Question: What do Antrim, Cavan, Down, Fermanagh and Leitrim have in common?
Answer: They are the only counties (other than Kilkenny who don't compete) that Mick O'Dwyer hasn't managed against in the All-Ireland senior football championship.
Extend it to playing/managing and Cavan and Down can be deleted from the list as he played against both in the 1960s. Stretch it further to the Tommy Murphy Cup championship and Antrim and Leitrim drop off as Wicklow played both in the last two years.
That leaves Fermanagh as the only county whom O'Dwyer hasn't played or plotted against at some stage of the many magical summer odysseys he has undertaken in his 52-year involvement with senior football.
Unusual for Mick O'Dwyer to give away home advantage to Fermanagh like that.
Must be confident.
Travel plans to Aughrim have already started. Long enough drive, so I don't think we'll bring that many supporters down. I would have preferred home advantage, but hopefully we should be good enough to beat Wicklow. They didn't good last week against Westmeath, but I suppose we looked poor against Cavan as well.
AI odds
Fermanagh 125-1
Wicklow 1000-1
Games Fermanagh have been favourite in in last two years of the Championship
2009 - Cavan (lost)
2008 - Kildare (lost)
Caid, do you think this will be a Saturday evening or a Sunday game?
In 2007 six of the eight first round games were on Saturday evening (Ferm v Wexford and Armagh v Derry on Sunday)
In 2008 all eight games were on a Saturday evening
Not much chance of Wicklow v Fermanagh making TV!
Conclusion
Aughrim men may lock up their daughters - FermPundit and co will be on the pull on Saturday night after the match!
Quote from: Caid on June 21, 2009, 06:58:33 PM
In 2007 six of the eight first round games were on Saturday evening (Ferm v Wexford and Armagh v Derry on Sunday)
In 2008 all eight games were on a Saturday evening
Not much chance of Wicklow v Fermanagh making TV!
Conclusion
Aughrim men may lock up their daughters - FermPundit and co will be on the pull on Saturday night after the match!
Aughrim only has a population of 1000, so I'm not sure how good the night life would be.
1,000? That's about the size of Tamlaght!
Dublin it is then for the night.
It wouldnt be far to travel to Wicklow Town or Arklow.
You should hit Johnny Foxes for a pint too.
Wicklow Mountains in July would be hard to bate
Quote from: Caid on June 21, 2009, 06:28:38 PM
Question: What do Antrim, Cavan, Down, Fermanagh and Leitrim have in common?
Answer: They are the only counties (other than Kilkenny who don't compete) that Mick O'Dwyer hasn't managed against in the All-Ireland senior football championship.
Extend it to playing/managing and Cavan and Down can be deleted from the list as he played against both in the 1960s. Stretch it further to the Tommy Murphy Cup championship and Antrim and Leitrim drop off as Wicklow played both in the last two years.
That leaves Fermanagh as the only county whom O'Dwyer hasn't played or plotted against at some stage of the many magical summer odysseys he has undertaken in his 52-year involvement with senior football.
Your a mighty man for the statistics Caid, but they didn't do you much use the last day out ;). Anyway, I think if Fermanagh can get over the defeat and get working again they will beat wicklow as they just have a total lack of skillfull players and Fermanagh have plenty. Even the celebrated Nathan Glynn isn't up to much in my opinion.
Na sure I stole that article from the Irish Times or some similar rag - was in the paper there a few weeks ago.
Leighton Glynn can't be that celebrated or you wouldn't be calling him Nathan!
I'm still refusing to comment on the Breffni debacle
Quote from: Caid on June 21, 2009, 07:15:18 PM
Leighton Glynn can't be that celebrated or you wouldn't be calling him Nathan!
:D
Quote from: Caid on June 21, 2009, 07:15:18 PM
Na sure I stole that article from the Irish Times or some similar rag - was in the paper there a few weeks ago.
Leighton Glynn can't be that celebrated or you wouldn't be calling him Nathan!
