KeshGFC (Fermanagh) - Posts: 334 - 03/03/2022 11:50:02    2403597

NFL Div 3 Rd 3
Fermanagh 3-15 Laois 3-8
Scorers: Sean Quigley 1-5, Ryan Jones 0-2, Ciaran Corrigan 1-3, Ryon Lyons 0-2, Darragh McGurn 1-0, Conall Jones 0-1, Josh Largo-Ellis 0-1, Garvan Jones 0-1
An inspirational game and morale booster for the Fermanagh team and their manager.
Sean Quigley was the star of the game although the team collectively were must be praised.
Thank God things are on the up for Fermanagh which puts to bed macca999's misgivings!

erneboy (Fermanagh) - Posts: 1397 - 05/03/2022 17:17:36    2403931

NFL Div 3 update table
Pos Team P W D L F A Pts
1 Limerick 4 3 0 1 67 54 6
2 Antrim 4 2 1 1 55 44 5
3 Fermanagh 4 2 1 1 65 61 5
4 Louth 4 2 1 1 57 58 5
5 Westmeath 4 2 0 2 62 57 4
6 Laois 4 1 1 2 58 65 3
7 Longford 4 1 1 2 50 60 3
8 Wicklow 4 0 1 3 49 64 1

erneboy (Fermanagh) - Posts: 1397 - 05/03/2022 22:03:38    2404019

I'm finally seeing a clear manager stamp on our play which is very pleasing and they executed the plan quite well … Laois were very poor but we were clinical when chances arose … some poor decision making entering final 3rd and dare i say yet more patience required but we saw 4 or 5 players finally delivering on the promise of their ability yesterday .. our ability to patiently avoid contact up to their 65 may have been frustrating to watch but I think it showed maturity and clarity of purpose and I applaud management for that … hell we handed them 2 goals and still won by 6… we are in a healthy place of a good system good scoring rate serious goal threat but with a lot of little problems to fix … keeper surely deserves more time…. Too many block downs in first 10 so poor decisions… too many fouls conceded … lads taking good ball standing still approaching final 3rd so not penetrating .. but hell we are back

KeshGFC (Fermanagh) - Posts: 334 - 06/03/2022 09:17:47    2404026

Excellent win for Fermanagh at the weekend, great to see such a strong team performance! Quigley again showing how valuable of a player he is to this team but I am happy to see other forwards get in on the action in the form of Corrigan & McGurn especially. Bit of worry there with the 3-9 conceded, two really soft goals conceded that could have made the game unnecessarily tight and nervy. Still think Newman will come good though, he's an excellent presence in there which I think Fermanagh have lacked in years gone by since big Rony Gallagher was in the sticks. More of a tradition big block of a goalie in comparison to the outfield hybrids in other counties (would be keen to see what people in this forum think about the current tactic?).

Louth next weekend, very winnable game you would imagine but they are well drilled, If we win that, promotion push will surely be on then.

Bailah (Fermanagh) - Posts: 43 - 07/03/2022 13:05:34    2404250

Great result and display on Saturday, very encouraging display and could see the confidence in the younger players after the result in Longford. Conditions definitely helped from previous games and certainly contributed to a higher scoring game.

Excellent performances from Sean Quigley and Ciaran Corrigan, Seans kick passing on Saturday was a joy to watch, finding Conal Jones, Corrigan with some super passes whilst his blind pass to Josh Largo Ellis was top class.
Thought Laois would have been better, very naïve in leaving man for man with Quigley and Corrigan,space which we exploited well while they kicked alot of wasteful ball into our defence.
Good performances from Ryan Jones, Ryan Lyons and Aidan Breen, whilst Man of the Match Darragh McGurn caught 3 super kick outs in first half, must admit thought be better supporting forwards with scores but if keeps that level of performance up can be a real asset in middle sector.

Whilst the attacking play was impressive the defensive lapses need to be worked on, easily gave away 2-2 on Saturday which kept Laois in a contest that they were never winning after 20 minutes. Cant keep affording these lapses in concentration, as wont score 3-15 every week, plus conceding too many frees still which will cost us in remaining games if dont lower the free count. Cant firget Tyrone only few weeks away too.

Great to have got the win especially after Longfords result v Westmeath, division 3 is so close, easily could go into last game away to Limerick in position to get promoted or relegated on same day.

