Fermanagh Football & Hurling

[JMohan]

Is Mike McGurn with Fermanagh this year?

[FermPundit]

Is Mike McGurn with Fermanagh this year?

No, as far as I'm aware he's still the fitness coach for the the Neath Swansea Ospreys.

[JMohan]

So Cork didn't tempt him then?

[FermPundit]

So Cork didn't tempt him then?

http://www.tribune.ie/sport/article/2008/dec/21/mcgurn-yet-to-agree-to-cork-hurling-role/

I'm not sure what will happen here but as the above article states the current stand off between Gerald McCarthy and the Cork hurlers wouldn't encourage McGurn to come on board.

[haranguerer]

I se no Mattie Keenan nor Niall Keenan on the panel this year. Getting vague memories of being told there was a row last yr after the ulste final - was this true then?

[FermGael]

Matthew has just had an operation and i would say is still recovering.
Not sure about Niall though

[FromAFar]

Anyone at the game? Ive heard few rumour of the lineup- somethin like;

R Gallagher,
M Jones,
R Foy,
?
?
P Sherry
?
J Sherry
R Carson
?
Daniel Kille
?
P ward
S Ryder
?

Can anyone fill in the rest??

[FermPundit]

Anyone at the game? Ive heard few rumour of the lineup- somethin like;

R Gallagher,
M Jones,
R Foy,
?
?
P Sherry
?
J Sherry
R Carson
?
Daniel Kille
?
P ward
S Ryder
?

Can anyone fill in the rest??

Your missing men are - Shane Goan, Damien Kelly, Paul Johnston, Enda Ferris, Ryan Keenan, Pat Cadden

[FromAFar]

Anyone at the game? Ive heard few rumour of the lineup- somethin like;

R Gallagher,
M Jones,
R Foy,
?
?
P Sherry
?
J Sherry
R Carson
?
Daniel Kille
?
P ward
S Ryder
?

Can anyone fill in the rest??

Your missing men are - Shane Goan, Damien Kelly, Paul Johnston, Enda Ferris, Ryan Keenan, Pat Cadden

Good man, were you at the game?

[FermPundit]

Anyone at the game? Ive heard few rumour of the lineup- somethin like;

R Gallagher,
M Jones,
R Foy,
?
?
P Sherry
?
J Sherry
R Carson
?
Daniel Kille
?
P ward
S Ryder
?

Can anyone fill in the rest??

Your missing men are - Shane Goan, Damien Kelly, Paul Johnston, Enda Ferris, Ryan Keenan, Pat Cadden

Good man, were you at the game?

No, unfortunately not, I had to settle for the radio in the car.

[Erne Man]

Thought I'd resurrect the old account again for the upcoming season!!

Drew a game today we were coasting in - not a great start to the season. Few mistakes cost us at vital times - Ronnie had a few strange moments, and we made a bit of a howler for the goal conceded late on - think it was Ciaran McElroy who dropped a simple enough ball - unfortunately dropped it inside and wrong footed himself - most alert man being a Derry forward and scored a simple chance. Redeemed himself afterwards though with a cracking equaliser from under the stand.

We were coasting at all stages until the last 10mins - 5pts to 1pt ahead at half time - with good scores from Carson and Ferris in particular. Coasting through the second half as well thanks to scores from Pat Cadden, who disappointingly was the only scorer in this half until McElroys equaliser. Then came the Dery resurgence - but to be honest only for the concession of a bad goal we were well in control.

We certainly had a good bit more experience on the field than Derry - with some decent performances from some of the new players as well. Foy at Full Back, and Johnson were very sound in defence - foy looks a particularly classy footballer. Carson did ok in the middle of the field, but just needs to improve the fitness levels abit - but defintely an option there. Kille looked lively at CHF, some good touches and a decent range of passing. Ryder also looked pretty useful at full forward. Best of the old hands were Goan and Kelly in defence, with Keenan working hard as ever.

Don't think we found any answers today - but a few of the players will definitely have made a decent impression on O'Rourke.

[FermPundit]

Thought I'd resurrect the old account again for the upcoming season!!

Drew a game today we were coasting in - not a great start to the season. Few mistakes cost us at vital times - Ronnie had a few strange moments, and we made a bit of a howler for the goal conceded late on - think it was Ciaran McElroy who dropped a simple enough ball - unfortunately dropped it inside and wrong footed himself - most alert man being a Derry forward and scored a simple chance. Redeemed himself afterwards though with a cracking equaliser from under the stand.