I'm still refusing to comment on the Breffni debacle
I was sure it was Nathan, sure I bet his mam calls him Nathan. I remember Micko brought Wicklow to Breffni on one of his 1st games. They brought a big crowd with them which was a shock for me. All the talk in the media was this attacking half back Leighton Glynn. Sure he looked mighty carrying the ball forward but at the end of the day a 20 yr old Ray Cullivan had scored 4/5 points on him. Just thought a lot of hype about nothing. Watched them against Westmeath too and they looked fairly clueless although they have 2 big men in the middle that can win primary possesion.
I know how you feel about these soar defeats. I still havn't watched the 97 all ireland final video I recorded, couldn't relive the pain.
So its a 7pm start in Aughrim on the Saturday evening. I think most Fermanagh fans will be happy with the throw in time.
Quote from: FermPundit on June 22, 2009, 07:52:44 PM
So its a 7pm start in Aughrim on the Saturday evening. I think most Fermanagh fans will be happy with the throw in time.
I'd love to be getting a road trip down to Wicklow but unfortunately football commitments this side of the water means it'll be no more than listening to it on the wireless for me. Hopefully we'll get a good result and kick on from here. Sure we love the Qualifiers!
Why Wicklow will beat Fermanagh
1. They focus entirely on the Championship (Micko brought on a sub-goalie at FF in the penultimate/crucial league game against Carlow) and this is their first chance to prove themselves in the Qualifier Series. They have shown in the past that they took the Tommy Murphy seriously - so there is a fair chance they will be more motivated for Qualifier Round 1 than a Fermanagh team who were putting their all in for another crack at Ulster. Wicklow are probably similar to where Fermanagh were about 10 years ago and will look at a good qualifier run as a chance to prove to the country that Wicklow are a force. Fermanagh have done that now and their new goal is singular - an Ulster title - and gone for this year
2. Mick O'Dwyer (his 120th Championship game as a manager). Whatever Tyrone fans may think - Micko is still the greatest
3. Out of 14 contests in the Championship and Tommy Murphy Cup over the last three years they have won seven, drew three (twice with Louth in 08) and lost four times (once after extra time). They are not that easy to beat
4. In last years Championship they had a four point winning margin over a Kildare team that went on to beat Fermanagh comfortably. They also should have beaten Laois the next day out
5. Due to the old rules they never got to play in the qualifiers. Hence they went straight into the Tommy Murphy Cup where they won five out of their six games in the last two years beating Antrim, Leitrim, Offaly etc - this shows their bounce-back-ability
6. They took a Division 1/2 team, Westmeath, to extra time a few weeks ago (and should have won the game only for a missed penalty in normal time)
7. Unlike Fermanagh they are not dependent on frees for scores with 84% of their scores in the League and Championship this year coming from play
8. They do, however, have capable free takers when called upon in Tony Hannon (although he missed some frees and a penalty against Westmeath) and Seanie Furlong - something Fermanagh badly lack
9. They have several forwards who can score freely from play with Seanie Furlong (6-17), Dean Odlum (4-21), Tony Hannon (1-11), Paul Earls (2-7), Leighton Glynn (0-17) scoring the equivalent of 112 points from play between them in the 10 league and championship games this year (albeit eight of those games were in Division 4 and large scorelines were clocked up against Kilkenny and London)
10. They score goals regularly (18 in the ten NFL / LSFC matches albeit 7 were against Kilkenny) although they don't seem to be too hot on penalties (Earls missed against Antrim in the league as well). Fermanagh also score plenty of goals. Get your money on there being more than 1.5 goals in this game
11. They have a strong midfield in Stafford (who returned from Australia half way through the League) and Walsh (ex-Carlow, plays rugby with Tullow)
12. They have one of the most underrated keepers in Ireland in Mervyn Travers
13. Both teams have had a number of players missing for league and Championship but Wicklow have more of their big names back than Fermanagh
14. Fortress Aughrim: The four Tommy Murphy matches in the last two years that were in Aughrim resulted in a Wicklow win. Three out of four NFL 2009 matches at home were won (the last day's meaningless game against Sligo was lost)
How Wicklow will beat Fermanagh
1. Counter the sweeper system. The two ways to play it are to play your own sweeper or have your half back track the half forward. Cavan successfully played their own sweeper. However, I think Micko will play to Wicklow's strengths and go man for man. Whilst Wicklow wouldn't have the best backs in Ireland, Fermanagh don't have the best forwards (although Owens/Carson FF line would be a handful). Therefore, Wicklow are likely to play to a system that will best suit their forwards. The full forward line is capable of winning their own ball and scoring points and goals.