Louth on Saturday evening be another huge test, they have scoring threat and Mulroy will need some lots of watching. Winners will fancy themselves for promotion tilt while losers be looking over shoulder(same as Limerick v Westmeath, both who we are away to after this game, so after Saturday table will look alot clearer approaching home straight.

Was fantastic support in Brewster on Saturday, same again to help the lads over line v Louth

macca999 (Fermanagh) - Posts: 1096 - 08/03/2022 16:38:33    2404507

Ferm 14pts Louth 2g12pts. Disappointing with our team trailing the whole game with some ineffective play. I suppose macca will blame the goalkeeper as usual when we lose!!

Wired2theMoon (Fermanagh) - Posts: 36 - 13/03/2022 17:16:37    2405193

Was the battle of the sideline lost today does anyone think ? Did Donnelly come up against a tactician who watched a tape of us playing Laois and nullified us and we have no plan b ? The point dropped against Wicklow is huge now .. as this puts promotion just out of reach even with two wins … despite Antrim playing Louth next day we will likely at best equal one of them and lose out in head to head

KeshGFC (Fermanagh) - Posts: 334 - 13/03/2022 17:44:10    2405205

If I'm correct, it looks like Fermanagh has missed their opportunity for promotion even if they win their next games.
Updated Div 3 table
Pos Team P W D L F A Pts
1 Antrim 5 3 1 1 77 56 7
2 Louth 5 3 1 1 75 72 7
3 Westmeath 5 3 0 2 77 66 6
4 Limerick 5 3 0 2 76 69 6
5 Fermanagh 5 2 1 2 79 79 5
6 Laois 5 2 1 2 78 73 5
7 Longford 5 1 1 3 62 82 3
8 Wicklow 5 0 1 4 57 84 1

erneboy (Fermanagh) - Posts: 1397 - 13/03/2022 18:02:25    2405214

KeshGFC (Fermanagh) - Posts: 334 - 14/03/2022 21:16:44    2405473

What did we think of the game at the weekend? I didn't manage to make it down but it seemed to be another slow start akin to Laois & Longford except we couldn't turn it around this time. In fairness, lads had a ropey week with that stomach bug in and around the squad which I'm sure didn't aid preparation for the game. Unforunately still had a few players missing as a result.

Promotion seems to be off the cards now, would be heavily relying on other fixtures going our way to even have a sniff of a chance nevermind beating two solid teams in the shape of Limerick & Westmeath. We should hope now to win our remaining two games to try and build momentum into the championship and hopefully claim a scalp against the All-Ireland champions.

When was the last time Fermanagh beat Tyrone in the championship? Certainly hasn't been within my lifetime anyway.

Bailah (Fermanagh) - Posts: 43 - 16/03/2022 09:36:55    2405643

SkeaLad (Fermanagh) - Posts: 511 - 16/03/2022 10:38:09    2405659

Bailah (Fermanagh) - Posts: 43 - 16/03/2022 13:32:24    2405715

Hi skealad, I chatted my dad who remembers Fermanagh beating Tyrone in the semi final of the 1982 Ulster championship and went on to meet Armagh in the final, which he both attended.

THE 1982 ULSTER FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP SEMI-FINAL
Held on 27 June 1982 at Breffni Park, Cavan & the referee was S Murray (Monaghan)
Fermanagh 1-8 - 0-10 Tyrone
Fermanagh scorers: Dom Corrigan 1-3, Peter McGinnitty 0-5.
Tyrone scorers: T Feddis 0-5, F McGuigan 0-2, M Bradley 0-1, K McCabe 0-1, G Taggart 0-1.

A PREVIEW TO THE FINAL
A video clip of the preview to the final by BBC Sport
https://www.facebook.com/THECHAMPIONSHIP/videos/out-of-the-archive-1982/2604432723179321/

