Fermanagh v Dublin AIQ/Final

[Farrandeelin]

Fermanagh have reached this stage by beating Antrim twice,Roscommon (a team beaten by Sligo who were in turn annihilated by Mayo) and Westmeath.Hardly a strenuous path,it makes the route out of Munster look difficult.

Reality check happening on Sunday I'm afraid.

You've a bee in your bonnet all year about Fermanagh Tony, why so? I remember you starting ridiculoys threads when Armagh beat them in the Div 3 final too...

[Syferus]

Fermanagh have reached this stage by beating Antrim twice,Roscommon (a team beaten by Sligo who were in turn annihilated by Mayo) and Westmeath.Hardly a strenuous path,it makes the route out of Munster look difficult.

Reality check happening on Sunday I'm afraid.

You've a bee in your bonnet all year about Fermanagh Tony, why so? I remember you starting ridiculoys threads when Armagh beat them in the Div 3 final too...

Fermanagh beat a mighty D1 team sure and came close to beating another (the eventual Ulster champions) until they ran out of gas.

In all seriousness apart from wides that Fermangh team do all the basics well, good at the back, at midfield, at breaking it forward. I'd be surprised if they go straight back down to D3 next year, that's how much I'd rate them. That puts them in the top 10-14 teams in Ireland. What they have done the past few years under McGrath has been very impressive. And I'll say it again - their supporters are first class.

[FermGael]

Fermanagh are in an all Ireland quarter final.  Brings back painful memories for the man.
It's his way of dealing with it.

[T Fearon]

I don't begrudge Fermanagh their place in the AI quarter final and would like nothing better than to see them beat Dublin,but like Armagh last year,they are there due to the luck of the draw.Cavan were quarter finalists two years ago,Armagh were there last year,what has either done since?

[imtommygunn]

Both have barely changed their tactics since which has been a large factor in why they haven't done anything more.

Whether Fermanagh do or don't we'll see in the next few years but for now they're in last 8 on merit.

[Gold]

This is depressing for me as literally if we (Antrim) had anything close to a full team we could (given the draw) be in an All Ireland Quarter Final. We tore through Fermanagh last year with some of our better attacking players (about 9 of which were unavailable this year for reasons only they know).

I said before it was our C team playing Fermanagh this year so losing to them was inevitable. They are well organised with a couple of good attackers, nothing more but yet that is enough to beat half the teams in the country. Our club teams would run over the top of Fermanagh teams at the moment.

I agree they've only beaten Ross (who are well organised and have improved but are defo seriously lacking up front) and Westmeath (who are atrocious at the back and everyone thought were fantastic as they made a comeback v a Meath team who looked like they were going to win by 20 points) and our C team.

We would defo fancy our chances with a full (or anywhere near to it) team of getting to the AIQF. The reason we haven't is that we are a mess ran by a joke County Board, who have no desire to succeed, spreading apathy to the players, supporters and kids growing up in our County that includes the 2nd largest populated City on the Island. We should (given our population and number of clubs) be hockeying the rest of Ulster (Dublin Style) year in and out.

Sorry for the rant but it's frustrating to watch teams with inferior players progress further than us due to lack of structure/pride in ourselves.

[mb80b60]

This is depressing for me as literally if we (Antrim) had anything close to a full team we could (given the draw) be in an All Ireland Quarter Final. We tore through Fermanagh last year with some of our better attacking players (about 9 of which were unavailable this year for reasons only they know).

I said before it was our C team playing Fermanagh this year so losing to them was inevitable. They are well organised with a couple of good attackers, nothing more but yet that is enough to beat half the teams in the country. Our club teams would run over the top of Fermanagh teams at the moment.

I agree they've only beaten Ross (who are well organised and have improved but are defo seriously lacking up front) and Westmeath (who are atrocious at the back and everyone thought were fantastic as they made a comeback v a Meath team who looked like they were going to win by 20 points) and our C team.

We would defo fancy our chances with a full (or anywhere near to it) team of getting to the AIQF. The reason we haven't is that we are a mess ran by a joke County Board, who have no desire to succeed, spreading apathy to the players, supporters and kids growing up in our County that includes the 2nd largest populated City on the Island. We should (given our population and number of clubs) be hockeying the rest of Ulster (Dublin Style) year in and out.

Sorry for the rant but it's frustrating to watch teams with inferior players progress further than us due to lack of structure/pride in ourselves.

Lay off the drugs.

[ck]

I don't begrudge Fermanagh their place in the AI quarter final and would like nothing better than to see them beat Dublin,but like Armagh last year,they are there due to the luck of the draw.Cavan were quarter finalists two years ago,Armagh were there last year,what has either done since?

