Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup Section C: Fermanagh v Queen's University, Belfast (tomorrow, Brewster Park, 2pm)
QUEEN’S manager Aidan O’Rourke is anticipating an “angry” response from his players as they attempt to get their Dr McKenna Cup campaign back on track against Fermanagh tomorrow afternoon.
The Malone Road men travel to Brewster Park still smarting from Wednesday night’s 15-point trimming at the hands of a relatively inexperienced Donegal outfit.
The short gap between games gives the students the chance to quickly rectify the situation, and O’Rourke is hopeful of a much improved performance.
“We’re obviously disappointed with how we performed against Donegal on Wednesday,” he said.
“We made a lot of nervous mistakes early on and never really settled into the game until it was almost too late.
“The players are angry with themselves as they know they didn’t do themselves justice in round one, so Sunday represents a great opportunity to rectify that and show that they are all capable of playing county football.”
They shouldn’t expect a soft landing from an Erne county side hoping to build on their 2-11 to 0-12 win over Monaghan midweek.
That result ensured a winning start to the Rory Gallagher reign and another two points here would leave them with one foot planted in the semi-finals.
Wednesday’s victory was just their third since last January’s defeat of Antrim with the county going on to lose eight of their remaining 10 games in all competitions last season.
It may only be January, but getting back to that winning habit is a prerequisite to a Fermanagh revival after last year’s disappointments.
Once again, Pat Cadden is expected to start in goals as his conversion from outfield player to net-minder continues.
Cadden had a good first outing against the Farney, a fine save from Darren Freeman capping off a positive night when his distribution was spot on.
That was just one of many aspects that would have pleased Gallagher.
Paul McCusker, Aidan Breen and Lee Cullen were bringing a real drive and directness to proceedings while their two goals, scored by Conall Jones and Breen, were brilliantly taken.
One real positive note was that Fermanagh had nine different scorers. Nine was their maximum spread last year in 13 fixtures, the number obtained in their McKenna Cup win over St Mary’s and their Division Two victory away to Down. Their season average was just above six.
While Fermanagh had nine different players raising flags against Monaghan, Queen’s had only three in their 2-15 to 0-6 loss in Ballybofey.
Two points from play in 70 minutes, both from Emmet Bradley, was a pitiful return and that’s one area that O’Rourke will be expecting big improvement in.
Their attacking potential wasn’t helped by an early injury suffered by Donegal man Lorcan Connor.
A torn quad not only impacts his McKenna Cup hopes, but also leaves his Sigerson participation in doubt.
That will lead to one enforced change, but O’Rourke heavily hinted that there would be plenty of rotation to go along with it.
“With three games in eight days and knocks picked up on Wednesday, there will be some natural change to the team and squad at the weekend,” he said.
“We are very much focused on the Sigerson Cup at the end of the month and the McKenna Cup gives fellas a great stage to stake a claim for places.”
For Fermanagh, the focus will be on the minor details that Gallagher referenced after the Monaghan match.
“There is not one big thing to reach that next level, it is a lot of small things all added together,” he said.
“So it is not just about wides or balls dropped short for example, it is other things as well like maybe a lack of support and I thought in the second half we improved on that, there were a lot more runners off the shoulder.”
It’s likely Gallagher will give a few new recruits their chance against the students but the message will be the same – keep it sharp, work hard, tidy up on those “small things.”
O’Rourke may be hoping for an angry response, but it’s unlikely to be enough to quell Fermanagh’s good start under their new boss.
