DERRY V FERMANAGH Healy Park Sat 21st June Throw in: 6pm

[never kickt a ball]

ULSTER CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL
Venue: Healey Park. Date: Saturday, 21 June. Throw-in: 1800 BST
Coverage: Live: BBC2 NI, Radio Ulster MW and on the BBC NI website

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/7324411.stm

It's actually Healy Park. A 6pm Saturday evening throw in. This should be interesting with the Tyronies not knowing who to support  . A replay of a recent McKenna cup game (semi final I think) at Healy which Derry won.

[never kickt a ball]

DERRY V FERMANAGH Healy Park Sat 21st June 1800

What was the score?

[Doire abú]

6pm on a Saturday's no time for an Ulster Championship game.

[Doire abú]

Aye that was bad timing as well alright. Especially when you consider two Derry minors had to travel from the football in Ballybofey to play for the hurlers in Belfast.

[FermGael]

Well its Derry for us next and i have to say i would have preferred Donegal given our recent record against them. 
Healy park on a Saturday night will lead to a cracking atmosphere and i would presume the game will be all ticket.  I know that it may devalue the semifinal abit by not having it on a Sunday but TV pays the money, so they have to have some say in the scheduling.
As for the match itself, Well we have to stop the Paddy Bradley show and the only way that can be done is by winning the midfield battle.  Owens is a huge loss to us at full back. Although he did play for Teemore in the league this weekend, it was a sub appearance and he was way of the pace of the game.  It would be a miracle if the man plays, even as a sub. 
Womble and Marty at midfield are going to have a real battle with Doherty and Diver.  They will not win as much clean ball as they did against Monaghan.  Up front we have to be clinical.  If we hit any more than 10 wides in the game we will get beat. 
The one thing in our favour is the fact that we will be huge underdogs and that is a tag we can live with no problem whereas Derry will be on a hiding to nothing.  The pressure is on them.  They will be expected to beat Fermanagh comfortably. 
Should be quite a battle.  O'Rourke will know alot about the Derry team due to his spell with the Loup and that will be an advantage.  He is very tactically aware and his switches before the match started and during the game beat Monaghan

[AidyMac]

Was chatting to a former Derry player and he said that the one of the biggest things that Derry have to worry about is O'Rourke. (plus, the small light forwards)

He said that he would deploy any tactic to ensure a Fermanagh win, even if it means winning the game by 1 pt to nothing

O'Rouke and Drops knowledge of the Derry game would be immense and should be an interesting tussle.

Regarding the midfield, Derrry will be without Doherty, as I think he will geta month for that slap.

Hoping for a good game, and agree, this should have been on a Sunday.  Would this have happened if it was Tyrone and Armagh???

[orangeman]

Outrageous to have this game on Saturday evening - but I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that it won't matter as Derry will win by at least 6 !

[AidyMac]

Don't think so Orangeman

If anything, I think it will be a 1pt victory for either team

Should be an interesting battle

1) How will Fermanagh cope with the Bradleys?
2) How will Derry cope with the small light Fermanagh Forwards?
3) will both teams miss as many scores the next day?
4) Who wants it/ Deserves it more?

[orangeman]

Don't think so Orangeman

If anything, I think it will be a 1pt victory for either team

Should be an interesting battle

1) How will Fermanagh cope with the Bradleys?
2) How will Derry cope with the small light Fermanagh Forwards?
3) will both teams miss as many scores the next day?
4) Who wants it/ Deserves it more?

Honestly can't see Fermanagh producing anything that will get to within 6 points of Derry - the big field in Omagh will suit the Bradleys and the Bradley boys will score enough to beat Fermanagh on their own.

[whiskeysteve]

it will take a poor performance from derry to be beaten

[tintin25]

Prob have to agree with ya Orangeman....we can be competitive but our forward line is just too lightweight IMO.

[FermPundit]

Healy park on a Saturday night will lead to a cracking atmosphere and i would presume the game will be all ticket. 

Not sure if this game will be made all ticket, the main stand perhaps but I don't think Healy Park will be anywhere near full capacity. Fermanagh have a small supporter base and the Derry fans won't travel, especially against a side they should beat easily. Probably be a crowd of around 12-000-15,000 IMO.

6PM is a strange time for a throw in. Omagh is a hard enough town to get into and get parked, it'll be even harder on a Saturday afternoon. A 7pm throw in would be more logical.

Fermanagh have absolutely no pressure of them at all. Promotion to division 2 and the defeat of Monaghan in the first round means all main objectives of this year have been achieved. With Malachy O'Rourke on the sideline with his knowledge of Derry football you just never know. Derry were impressive in the second half yesterday but they are over reliant on Paddy Bradley. If we can compete at midfield and some how stop the ball into the Derry full forward line then we have a chance. A lot will depend on the weather as well. If it's a dry day then the Fermanagh forwards have the ability to run the legs off the Derry defence. It's a big ask but I honestly don't think this game wll be as one sided as many pundits will predict. Fermanagh have only lost one game this year (league and championship) and the winning habit will hopefully have a positive influence on the squad. I was at the McKenna cup semi final back in January and it was a horrible night for football so I wouldn't read too much into that result.

[billy the kid]

The mcKenna cup has absolutely no influence on this game as it was in january on a mucky pitch and both teams fielded that day bear little recognition to the teams that will take the pitch in the Ulster semi.

As for thinking Derry are going to walk it think again.  There are no easy games in Ulster apart from Antrim   And this Fermanagh team are well drilled, have buckets of belief and have a great tactician in MOR to compliment their obvious talent.  Derry will need to be at the very top of their game to beat them and will have to counter the sweeper system that Fermanagh are going to play in front of Bradley.  They would also need to realise that the attack has a left corner as well as a right.

Derry deserved to win yesterday but they have alot of work to do and problems to iron out if they are to win an Ulster title and beating Fermanagh will be a very tough obstacle in achieving that end.

I predict Derry to edge it but only if they are in top form and spread the scores a bit more.

Doire Abu

[Doire abú]

Derry kicked everything into that one corner on Sunday, but the strange thing is P Bradley usually focuses most of his runs into the other corner.

[Puckoon]

Derry are well on track to take down all the silverware this year.