THE1982 ULSTER FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
Held on 18 July 1982 St. Tiernach's Park, Clones & the referee was J McCorry (Cavan)
Armagh 0-10 - 1-4 Fermanagh
Enroute to the final, Armagh had beaten Donegal 0-13 to 1-11 in Ballybofey in the quarter-final, then eased past Antrim 1-20 to 1-6 in the semi-final. Fermanagh had managed a one-point win over Derry in the quarter-final (1-9 to 1-8) and then beat Tyrone by the same margin in the semi-final (1-8 to 0-10).
Earlier that year Armagh had finished top of Division 1 in the National League although they had bowed out at the semi-final of the knockout stage to eventual winners Kerry. Fermanagh, in turn, had finished bottom of Division 2 and had been beaten in the preliminary round of the McKenna Cup. In that respect, progressing to the final was a significant achievement. It was to be the county's fourth appearance in the Ulster final and it was still waiting for its first title. Fermanagh had last beaten Armagh in the Ulster championship in 1966.
Fermanagh lined out as: P. Green, D. Fee, K. Campbell, N. Corrigan, J. Mohan, P. McCann, M. Sheridan, P. McGinnity, P. Courtney, A. McCaffrey, A. Jones, B. O'Reilly, O. McKenna, D. Corrigan, A. Mulligan.
The Armagh team selected for the game was: B. McAlinden, D. Stevenson, J. McKerr, J. Murphy, N. Marley, P. Moriarity, P. Rafferty, P. McMahon, C. McKinistry, D. Dowling, B. Hughes, A. Short, S. Devlin, J. Corvan, M. McDonald.
Armagh started more brightly of the two teams in front of a crowd of 18,000. In the first twenty minutes they dominated Fermanagh and scored three points to no reply. The margin could have been even larger as Sean Devlin had sent a goal chance wide and then Mickey McDonald had crashed another shot off the angle of the post and crossbar. It was 21 minutes into the game before Peter McKenna got Fermanagh's first point. Over the next ten or so minutes, two more Fermanagh points followed from Peter McKenna and Peter McGinnity to just the one point from Armagh. Fermanagh goalkeeper Peter Green almost gifted Armagh a goal as he came out of his goal and failed to claim the ball, but it bounced out off corner back Donal Fee for a 45. An Aidan Short point on 33 minutes gave Armagh a two-point lead, 0-5 to 0-3. Then, just before half-time, Fermanagh were living dangerously again as full forward John Corvan was free to fist the ball towards the Fermanagh goal. His shot narrowly missed the left-hand post and went wide, and it remained 0-5 to 0-3 at half-time.
In the second half, Armagh brought on Joe Kernan. Ten minutes into the second half and with either side yet to register a further score, Armagh had another opportunity in front of the Fermanagh goal as Joe Kernan had a shot taken off the line by John Mohan. A few minutes later, Kernan again got the ball in close to the Fermanagh goal but opted for a point and extended Armagh's lead, making it 0-6 to 0-3.
A minute later, Fermanagh had managed to work the ball up the field. Philip Courtney supplied a ball to Peter McGinnity 45 metres from the Armagh goal. McGinnity managed to evade his marker and get in to close range and buried a shot in the Armagh net to bring the sides level. Then, three minutes later, Courtney was hauled down and referee Jim McCorry awarded Fermanagh a free. McGinnity put the subsequent free over the Armagh bar to put Fermanagh in front for the first time. If Fermanagh could keep the lead for the next twenty minutes, they would finally take their first Ulster title.
Four minutes after McGinnity had given them the lead, he committed a foul on his marker Colm McKinistry within scoring range. John Corvan kicked over the free to put the sides level again, at 1-4 to 0-7. Armagh now switched Kernan into midfield and McMahon in to full forward. Within a couple of minutes, Dermot Dowling had snapped up a loose ball and fired it over the bar and Armagh were back in front. John Corvan quickly added another and suddenly, nine minutes after the goal, Fermanagh were again two behind.
For the next seven or so minutes the game hung in the balance. A long ball was sent into the Fermanagh forward line and Armagh full back Jim McKerr uncharacteristically allowed it to drop in behind him. Fermanagh full forward Aidan Jones pounced on the ball with the goal at his mercy. His shot was scrambled harmlessly wide.
As time ran out, Fermanagh, still only two points behind, tried to keep up the pressure and looked to get back on level terms or go one better. At almost the end of the match, though, it was Fran McMahon who had a blistering shot on goal. Peter Green in the Fermanagh goal pulled off a fantastic save although the ball was deflected over the bar for a point to put Armagh in a 0-10 to 1-4 lead. That was how the game ended.
Armagh went on to lose the All-Ireland semi-final to Kerry, 3-15 to 1-11. Fermanagh's next appearance in an Ulster final was against Armagh in 2008. On that occasion the final was a draw but Fermanagh lost the replay and still has yet to win the Ulster Senior Football Championship.
FINAL SCORE
Armagh 0-10 (D. Dowling 0-3, F. McMahon 0-2, J. Corvan 0-2, S. Devlin 0-1, J. Kernan 0-1, A. Short 0-1). Subs: J. Donnelly for Murphy, J. Kernan for McDonald, P. Loughran for Short.
Fermanagh 1-4 (P. McGinnity 1-2, P. McKenna 0-2). Subs: G. McElroy for Mulligan, K. McPartland for O'Reilly

