IF the Fermanagh players bring the “best versions of themselves” and squeeze every inch out of being on home soil on Saturday night, Erne boss Kieran Donnelly feels they stand a chance of upsetting defending All-Ireland champions Tyrone in the Ulster Championship opener.
The bookmakers’ odds and every match preview the Fermanagh players care to read ahead of this weekend’s Brewster Park encounter will depict them as ‘no-hopers’.
Tyrone are rated 1/14 to progress to the quarter-finals.
Making his managerial debut on the Championship stage, the Brookeborough clubman insists his players face a “massive challenge” but one they will relish.
Tyrone began to find some rhythm in their play towards the end of Division One while, after a stuttering start, trying to re-integrate the Derrygonnelly contingent and a fixture [against Louth] badly affected by COVID, Donnelly was relatively happy with Fermanagh’s body of work in the lower Division Three.
Asked if he regarded Saturday’s clash with the All-Ireland champions as unwinnable, Donnelly said: “The players train so hard as a collective so often that we want to bring the best version of ourselves.
“The fact that we know the Tyrone players there is maybe not the same fear factor because they are our next door neighbours. There is respect there, no doubt, but we feel we can compete and put ourselves in a position to win the game.
“Of course, we’re not going to make up the numbers and the fact it’s at our home venue, we are going in there to be really competitive and hope on the day that’s enough.”
A school-teacher at Omagh CBS for over two decades, Donnelly has coached several of the current Tyrone panel including Conor Meyler, Peter Harte, Niall Sludden, Ben McDonnell and Nathan Donnelly.
Harte, though, will miss Saturday’s Ulster preliminary round tie as he continues to recover from having his appendix removed a fortnight ago, while the hugely influential Mattie Donnelly is also out due to ongoing hamstring trouble.
Unlike their visitors, Fermanagh’s injuries appear to be clearing up at the right time with captain Declan McCusker in contention after missing several League matches while highly-rated midfielder Joe McDade is back having featured against Limerick in their last Division Three game on March 27.
“A good majority of the Tyrone players are all from the east now,” Donnelly said. “But I would have known a few of the lads during their school days at Omagh.
“Conor Meyler was one. He has really maximised himself. Mentally, Conor believed he was going to be a county footballer before he was one. He had natural cardio too.
“I remember we did the old bleep test and we had to stop the tape because Conor was just running and running. I remember doing it in our time and you were getting 13-14, but Conor was three levels above that. He was phenomenal – and that’s when he was 14 or 15.”
Donnelly added: “When you’re playing League games all year against teams you’re not sure of, you have to do a massive amount of studying on each player because you don’t really know them.
“The fact Tyrone are All-Ireland champions and you’ve watched them from afar and I know some of the Tyrone lads through school, you do know them inside out. Sometimes that can be a good thing and a bad thing.
“It is a help but then you need a solution to counteract those threats. Look, we’re very much aware that their team is coming into form and they had a really good performance against Kerry, and Mayo as well.
“We’ll need to bring massive energy and organisation to the game. It’s on our home ground too, so we’ll see where it takes us.”
