TYRONE and Fermanagh are to meet in a relegation play-off for the second time this season. The Red Hands and the Erne men will put their Nicky Rackard Cup status on the line in a sudden death shoot-out later this month.
Just a few weeks ago, they produced an extra-time thriller in an NHL Division 3A/3B promotion-relegation play-off at Ballyshannon, which saw the Red Hands come from behind for a win. In the meantime, both sides have crashed to successive defeats in the Rackard Cup, and one of them will drop to the Lory Meagher competition next season.
Tyrone lost out to Longford by 4-18 to 3-17 last weekend, while Fermanagh were beaten by Donegal, 3-15 to 3-11: “Fermanagh will be well up for us, there’s no doubting that. I suppose you could say we robbed them in the league relegation play-off,” said Tyrone selector John Devlin.
The Red Hands conceded four goals in the first-half of their clash with Longford at Pearse Park and while they fought back strongly with three of their own, those concessions proved costly in the end as they went down by four points.
“Longford were hungrier for the ball, they wanted it more, that’s the bottom line,” said Devlin.
But Tyrone do not have a full squad available, with a number of important players opting not to represent the Red Hands this season: “The panel we have at the minute is not that strong, so we need to regroup and get the players out that should be playing,” said Devlin.
Just two points separated the sides as the full-time whistle approached, but the Leinster men tagged on a handful of late scores to make sure of a quarter-final slot: “Near the end, if the ball has just broken the right way, we could have got a goal.”
Ace finisher Damian Casey scored 15 points when the Red Hands last faced Fermanagh, and last weekend, despite being hampered by injury, he hit 1-11, and was once again his team’s chief marksman.
“Damien’s playing there and he’s carrying an injury. It’s very hard for him, because we’re relying a lot on him. You can nearly see a limp with him at times, but he’s still providing the scores.”
The relegation play-off against the Erne men takes place on Saturday May 21, at a venue yet to be confirmed.
