Football

Kieran Donnelly hopes doggedness can stand to Fermanagh with promotion in sight

The driving runs from deep of Ultan Kelm have been central to Fermanagh's push for promotion from Division Three. Picture by Seamus Loughran
The driving runs from deep of Ultan Kelm have been central to Fermanagh's push for promotion from Division Three. Picture by Seamus Loughran
By Neil Loughran

VICTORY over Westmeath on Saturday night would leave Fermanagh on the brink of promotion to Division Two – and Erne boss Kieran Donnelly hopes the never-say-die attitude displayed throughout the campaign can see his men across the line again.

A win would move Fermanagh onto 10 points heading into the final weekend of games, taking the Lake County – currently on six – out of the picture.

Ulster rivals Down can still make it to 10 points if they win their remaining games at home to Longford and away to Offaly but, having lost to Fermanagh last month, it is the Ernemen who would go up on head to head record should both counties finish up on the same tally.

However, if Offaly win their final two games - away to Tipperary and home to Down - Fermanagh would need a draw against Cavan on the last day, with the Faithful having already beaten the Ernemen.

That ups the stakes significantly in Ederney on Saturday night, but Donnelly’s side have already shown they can carry the weight of growing expectation within the county.

That earlier defeat to Offaly could have derailed their promotion push early on, yet Fermanagh held off a Down fightback to edge a thriller in Ederney, Sean Quigley’s late goal snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

In Belfast a week later, after trailing Antrim by eight midway through the second half, the Ernemen closed the gap before plundering 1-2 in the dying minutes – Quigley with the goal again – to claim another vital two points.

Those experiences have strengthened the bond and belief within the panel and, heading into such a crucial game, Donnelly hopes that stomach for the fight can stand to Fermanagh again.

“That’s been a key to us evolving as a squad,” he said.

“We feel we have come through those scenarios in the National League, we have learnt a lot about ourselves. There’s been games where we’ve played really well like against Down, then others like against Antrim where we’ve had to show a lot of character.

“That has given the squad character, to know we can react to those different scenarios. We’ve displayed good game-management on those occasions, and it’s is something that’s hard to even replicate at training, that sort of pressure.

“It has put us in a good place, being aware of what to do in those situations. No doubt Saturday will be a very similar, and we’ll need all those tools again to get us over the line.

“But we never feel we can get too far ahead of ourselves - every game we’ve played this year has been massive, in terms of the stage we’re at in our development.

“The way the League has evolved, this one takes on a life of its own, but there’s no doubt Westmeath are going to be the best team we’ve played. We’re very aware of that.”

The counties know each other well, having also met in the penultimate round of Division Three fixtures last year.

Both were in the promotion hunt at that stage too and, although the game finished in a draw, Fermanagh were left frustrated when a second half Quigley ‘point’ – which would have edged the Ernemen two ahead in Mulingar - was erroneously waved wide by the umpire.

In spite of that setback, Donnelly has continued to develop an exciting young panel, and playing Division Two football would be an important step up.

“We do feel that.

“Fermanagh is a footballing county… at times your pool isn’t massive, but we try to maximise our players and keep our standards really high. Those are the things we know we can control.

“We have a really good group of young players that have come through, they’re a pleasure to train and be involved with, and we feel that if we keep ticking those boxes, we can keep going in the right direction.

“We don’t get overly worried about looking too far down the road, we just want to keep good habits among the squad and if we do that we have the talent to kick us on to the next level.

“Whether that’s this season or whatever, we do feel we’re moving in the right direction.”