Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup Section B: Fermanagh v St Mary’s (Wednesday, 8pm, Garvaghey)
THIS is where it all began for Pete McGrath and Fermanagh - a Wednesday night and a rearranged McKenna Cup tie against St Mary’s.
The only difference this time is that, instead of the foggy Brewster Park of that evening, the game has been moved to Garvaghey because of the Enniskillen ground’s unplayable pitch.
What transpired two years ago, almost to the day, was a fairly inglorious beginning to the Down legend’s reign. Goals from Conall McCann, Tomás Canavan and Ronan Sexton cancelled out a Séamus Quigley penalty as the Ranch set for home with a 3-8 to 1-10 win.
So much has changed since then. It was all hasty in the beginning. The first year was simply a bedding in period. But they approached last year’s McKenna Cup having been given the opportunity to prepare properly and what came of that was, not only a run to the semi-final, but the confidence which propelled them to the season they enjoyed.
“It definitely fed into the mindset of the players,” said the Fermanagh boss.
“There’s no doubt the four games last year allowed us to learn about ourselves and get a system of play into place, so that we did hit the start of the Division Three campaign from a very, very good position.
“We had momentum, confidence and a bit of cohesion and all those things were important to our promotion. It put us in good stead for the league. If we can get the same product this year, we’d be happy enough,” he added.
And yet, he also viewed their semi-final defeat by Cavan as something of a blessing in disguise. Philip Tinnelly’s late goal denied them what would have been a shot at some rare silverware, but it also gave them a break before beginning their league campaign.
“In certain ways, we were maybe fortunate we didn’t get to the final, which was played the week before the league. The wee break between the McKenna Cup and the league gave us adequate breathing space,” recalls McGrath.
With no retirements or defections in the closed season, the Erne manager is heading into his third term in a strong position. In the short term, though, he will be without a handful of his more experienced campaigners.
Having gotten married last week, Marty O’Brien will miss the McKenna Cup campaign, while Ryan McCluskey and Niall Cassidy are also unlikely to feature in the competition after taking extended breaks. Ryan Jones, Richard O’Callaghan and goalkeeper Thomas Treacy are all recovering from injury, while Sé Cullen and Ruairí Corrigan are university-tied, having featured in Queen’s defeat by Tyrone last Sunday.
That will afford opportunities to the like of Kane Connor (Belnaleck), Ryan Hanna (Derrygonnelly), Pat Cadden (St Patrick’s), Ryan Hyde (Maguiresbridge) and Tom Clarke (Lisnaskea). McGrath feels the new faces will require steady hands alongside them in order for him to fully assess their potential.
“You can’t fire in seven or eight rookies and have very little experience around them and expect them to show what they can do,” he said.
“Even the team we had selected for Sunday would have had three new faces, plus a number of fellas on the squad last year and a few experienced men. In order to give those people trying to make an impact a fair opportunity, you have to have experience dotted around your team. There has to be a stability and a certain level of experience to give those guys an opportunity.”
As for St Mary’s, the depth of their inter-county experience is fairly limited. Beyond Down star Kevin McKernan, their squad contains a handful of players on the fringes of their respective county sides. Tyrone trio Conall McCann, Conor Meyler and Danny McBride are joined by Derry’s Brian Óg McGilligan, Niall Toner and Neill McNicholl, as well as Antrim forward Danny McBride.
Down’s Ryan Johnston is also on Paddy Tally’s squad, though his brother Jerome is sidelined with a shoulder injury that will rule him out. They also lost Kieran McGeary after he was called into the Tyrone setup, while Armagh defender James Morgan is currently tied up with club duty as he prepares for Crossmaglen’s upcoming All-Ireland semi-final with Castlebar.
“Over the years, we’ve found our boys go into Sigerson much better, much more up-to-speed than they would have done without the McKenna Cup,” said St Mary’s boss Tally.
“No matter what kind of county team it is, they’re very competitive games and, if you get through it without any major injuries, you learn a lot and it cuts back on looking for challenge games, which are hard to get.
“College football is very disjointed around Christmas. You have a bit of football October and November and then nothing until January and the season’s finished up by mid-February. The McKenna Cup allows you to get your team together and bond and to maybe work on a system or an idea for Sigerson.”