2. Fermanagh are usually good at not giving away silly, scoreable, frees. But Wicklow don't rely on frees for scores. Seanie Johnston
showed that if you can score decent points from play it can help to beat Fermanagh. Whilst all the talk wil be about Leighton Glynn before the match, I think the main man will be Furlong at full forward. Fermanagh need to get a settled full back line and Goan needs to come back in
3. Wicklow are often a "second half team" (one newspaper in the League stated "The footballers got their expected win over Clare but it did take all of Micko's great persuasive powers to get the team going. The half-time pep-talk, I'm told, should have been recorded for posterity.") and so if they can focus from the start they will have a great chance
Predictions
1. Scoreline: Wicklow 1-09 Fermanagh 1-08
2. Man of the match: Mervyn Travers
Quote from: Caid on June 22, 2009, 08:05:37 PM
Why Wicklow will beat Fermanagh
1. They focus entirely on the Championship (Micko brought on a sub-goalie at FF in the penultimate/crucial league game against Carlow) and this is their first chance to prove themselves in the Qualifier Series. They have shown in the past that they took the Tommy Murphy seriously - so there is a fair chance they will be more motivated for Qualifier Round 1 than a Fermanagh team who were putting their all in for another crack at Ulster. Wicklow are probably similar to where Fermanagh were about 10 years ago and will look at a good qualifier run as a chance to prove to the country that Wicklow are a force. Fermanagh have done that now and their new goal is singular - an Ulster title - and gone for this year
2. Mick O'Dwyer (his 120th Championship game as a manager). Whatever Tyrone fans may think - Micko is still the greatest
3. Out of 14 contests in the Championship and Tommy Murphy Cup over the last three years they have won seven, drew three (twice with Louth in 08) and lost four times (once after extra time). They are not that easy to beat
4. In last years Championship they had a four point winning margin over a Kildare team that went on to beat Fermanagh comfortably. They also should have beaten Laois the next day out
5. Due to the old rules they never got to play in the qualifiers. Hence they went straight into the Tommy Murphy Cup where they won five out of their six games in the last two years beating Antrim, Leitrim, Offaly etc - this shows their bounce-back-ability
6. They took a Division 1/2 team, Westmeath, to extra time a few weeks ago (and should have won the game only for a missed penalty in normal time)
7. Unlike Fermanagh they are not dependent on frees for scores with 84% of their scores in the League and Championship this year coming from play
8. They do, however, have capable free takers when called upon in Tony Hannon (although he missed some frees and a penalty against Westmeath) and Seanie Furlong - something Fermanagh badly lack
9. They have several forwards who can score freely from play with Seanie Furlong (6-17), Dean Odlum (4-21), Tony Hannon (1-11), Paul Earls (2-7), Leighton Glynn (0-17) scoring the equivalent of 112 points from play between them in the 10 league and championship games this year (albeit eight of those games were in Division 4 and large scorelines were clocked up against Kilkenny and London)
10. They score goals regularly (18 in the ten NFL / LSFC matches albeit 7 were against Kilkenny) although they don't seem to be too hot on penalties (Earls missed against Antrim in the league as well). Fermanagh also score plenty of goals. Get your money on there being more than 1.5 goals in this game
11. They have a strong midfield in Stafford (who returned from Australia half way through the League) and Walsh (ex-Carlow, plays rugby with Tullow)
12. They have one of the most underrated keepers in Ireland in Mervyn Travers
13. Both teams have had a number of players missing for league and Championship but Wicklow have more of their big names back than Fermanagh
14. Fortress Aughrim: The four Tommy Murphy matches in the last two years that were in Aughrim resulted in a Wicklow win. Three out of four NFL 2009 matches at home were won (the last day's meaningless game against Sligo was lost)
How Wicklow will beat Fermanagh
1. Counter the sweeper system. The two ways to play it are to play your own sweeper or half your half back track the half forward. Cavan successfully played their own sweeper. However, I think Micko will play to Wicklow's strengths and go man for man. Whilst Wicklow wouldn't have the best backs in Ireland, Fermanagh don't have the best forwards (although Owens/Carson FF line would be a handful). Therefore, Wicklow are likely to play to a system that will best suit their forwards. The full forward line is capable of winning their own ball and scoring points and goals.