erneboy (Fermanagh) - Posts: 1397 - 19/03/2022 10:18:03    2405787

I see the minors continue to underwhelm us .. 2 managers of the same age group as fathers of current minors and too familiar with fathers of too many players imo.. said it long time ago if we don't take underage development seriously then we are going nowhere … meanwhile club minors must wait half the summer to get a game … u20s seem in reasonable shape though … don't get me started on u19 leagues … with clubs having a fortnight heads up on fixtures … u15 leagues the same

KeshGFC (Fermanagh) - Posts: 334 - 19/03/2022 14:11:43    2405828

I've never stayed on to give the ref a piece of my mind but today in mullingar was the day to break that duck … ref completely out of depth as were linesmen .. why did we get three rookies in the same match .. joke today

KeshGFC (Fermanagh) - Posts: 334 - 20/03/2022 16:52:46    2405946

I've never ever stayed on after a match in all my days to share my thoughts about the officials but 3 rookies out of their depth combined to rob fermanagh today .. I mean why put 3 rookies out like that .. steps given that I've never seen given .. at 5th min of injury time when we about to score winner .. not to mention the clear point that wasn't given .. the linesman too busy thinkin bout the next sub to actually follow the play and see ball clearly go over as entire crowd behind observed ..

KeshGFC (Fermanagh) - Posts: 334 - 20/03/2022 18:00:42    2405969

Fermanagh certainly unlucky today, clear point not awarded, Sean Quigley was going wild with umpires for 5/6 minutes. Fermanagh better team, neither side good enough for division 2.

Claretandblue (Westmeath) - Posts: 1477 - 20/03/2022 18:38:35    2405978

Very poor refereeing in general in Division 3. 2 of our games were also ruined by poor decisions for both sides. The mind boggles. Louth v Westmeath for example, so many frees given and balls being constantly Brought forward.

ninjasmyth (Louth) - Posts: 712 - 20/03/2022 19:01:40    2405985

What a shocking display in Mullingar from the officials today, never seen such poor officiating, in a game that wants overly aggressive, 3 black cards and a red, in a fixture that meant so much to both teams.
Some of the decisions were beyond belief, awarded a free for a throw ball when Fermanagh had shooting opportunity on 13 metre line, harshly blew Ciaran Corrigan for overcarrying inside 13 metre line in final play when had chance to get winning score and thats not to mention Sean Quigleys clear point that the umpire somehow waved wide,how the ref didnt see this or linesman on stand side(too busy causing trouble and being centre of attention himself)


On the game itself,it was exciting to watch but the quality at times was very poor, both teams made numerous unforced turnovers and kicked poor wides on day whereby weather wasnt an issue. Division 3 is certainly the most evenly matched division of a highly competitive league but id argue that no stand out teams in it this year and quality is slightly lower than previous seasons.

Fermanagh were very fortunate to be only 2 points down at half time, Westmeath easily could have scored another 4 goals today, especially chance at very end, defensively far to open and once run at look so open, shape isnt there and lack in physicality is evident too. On 2 occasions we had 2 unsuitable players as last line of our defence which luckily went unpunished(Ryan Lyons and Garvan Jones).

The struggle to win any possession in midfield didnt help the defence in the first half, non existent and the kickouts again were delayed at times allowing Westmeath to press high. Richie O Callaghan looked fairly fit today, though dont think be long term option here(no sign of Stephen McGuillion today,is he injured?)

Fermanagh contributed to many of their own problems at times today, firstly dropping 4 scoreable changes short and then with running directly into contact with opposition, Ryan Jones, McMahon and McGurn done this today and led to easy turnovers.

To their credit the time kept battling away to the end even with the officials against them and have at least secured Division Three status for next year. It would have been a tough defeat to take after all the incidents that happened but the lads showed resilience which hopefully will stand to them in the harder tasks that lies ahead.
Promotion would have been the aim at start but being honest think current level of the county team is Division 3, if we were in Division 2 would be tough learning curve for the younger lads,so hopefully can build on that in next years campaign. Least can go to Limerick with the pressure off and use it to try few new things and as team binding trip befor e the acid test v Tyrone.

macca999 (Fermanagh) - Posts: 1096 - 20/03/2022 19:44:05    2406002