Ulster Senior Football Championship
ANTRIM joint-manager Frank Fitzsimons believes the Saffrons could do with developing a cynical edge as they prepare to kick-start their Ulster Championship campaign against familiar foes Fermanagh on Sunday.
The counties have met three times in the Championship since June 2014, when Antrim stunned Fermanagh in a scorefest at Brewster Park, but Pete McGrath’s Erne men hold the upper hand after winning both of last summer’s showdowns.
However, the Saffrons come into Sunday’s clash in a much better place than before last year’s Ulster Championship opener, having gone undefeated throughout the National League to finally escape the clutches of football’s fourth-tier.
The only blemish on their record was losing the Division Four decider to Louth at Croke Park, the concession of three soft goals ultimately proving a fatal blow in their quest for silverware. The third goal in particular saw towering Wee county full-forward Conor Grimes burst past three Antrim players before losing, then regaining possession, eventually firing to the back of Chris Kerr’s net.
And Fitzsimons, who is joint-manager alongside Gearoid Adams, admits lessons must be learnt before Sunday’s game: “There was a wee bit of naivety,” he said.
“I’m not promoting the black card, but there were a few times we could’ve took a black card - a more experienced team would’ve done it. For our fellas going to Croke Park, it was a massive day and the last thing they wanted was to get a black card too, I suppose.
“There’s a lot of factors to consider, but the game was good for us, it gave us a lot of experience. It was my first time managing at Croke Park, it was a lot of the boys’ first time playing in Croke Park, so it was a big, big deal for them. But it’s out of the road now, it’s over with. We’ve addressed the things we thought we needed to work on and, hopefully against Fermanagh, it will be good enough to get us across the line.”
One man who could return to the Antrim fold on Sunday is midfielder Sean McVeigh. The Ballymena man had shown good form throughout the league, but was an unused substitute at Croke Park. Against a big, strong side like Louth, it was somewhat surprising McVeigh didn’t feature and Fitzsimons concedes the Saffron management “made mistakes on the night”.
He added: “There was nothing wrong with him to be honest - probably, looking back now, we could’ve brought him on.
“We’ve spoken to Sean about that, we spoke to a few players. It’s hard to keep the whole panel happy. We made mistakes on the night, the players made mistakes on the night, but Sean is Sean - he just comes and knuckles down and gets himself ready for the Fermanagh game.”
The Erne men come into Sunday’s game having successfully staved off the threat of relegation from Division Two and will be big favourites to progress to an Ulster quarter-final meeting with Donegal.
Yet, Fitzsimons believes the trials and tribulations of a tough campaign through the spring, as well as working alongside fitness coach Brian Magee, will stand his men in good stead
“Division Four’s a tough division - I wouldn’t like to be trying to get out of it again. It’s not easy down there,” he said.
“Fermanagh are a good team. I said last year they were the most improved team in Ulster and I still say it. They’ve improved a lot under Pete and, obviously, they’ve bought into everything he’s brought to it, which our lads have done this year as well.
“We have a lot of lads back who weren’t playing last year and a lot of the younger ones have another year’s experience. The boys have trained and worked very hard.”