2. Fermanagh are usually good at not giving away silly, scoreable, frees. But Wicklow don't rely on frees for scores. Seanie Johnston
showed that if you can score decent points from play it can help to beat Fermanagh. Whilst all the talk wil be about Leighton Glynn before the match, I think the main man will be Furlong at full forward. Fermanagh need to get a settled full back line and Goan needs to come back in
3. Wicklow are often a "second half team" (one newspaper in the League stated "The footballers got their expected win over Clare but it did take all of Micko's great persuasive powers to get the team going. The half-time pep-talk, I'm told, should have been recorded for posterity.") and so if they can focus from the start they will have a great chance
Predictions
1. Scoreline: Wicklow 1-09 Fermanagh 1-08
2. Man of the match: Mervyn Travers
Caid, what has happened your confidence??
Cavan
Quote from: ExiledGael on June 22, 2009, 08:12:34 PM
Cavan
Lads keep the faith, if we took that attitude, we'd have stopped supporting the Ernemen years ago!
It has been brought to my attention that a number of members of the Fermanagh team read the Gaaboard. I am therefore concerned that my gushing praise and optimism prior to the Cavan match may have led to a certain degree of arrogance amongst the players that ultimately resulted a reduced workrate and a dergree of ineptidue that resulted in our defeat to the Breffni men.
I have already cost us this year's Ulster Championship and cannot sleep at night with the guilt (although it sould be the two cans of Red Rull I drink in the evenings...). I will not be responsible for our downfall to Wicklow and therefore I have highlighted the reasons why Wicklow are clearly favourites for this game.
Quote from: Caid on June 22, 2009, 08:14:03 PM
It has been brought to my attention that a number of members of the Fermanagh team read the Gaaboard. I am therefore concerned that my gushing praise and optimism prior to the Cavan match may have led to a certain degree of arrogance amongst the players that ultimately resulted a reduced workrate and a dergree of ineptidue that resulted in our defeat to the Breffni men.
I have already cost us this year's Ulster Championship and cannot sleep at night with the guilt (although it sould be the two cans of Red Rull I drink in the evenings...). I will not be responsible for our downfall to Wicklow and therefore I have highlighted the reasons why Wicklow are clearly favourites for this game.
A twisted logic Caid, but I see your angle of thinking! Sure most Ulster inter county players read the board!
Quote from: Caid on June 22, 2009, 08:14:03 PM
It has been brought to my attention that a number of members of the Fermanagh team read the Gaaboard. I am therefore concerned that my gushing praise and optimism prior to the Cavan match may have led to a certain degree of arrogance amongst the players that ultimately resulted a reduced workrate and a dergree of ineptidue that resulted in our defeat to the Breffni men.
I have already cost us this year's Ulster Championship and cannot sleep at night with the guilt (although it sould be the two cans of Red Rull I drink in the evenings...). I will not be responsible for our downfall to Wicklow and therefore I have highlighted the reasons why Wicklow are clearly favourites for this game.
You made some good points though. You're quite right that Wicklow will see the qualifiers as a great opportunity to cause one or two shocks. From reading the Wicklow message board over on the hogan stand, they certainly don't fear Fermanagh. Overall I think it depends on how motivated this Fermanagh team are to give the qualifiers a good go. Yes, the Ulster title has gone for yet another year, but if we can get pass Wicklow and the draw is kind to us, there is no reason why we can't at least make the quarter finals.
