Hurling & Camogie

Ernemen hoping to hold their ground as Rackard opener looms

Fermanagh captain Ryan Bogue will lead his men into battle against Donegal at Maguiresbridge tomorrow. Picture by Sportsfile
Fermanagh captain Ryan Bogue will lead his men into battle against Donegal at Maguiresbridge tomorrow. Picture by Sportsfile Fermanagh captain Ryan Bogue will lead his men into battle against Donegal at Maguiresbridge tomorrow. Picture by Sportsfile

Nicky Rackard Cup round one: Fermanagh v Donegal (tomorrow, Maguirebridge, 2pm)

IT’S once more into the breach for Fermanagh as they prepare for a return to the Nickey Rackard Cup – and this time they are determined to hold their ground.

The Ernemen are facing a major step up, with the first game of their campaign against a Donegal side who finished second in Division 2B and will harbour serious ambitions of pushing back up to Christy Ring level.

Indeed, outside of the promotion semi-final against Sligo a fortnight ago, the only game the Tir Chonaill lost in the League was to north-west neighbours Derry – and that was a closely contested affair in Letterkenny.

Manager Mickey McCann enlisted the coaching expertise of former Derry boss Gabriel O’Kane and it has paid dividends, while experienced forwards Richie Ryan and Declan Coulter – both of whom missed the defeat to Sligo – are expected to return to the starting 15.

The format of the Nickey Rackard Cup means the top two after five rounds of games will face off in the final, so Donegal will want to get off the mark with a win tomorrow.

For Fermanagh, though, the aim will be to try and secure their Rackard status, having gone straight back down after last time they landed the Lory Meagher Cup in 2015.

Captain Ryan Bogue was in Australia that day, and also found himself Down Under when the Ernemen lost the 2020 Meagher Cup decider to Louth – wide awake in a campervan “somewhere between Sydney and Byron Bay”, straining his eyes at an iPhone screen in the early hours of the morning.

“Jesus, like, it’s horrible not being there,” he recalls.

“It’s such a surreal feeling when you know that you could be there, but you just have no control over it. You’re on the other side of the world, and it’s just a horrible feeling that you are missing out and you have an empty feeling that you just want to be there.

“I didn’t even want to talk about it. My wife was sleeping when I was watching it, and I was sort of delighted because I didn’t want to have to talk about it.

“Louth were better on the day, but I was mad to get back then and get back involved.”

Thankfully for Bogue, and Fermanagh, he was home by the time last year’s Championship got under way – leading the Ernemen out at Croke Park and leading the celebrations when Cavan had been defeated in the Lory Meagher decider.

And he believes promotion from Division 3B, sealed with victory over Longford last weekend, shows the positive strides forward Fermanagh have made.

“We’ve been trying to get out of the lower divisions for the last couple of years, and I think this group is at the right stage at the minute to push on.

“A lot of the lads are still very young, it maybe took that extra year or two and now we’re ready to make that step in the League.

“Going in against Donegal, it’s a huge step up from where we were before. Donegal probably have big aspirations of winning the Nickey Rackard, and that’s where we want to be - to test ourselves against them.”