FERMANAGH host Antrim on Wednesday in their last group game in the McKenna Cup as they look to keep alive their slim hopes of a place in the semi-final.
The best second placed team from the three groups will qualify but the Ernemen will need something of a miracle to make the last four. Fermanagh lost out by a single point to Monaghan in their opening fixture before beating St Mary’s by six points at the weekend. That five-point score difference will have to be improved upon significantly if they are to qualify.
Meanwhile Antrim will be looking to salvage something from a competition that has saw them lose to St Mary’s by the minimum before suffering a chastening defeat at the hands of Monaghan.
Fermanagh fielded a much more experienced side in their opening fixture against the Farney men and the anticipation is that they will revert to something similar tonight against Antrim.
Fermanagh do need to find some additional scoring power however, 10 different scorers were on the board against St Mary’s but with Sean Quigley likely to be missing for part of the league the Fermanagh faithful are still waiting for someone to step forward and help share the scoring burden with Tomas Corrigan.
Pete McGrath will also be looking for his side to show a greater level of concentration in this fixture. A niggling and recurring trait reared its head against St Mary’s when two periods of slumber allowed the students to go on scoring sprees that brought them right back into the mix.
Fermanagh’s penchant for switching off has been well documented over recent years and they will need to tighten this aspect of their game up considerably if they are to make the breakthrough that McGrath maintains they are well capable of.
Antrim were beaten by 17 points against Monaghan and it is expected that they will bring a little more intensity to proceedings tonight. Too often they offered token resistance to Monaghan and they were punished for their generosity on a consistent basis.
Joint manager Gearoid Adams was both reflective and honest after the game when he said his players showed naivety in their display and that the step up from club football represented a different level of play and one that some were not used to. Adams though made no apologies that the McKenna Cup for Antrim is about unearthing players and not necessarily winning matches.
In this respect it was a fresh faced Saffron side that took on Monaghan and we can expect more of the same tonight. They should be better for their experience at the weekend and there is no doubt that they will play with more urgency when they take to the Brewster Park sod. Conor Small and Ruairi Scott have both impressed will need watched by the Fermanagh defence. Kevin Niblock and Thomas McCann are more experienced campaigners who have featured so far and they have enjoyed some good days at the Fermanagh venue.
For Fermanagh they will once again look to Eoin Donnelly in the middle of the field to drive forward their challenge while Aidan Breen has continued his rich vain of form and is maturing into one of the finest half backs in Ulster.
Expect Fermanagh to try and hit the ground running and for Antrim to be more prepared for the challenge.