Quote
there is no reason why we can't at least make the quarter finals.
1. Can't score from play
2. Can't score from frees
3. We aren't playing our best corner back
4. Our best player over the last 5 years isn't fit
5. Our third best player over the last 5 years has only been playing Gaelic for one month of the year
6. The player's will be dejected after losing in Ulster and the motivation will be gone
7. The qualifiers are going to be a minefield. Kerry in Round 2? Mayo/Galway in Round 3?
8. We have drawn one of the sleeping giants of the Gaa world in Round 1
Quote from: Caid on June 22, 2009, 08:29:04 PM
Quote
there is no reason why we can't at least make the quarter finals.
1. Can't score from play
2. Can't score from frees
3. We aren't playing our best corner back
4. Our best player over the last 5 years isn't fit
5. Our third best player over the last 5 years has only been playing Gaelic for one month of the year
6. The player's will be dejected after losing in Ulster and the motivation will be gone
7. The qualifiers are going to be a minefield. Kerry in Round 2? Mayo/Galway in Round 3?
8. We have drawn one of the sleeping giants of the Gaa world in Round 1
Come on, Caid. Keep the faith. Who knows, we might yet be All Ireland champions in September. Stranger things have happened.....
Fermanagh are 125-1 for Sam
For comparison - odds on winning the Nobel Peace Prize:
Bertie Ahern 80-1
Vladamir Putin 250-1
George Bush 500-1
I'll take a punt here and go so far as to say a 125-1 shot has never won the All Ireland
I'll be there anyway.
Sure we do nothing when we're odds on either! Any word of any call-ups to the county panel? Impartial reckoned two would be called up last week and mentioned Tom Brewster and Seamie Quigley.
Quote from: ExiledGael on June 22, 2009, 08:44:57 PM
I'll be there anyway.
Sure we do nothing when we're odds on either! Any word of any call-ups to the county panel? Impartial reckoned two would be called up last week and mentioned Tom Brewster and Seamie Quigley.
I'd definitely call up both of those two. We need to desperately find a few scoring forwards, and I hope that Malachy just lets them go out and play football, even I am getting a bit tired of the negative brand of football we play.
Quote from: inisceithleann on June 22, 2009, 08:55:38 PM
Quote from: ExiledGael on June 22, 2009, 08:44:57 PM
I'll be there anyway.
Sure we do nothing when we're odds on either! Any word of any call-ups to the county panel? Impartial reckoned two would be called up last week and mentioned Tom Brewster and Seamie Quigley.
I'd definitely call up both of those two. We need to desperately find a few scoring forwards, and I hope that Malachy just lets them go out and play football, even I am getting a bit tired of the negative brand of football we play.
I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater here. No matter how we performed in Breffni the last few years have given Fermanagh fans their greatest ever days. I think if O'Rourke thought he could send a team out to win doing that he would.
We had a serious amount of chances there and with the possession and attacks in the last quarter we should have squeezed past Cavan. If Tommy McElroy, Daryl Keenan or Eamon Maguire had scored even one of their chances each Fermanagh would be facing Antrim for a spot in the final and O'Rourke would be up on a pedastal with Mickey Harte. We weren't/aren't far away and I hope the players believe that and look for that extra couple of percent.
Quote from: ExiledGael on June 22, 2009, 09:01:43 PM
Quote from: inisceithleann on June 22, 2009, 08:55:38 PM
Quote from: ExiledGael on June 22, 2009, 08:44:57 PM
I'll be there anyway.
Sure we do nothing when we're odds on either! Any word of any call-ups to the county panel? Impartial reckoned two would be called up last week and mentioned Tom Brewster and Seamie Quigley.
I'd definitely call up both of those two. We need to desperately find a few scoring forwards, and I hope that Malachy just lets them go out and play football, even I am getting a bit tired of the negative brand of football we play.