Totally agree. The draw couldn't have been kinder to Fermanagh.. 3 home games against below average teams. Someone mentioned that they "nearly" beat Monaghan.. were they not beaten by 10 points?
Tony is just adding reality here. Like him I would be delighted if they do well against Dublin and will be cheering them on, but as to how they got here? Good management, good support, average players all pushing in same direction and VERY LUCKY DRAW!

[westbound]

On that basis, Dublin don't deserve to be in the quarter final either because they've had an easy run!

Dublin have beaten Longford, Kildare and westmeath.
Fermanagh have beaten Antrim, Roscommon and Westmeath.

Very similiar standard of teams that both have beaten to get to the Q-final!

Lay off the begrudgery and say well done to Fermanagh (and good luck)

[Bensars]

Well done fermanagh!   You know you're on the right track when you have the begrudgers moaning about your success.

Looks like theres more than a bit of the green eyed monster from some of those in other smaller weaker counties.  Gold from Antrim, CK from Sligo and Fearon from Armagh.

[Gold]

Don't get me wrong I'm delighted for Fermanagh and I hope they put it up to Dublin and win.

I just know that we (Antrim) currently have better players than they do yet we cannot get them on the field--that's what is frustrating.

Fermanagh are united whereas we are not, hence we are nowhere and they are in Croker on Sunday.

Fear manach Abu!

[Emmett]

I don't begrudge Fermanagh their place in the AI quarter final and would like nothing better than to see them beat Dublin,but like Armagh last year,they are there due to the luck of the draw.Cavan were quarter finalists two years ago,Armagh were there last year,what has either done since?

Totally agree. The draw couldn't have been kinder to Fermanagh.. 3 home games against below average teams. Someone mentioned that they "nearly" beat Monaghan.. were they not beaten by 10 points?
Tony is just adding reality here. Like him I would be delighted if they do well against Dublin and will be cheering them on, but as to how they got here? Good management, good support, average players all pushing in same direction and VERY LUCKY DRAW!

Rossies by 5 or 6. Can't believe the hype around Fermanagh. People saying they're "going well" and they're "on a good run". They've beaten Antrim twice. That's it! id say they'll get a rude awakening today

Oh he's back with more disparaging remarks about this Fermanagh side. I don't believe CK has commented on a Fermanagh match thread since he predicted a "rude awakening" against Roscommon who he now dismisses as "below average".

Maybe it would be better to focus on your own county team's shortcomings which were more than evident in the Connacht Final than to run down a team who have done nothing except beat what has been put in front of them, bar Monaghan.
There are a lot of begrudgers out there with an apparent element of the green eyed monster when it comes to brave, little Fermanagh reaching an AI quarter final.

Anyway, on Sunday we are rightly huge underdogs and in all probability will lose the match. This will not stop me travelling to Croke Park on Sunday with optimism to support the team which has given us a great summer so far and has created a real buzz and positivity around the county - something that a second tier competition will simply not do, no chance!

We have a sprinkling of very good players in key areas plus a handful of extremely underrated players (such as James McMahon, Niall Cassidy and Damian Kelly) and one thing is for sure we have a panel full of extremely dedicated and disciplined players who will be proud to represent their county in Croke Park on Sunday and will not give up no matter how things are going.

This young group of players will have learned a lot this year and will learn a lot more this Sunday and in our division 2 campaign this week. Hopefully the squad will stick together and can deliver our long awaited first Ulster title. We can only hope!

[macdanger2]

TBF, I think Gold is moreso bemoaning the setup within his own county rather than criticising Fermanagh

[Sidney]

Fermanagh have apparently offered to decide the game on a coin toss, in solidarity with the Dublin and Clare camogie teams.

[Emmett]

Don't get me wrong I'm delighted for Fermanagh and I hope they put it up to Dublin and win.

I just know that we (Antrim) currently have better players than they do yet we cannot get them on the field--that's what is frustrating.

Fermanagh are united whereas we are not, hence we are nowhere and they are in Croker on Sunday.

Fear manach Abu!

This always seems to have been the problem with Antrim, whether it is solely the County Board's fault or if it comes down to attitude problems is open to interpretation.

Every county will have players who will not commit for one reason or another, a County of Antrim's size (in comparison to Fermanagh for instance) should be able to cope with this. When players are missing they automatically become better players than what they actually are in the mind of supporters. There is nothing to suggest Antrim have any better players than Fermanagh. Last years Ulster Championship defeat was as much down to Fermanagh not coming out of the stalls until the damage was done and tactical naivety (surprisingly) from Pete as it was down to Antrim's good play.

We have at least another 5 players not on the panel who would challenge for starting spots but for one reason or another they are not there - Seamus and Conor Quigley are prime examples but for completely different reasons. It is up to the management and squad to pull together and become stronger as a whole.