rumours were circulating around Ruislip that Coggins' men had backed themselves by thousands at odds of 7/1, such was their belief. The two scores that followed from the Exiles only served to evidence this.

They never looked like losing. All but out of sight, the Fermanagh challenge, if it ever amounted to that, evaporated in the last ten minutes, and a London score in injury time sealed the most embarrassing of results for the Erne County. O'Neill's side were reduced to heaved passes from distance in search of a goal, but it was a fruitless task. With almost the final kick of the game, Kille lofted in the ball, which evaded everybody, hitting the ground before bouncing over the bar. It was a comic point to end a truly comic display for a side undergoing something of a forced transition.

"I'm probably more upset than some of the boys in the team," one fan noted after the game, surmising a performance that was devoid of the verve that seen Fermanagh reach an Ulster final only two years ago. Most of the fans laughed, almost self-mockingly, for even expecting a win in the first place. They ambled out of the ground bemused, ready for the long road home.

And after this display, the road to success might just be as lengthy.

London

E. Byrne; B. Comer, M. Moloney, D. McGreevy; S. Doolan, T. Gaughan (0-01), D. O'Neill; D. Hagan, M. Gottsche (0-01); C. McCallion (0-02), P. Geraghty (0-01), S. McVeigh; K. O'Leary (0-02), P. McGoldrick (0-02), E. O'Neil (0-04, 2f)l.

Subs - C. O'Sullivan (0-01) for Hagan, K. Phair (0-01) for McGoldrick, J. Collins for McCallion, S. Kelly for O'Neill.

Fermanagh

J. McGrath; J. Woods, N. McGovern, M. Jones; M. O'Brien, B. Owens, K. Cosgrove; R. Jones, R. O'Callaghan; J. O'Flanagan 0-05, 2f), N. Cassidy, B. Og Maguire (0-01); S. Quigley, D. Kille (0-02, 1f), T. Corrigan (0-01).

Subs - H. Brady for O'Callaghan, D. McCusker for Cassidy, C. O'Brien for Cosgrove, P. Ward for Corrigan.


http://www.impartialreporter.com/sport/gaa/articles/2011/06/30/393921-fermanagh-cant-match-the-london-hunger-for-a-win/

[AZOffaly]

Just over 1000 spectators packed into the grounds in Ruislip. Among the crowd were a surprising number of Fermanagh shirts, some of them day-trippers and others who had long said goodbye to their native land. As clear favourites for the game, the fans came expecting a Fermanagh victory, and an easy one at that.

Not sure about that. I'd say Fermanagh were worried going over there.

[samwin08]

DAMING report of state of Fermanagh football:

1.The display however was much worse than anybody could have envisaged.
2. The Fermanagh team and their entourage flew to London on Friday night, apparently forgetting to take their hunger and game plan with them.
3The first half performance was worse than even the most severe case of jetlag could render.
4.Fermanagh's attacking game in comparison was non-existent
5.A group of 21 Lisnaskea men who had ventured to London, incorporating the match as part of a stag weekend, looked awash with bewilderment as the half ended, probably questioning whether they could have offered more, in spite of their hedonistic all-nighter.
6.But after what was described as a "scary" dressing down at half time,
7.All but out of sight, the Fermanagh challenge, if it ever amounted to that,
8.I'm probably more upset than some of the boys in the team," one fan noted after the game.
9. Most of the fans laughed, almost self-mockingly,

I work in Cavan and even Cavan people are making fun of Fermangh this week.
Brialiant match report--who wrote it ?

[tommysmith]

Im afraid us in Cavan cant be laughing at anyone.

Fermanagh had more or less a second team out and most of the players that they were missing would walk onto the Cavan team.