I wouldn't throw the baby out with the bathwater here. No matter how we performed in Breffni the last few years have given Fermanagh fans their greatest ever days. I think if O'Rourke thought he could send a team out to win doing that he would.
We had a serious amount of chances there and with the possession and attacks in the last quarter we should have squeezed past Cavan. If Tommy McElroy, Daryl Keenan or Eamon Maguire had scored even one of their chances each Fermanagh would be facing Antrim for a spot in the final and O'Rourke would be up on a pedastal with Mickey Harte. We weren't/aren't far away and I hope the players believe that and look for that extra couple of percent.
Agreed, sure we have to do what it takes to win games I suppose, but the fellas need to have a bit more confidence at least to shoot.
Not much life in this thread. So i'll post a team for the craic
Gallagher
Goan
Lyons
Bogue
Foy
Clucker
Tommy
Marty
Sherry
M Little
C McElroy
D Keenan
E Maguire
B Owens
R Carson
plenty of green dejection on here, shame but understandable.
gonna be a tough encounter and o'rourke has a job on his hands to get the heads and tactics right against wicklow and the old master of the GAA
in 2 minds about travelling 2.5 hours to watch what will probably be a nail biter
Found this languishing on page four.
Any of the Fermanagh posters know when the team will be named? Seamie Quigley will be the inteeresting one. Big decision for O'Rourke but he's had a decent look at him now and knows how committed he's been to the training lately.
Quote from: ExiledGael on July 02, 2009, 06:11:24 PM
Found this languishing on page four.
Any of the Fermanagh posters know when the team will be named? Seamie Quigley will be the inteeresting one. Big decision for O'Rourke but he's had a decent look at him now and knows how committed he's been to the training lately.
The team will be named to the press tonight but whether or not it will be accurate is another thing. I would like to see Seamie Quigley start, he is without doubt the most accurate forward we have in the County and may just be what we have been crying out for. Hopefully the pressure of the occasion doesn't get to him. Here is my preferred lineup.....
Gallagher (just shades Breen, but not much between them)
Goan (he has the pace I feel we have been missing at the back)
Lyons (deserves another chance at fullback, won't be long til Owens is back in his rightful position though)
Bogue (always steady)
Kelly (over his injury now. Solid defender and he has an eye for a score)
McCluskey (Hopefully clucker is match fit and back to his brilliant best)
T McElroy (Tommy's shooting boots weren't on the last day, can't see that happening again)
McGrath (We are due a big performance from our Captain)
Sherry (The qualifiers could really suit James Sherry, a more relaxed atmosphere could help him play his way into form)
Little (our worst player against Down but best player against Cavan. Will we start to see some consistency from the recently transferred Cavan Gaels player?)
McElroy (the normally dependable Ciaran McElroy was really poor against Cavan. I hope he does not play quite as deep on Saturday)
Maguire (Another player who is struggling for form. Moving him to the wings could help as he may have more space to express himself)
Quigley (If he has the commitment he could be a star)
Owens (Barry won't score huge tallys from FF but he will win a lot of primary ball if the ball is delivered early)
Carson (a really good player. He is not the great free taker the media portrayed him to be after the Down game but he is a quality player on the ball)
Has Little actually transferred yet?
Think Owens will start the game whether he is named in the team or not. You're probably right in that he'll start in the forward line.
Agree about Blobby, one of our most naturally talented players.
Team for Saturday. Taken from fermanagh.gaa.ie
Fermanagh manager Malachy O'Rourke has made a number of changes in the Fermanagh team to play Wicklow in the first round All-Ireland Qualifier game on Saturday. All the changes to the team which lost to Cavan in the Ulster Football championship are to the defence, Shane Lyons and Shane McDermott move to the subs bench with Hugh Brady moving to full-back from the corner and Shane Goan earning a starting spot in the corner. While in the half back line Ryan McCluskey moves to centre half back and Peter Sherry takes his place on the wing. The mid-field and forwards remain unchanged, with three new members of the squad, Niall McGovern, Seamus Quigley and Paul Cosgrove take their place on the subs bench.
