Saturday 21 June 2008

O'Rourke gets it right on the night

Whatever Fermanagh manager Malachy O'Rourke has got I wish I could bottle it.
His record of success wherever he has gone has been phenomenal but tonight he got it completely right against Derry to bring Fermanagh to their first Ulster final in 26 years, and if his team continue to work as hard as they did tonight they will win it.
The Ernemen had stars all over the field tonight.
Murphy and McGrath worked like Trojans and McGrath's ability to soak up hits and continue his runs was a joy to watch.
Mark Little ran himself into the ground linking up defence and taking his team on to the attack.
Eamon Maguire and Ryan Keenan always seemed to be available and at times it looked like the Ernemen had a man over they worked so hard.
I thought early on that Sherry was going to be their undoing at the back as Eoghan Bradley took a goal and a point off him in the early stages but he stuck to his task and eventually got on top aided by some strong defending by Goan and McDermott.
What also impressed was the fact that they didn't panic after Derry's great start.
They did get a rub of the green when Ronan Gallagher saved a penalty, which should never have been awarded against Marty McGrath.
And they ate into Derry's six-point lead with half backs Tommy McElroy and Damian Kelly showing the way with great points.
McCabe too did a great job when he came on popping up everywhere to keep the ball moving.
Fermanagh do play an awful lot of short ball but they mix up the hand passing with some great diagonal balls into space where players are working tirelessly to get on the end of them.
If they have a problem at all, it is in scoring.
They have to work tremendously hard for everything they get and if they had have been a little bit more ruthless in front of goal they would have had Derry dead and gone ten minutes before the end of the game.
No one will enjoy playing against the Ernemen and they will not fear either of the other two sides still left in Ulster.
If O'Rourke can keep his best players fit and healthy, and incidentally it was great to see Barry Owens back and magical that he scored the goal in his first game back after serious illness, they will be hateful team to play against.
This year's Ulster championship has already been one to remember, let's hope that Down and Armagh can serve up another thriller.

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