We were coasting at all stages until the last 10mins - 5pts to 1pt ahead at half time - with good scores from Carson and Ferris in particular. Coasting through the second half as well thanks to scores from Pat Cadden, who disappointingly was the only scorer in this half until McElroys equaliser. Then came the Dery resurgence - but to be honest only for the concession of a bad goal we were well in control.

We certainly had a good bit more experience on the field than Derry - with some decent performances from some of the new players as well. Foy at Full Back, and Johnson were very sound in defence - foy looks a particularly classy footballer. Carson did ok in the middle of the field, but just needs to improve the fitness levels abit - but defintely an option there. Kille looked lively at CHF, some good touches and a decent range of passing. Ryder also looked pretty useful at full forward. Best of the old hands were Goan and Kelly in defence, with Keenan working hard as ever.

Don't think we found any answers today - but a few of the players will definitely have made a decent impression on O'Rourke.

I don't think we'll unearth a huge amount of unknown talent during the McKenna cup campaign but it is pleasing to see O'Rouke giving the younger players in the county an opportunity to impress. With regards Carson and Seamus Ryder, both players will need to do quite a bit of gym work to get the fitness levels up to the required inter county standard. How did James Sherry get on at midfield?

[Sonny Joe]

Erneman you weren't at the same game as me. No doubt you should have had a bigger lead at half time as you were much better than derry. But the second half was a game that derry controlled. They also scored one goal and missed two other goals and won the second half by 9 scores to 5. I agree at the stage that derry finally scored the goal that changed the game in their favour fermanagh looked like they hd the game tied up, but that was to do with the derry misses. Derrys half back line dominated the second half. Only my view.

[ExiledGael]

Made it to Enniskillen on Sunday as it fell over the holidays, probably won't get to many more but can't say I learned a whole pile from it.
First half was very encouraging. Young Foy from Tempo and Paul Johnston looked good reliable additions to the defence where Damien Kelly was very good as usual (bar shooting). The problem there is that barring injuries I don't see a position open back there, but a few good options with Owens and Bogue both back from cruciate trouble will see us quite sound in defence for another year. Don't think we'll see Clucker for a while due to soccer, but he'll be at No.6 come summer no doubt.
Gallagher didn't do himself many favours on Sunday, bit shaky and fumbly but he's shown enough this last 12 months for O'Rourke to keep him as first choice. Wouldn't be surprised to see someone else there for the next few games if only to keep everyone on their toes.
It's further ahead our problems lie though and I'm not sure there's any solutions there just yet. Kille opened well with some good perceptive passing, similar to Ryan Keenan, but shooting was off target and that's all we need up there. Ferris and Ryder bith started well but faded out of the game badly. Ryder in particular was giving his man a torrid time but maybe fitness caught up with him. He certainly deserves a few games there and could be the pick of the bunch. Has to be said though that it was a very experimental (at best) Derry side.
Found Paul Ward and Pat Cadden very frustrating at times. Both seemed to have trouble holding on to possession and choose to run when a pass was best option and the other way around and ended up being turned over far too often. Both have the talent to nail down staring spots but need a run of games at this level to bring them on. Cadden grew into the game and hit a few good scores. He seems to have bulked up a bit too but just needs the gametime now.
Midfield was puzzling throughout. Sherry was about the only player all day to make any clean catches but again seemed to let the game pass him by at times. Blobby done some very good things and hit a belter of a point but you'd know he's a novice at this level.
He's all left and 9 times out of 10 will hit a foot pass rather than hand pass. Suppose the training now will soon sort that out but he lost the ball countless times trying fancy foot passes. At one stage he charged forward to shoulder his man at midfield, the Derry man got possession seen the hit coming dodged it and went on a charge with Blobby left 20 yards away before he got turned. No doubt he has the ability though and I hope to see him later in the summer, maybe even in at No 14. Think he'd be a better option there than McBarron anyhow. Ryder could also state a case for that jersey too. Disappointing collapse when the game should have been dead, though but for a bad error from Ciaran McElroy it was all over. Good to see him come up with the equaliser and we had cahnces to win it thereafter. Suppose that bit of character at the death was one of the main positives.
All in all, it's a wait and see job. National League should be very interesting.

[ExiledGael]

Couldn't get access to Tg4 today, how were Fermanagh? Bit of a disappointing result but suppose it matters little though the extra game or two in the knock-out stages would have been useful, heard Ryder scored a goal, did he impress again?