1Chris Breen
2Niall Bogue
3Hugh Brady
4Shane Goan
5Peter Sherry
6Ryan McCluskey
7Tommy McElroy
8Martin McGrath
9James Sherry
10Ryan Keenan
11Ciaran McElroy
12Mark Little
13Daryl Keenan
14Ryan Carson
15Eamon Maguire
16Ronan Gallagher
17Damien Kelly
18Niall McGovern
19Shane Lyons
20Shane McDermott
21Pat Cadden
22Michael Jones
23Daniel Kille
24Rory Foy
25Shane O'Brien
26Enda Ferris
27Liam McBarron
28Seamus Quigley
29Barry Owens
30Paul Cosgrove
I wouldn't read too much into that team selection. As always, there will be changes before Saturday. I'll take a punt and say that Seamus Quigley will start!
Hope that team doesn't start.
Against Cavan Malachy started the team named to the press....not much merit in trying to play mind games with Micko anyway as he has a tendancy to play his own game and begorrah to the opposition
Caid what changes would u like to see?
I think Fermanagh will take this one with a few to spare - if it had been in Enniskillen, i'd expect it to be a comfortable margin.
Fermanagh kicked themselves out of the Cavan game - they're a better team that Cavan, despite their problems up front. Given what happened Westmeath last weekend, it maybe puts Wicklow's last game into perspective.
Players would will be very lucky to start based on last day
3Hugh Brady
10Ryan Keenan
11Ciaran McElroy
13Daryl Keenan
Players not named who may have claim on a starting place
Damian Kelly
Rory Foy
Barry Owens
Shane O'Brien
Enda Ferris
Would be very surprised if Malachy started Quigley. Emmett and i posted similar teams above and I would stand by it. Would still rather have Lyons than Brady every day of the week and would like to see what Owens and Carson do in a two man FF line. But again I think this would be too radical a move for Malachy...
I'm about to head down the road to Wicklow. It's hard to know how this game will go. On paper Fermanagh should win, but Wicklow will fancy their chances, especially with home advantage. I hope Seamus Quigley gets some game time today. He's the most talented forward in Fermanagh football at the moment. If we can win tonight and put in a decent performance, then hopefully we can gather some momentum through the qualifiers.
What happened Fermanagh this evening? That's the last time I stick a few quid on them - should have known better after getting burnt for the Cavan game!
That'll be end of Quinns support after that I'd say
Quote from: Maguire01 on July 05, 2009, 03:14:02 AM
What happened Fermanagh this evening? That's the last time I stick a few quid on them - should have known better after getting burnt for the Cavan game!
Need another few hours before I can put that game into words. Totally shocking display but fair play to Wicklow and good luck to them in the qualifiers. Totally deserved the win.
Right think I'll start with the positives here.
Aughrim is a beautiful place.
It didn't rain.
They had a student rate.
After that we'd be clutching at straws. Seamie Quigley was very encouraging early on and scored a savage point off his right and a long range free off the ground. Seemed to pick up an arm injury mid-way through the half and didn't reappear after the break. Honestly don't think we'd have lost that game if he'd stayed on.
Blobby also looked in from alongside him but it wasn't long before he was called out the field as we were being obliterated at midfield. From there he set up a few attacks when they went down to 14 with some great foot passing but the goal gave us a bit of a false outlook on the first half. Great move though for that goal with James Sherry getting forward and finishing well. Apart from that and one clean catch at midfield he struggled to make any real headway against Stafford and Walsh.
Not going to start lashing at players but almost everyone was off colour. We threatened to get back into it after Paul Cosgrove came in at midfield and though he didn't catch anything it at least stopped them winning primary possession.
With McCluskey on (can't figure out why he didn't start) setting up our attacks we hit three scores on the bounce but then Marty (long since rescued from his torture at midfield and sent to full-forward) hit the upright from 25 yards to level the game. Eamon Maguire missed another chance to draw level and they went up and pulled four points clear again, game over.
Chris Breen made a few great one on one saves that would have really but us out of our misery but with the malaise at midfield he didn't seem capable of hitting anything short and when he tried it went straight to one of their players who tapped over the point.
Good to see Owens lasting a full game also I suppose.
Conceding 17 points to Wicklow is not good though and we really struggled with our gameplan I thought.
We started off man for man at the back but it soon became clear that wasn't working with Brady especially in trouble on Furlong. After about 15 minutes Tommy became sweeper and as the game wore on McCluskey was the free man.
Marty moved from midfield to full-forward quite early and at the start of the second half for aboput 15 minutes our inside forward line was Marty and Ciaran McElroy. Not exactly dangerous but to be fair to both they were out of position. Ciaran was took off again after 20 minutes after making no real impact.
Wicklow can have no complaints about either sending off. They were obviously told to stop the runners from defence and they paid the price for dragging people to the ground persistently. Think they'd have won if they'd started with 13 men though.
Just a bad day and a bad year.
Now is not the time for post-mortems. It's probably best to wait a few days before trying to analyse last night's performance. As Exiled has said, it was really disappointing. One positive though was the decent turn out of Fermanagh supporters in Aughrim. It's just a pity that the long trip home was so depressing!!
Well when can you say is the best time for post mortems?? yes absol brilliant support from Fermanagh and very surprised too but we probably expected a result so that is why there was a good turn out. Fermanagh started off well and should probably been more in front in the 1st half with the possession and of course the strong breeze but were lucky to get the goal before half time to give fermanagh the lead at the break. time after time in the 1st half wicklow kicked dangerous ball into their full forward line which threaten our full back no end and only for recovery tackling/defending made sure no goals were conceded.
Ok Chris Breen made great saves but where did his kick outs go all the time?? straight down the middle to wicklow midfield which we neva won unless it was directed to james sherry who palmed down to peter sherry and in turn delievered good ball into fullforward line in 1st half. With the size of those midfielders from wicklow kick outs to wings should have been enforced by the management on the line....How mark little stayed on for 1st half is a mystery. what did he do apart for the pass for goal and his man attacked flat out in 1st half. Two keenans worked very hard (with darly getting good scores) along with seamus quigley until injury. James sherry battled well in midfield but go no support.
Was bringing on mc cluskey corect decision? fermanagh were ahead at break and bring on an extra defender?? ok little had poor 1st half but now was the time to unleash him as extra man. or what bout Damian kelly?? he had good season last year and attacks well with the ball and has an eye for a score.
Wicklow were down to 14 men and lost their main free taker Hannon!!!! and later in the half were down to 13 men......
What was point bringing on mc elroy to full forward line?? i have neva seen him play there and also since we were struggling at midfield break ball was crucial and he is key in this area. fermanagh won hardly any break ball for at least a 15min spell staright after half time and wicklow built up a strong lead at this stage. thought it was awful unfair decision taking him off after 20 mins. anyone could have went at that stage.
2nd half was a complete shambles all over the pitch. no leadership, no direct running with ball, moving barry owens from chb to fb to ff what that hell was going on here???
where fermanagh go from here is anyone's guess.. Ulster finalist 2008 to ..........2009 it doesnt look promising.
its bout time some experience was brought back into squad and regroup again for 2010.
Interesting (and refreshing) that O'Rourke's management pedigree isn't being trashed after what has been a dismal year for Fermanagh football. Other counties would be screaming before now. Is that because Fermanagh ones are just a fairminded sort? Or do you just accept that disappointment is inevitable given the limited resources?
There is an old saying that players win games and managers lose them which seemed to get turned on its head last year. Much of Fermanagh's great success last year was credited to O'Rourke's tactical nous. He could do no wrong. This year's dismal failure has left him land his reputation largely unscathed and it is mostly the players who seem to be bearing the brunt of the criticism. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that but the change in Fermanagh's fortunes between last year and this has been dramatic and spectacular. What has gone wrong?
I can see a parallel with Baker and Antrim. Antrim have done well and Baker, with good reason, has got most of the credit. But one Ulster Final doesn't a revival make...