McKenna Cup – Group B
Fermanagh v Antrim
Brewster Park, Enniskillen @ 8pm
Wednesday January 18th
Referee – Joe McQuillan (Cavan)
A defeat and a win gives Fermanagh a chance of making the Semi Finals of this year’s McKenna Cup but a comprehensive win will have to be gained against a Saffron’s side who are still looking for a win in this year’s competition.
The Fermanagh side will be looking 26 miles down the road to see how Tyrone and Donegal get on with the Fermanagh side having to better the Tyrone winning margin by at least 4 points before looking to see how Armagh get on as well against Down before seeing who can claim the Semi Final places.
This may be Pete McGrath’s last competitive game before we head to Newry on Saturday February 4th and a meeting with Down to start this year’s Division 2 NFL campaign which will see us having 4 away games and 3 at Brewster Park.
The Wednesday evening game at Brewster Park should see Fermanagh lineout with a number of the panel again getting a chance to impress the management team with injuries continuing to rule out a clutch of the more experienced players such as Ryan Jones and Ruairi Corrigan.
The opening game of the competition with Monaghan seen us go down 0-16 to 0-15 to a rather strong Farney side while Sundays encounter with St Marys seen the Ernesiders always hold the upper hand in a game that seen a welcome return and goal from Tempo ace Daryl Keenan.
The Fermanagh side have been going well and will want to finish off the group stage with another positive win even if they just fail to make the Semi Finals this coming weekend.
Fermanagh moved the ball well on Sunday and it has been hugely encouraging to see players like Cian McManus, Lee Cullen, Ryan Hyde and Tommy McCaffrey putting in impressive shifts and giving Pete McGrath plenty to ponder with Down on the horizon in early February.
For Antrim it’s been a disappointing start for Frank Fitzsimons and Gearoid Adams charges in 2017.
The Saffron’s started their Group B campaign with a one point defeat against St Marys University in Glenavy and seven days later it was another defeat at the St Josephs club grounds as a rampant Monaghan side rattled the home side on a scoreline of 2-20 to 0-9.
The Saffron’s are missing up to 12 players at various University sides in Ulster and Dublin so it can be argued that once the NFL Division 3 campaign starts for the Saffron’s with a game away to Tipperary we may then see a much stronger side.
Chris Kerr who has became a well known face in Brewster Park along with his team mates over the past few seasons will most likely take up the number 1 position with defenders Niall Delargy, Patrick Gallagher and James Laverty bringing experience to the back.
Kevin Niblock and Ryan Murray will be looked upon for scores in Enniskillen while the likes of Conor Small (Creggan), Seamus McGarry (Aldergrove) and Ruairi Scott (St Endas Glengormley) are three players who have won at Brewster Park in the Ulster Minor Championship in 2015 and 2016 so they know what it’s like to win on the Brewster Park surface.
Of the Fermanagh squad Conor Murphy, Che Cullen, James Allen and Kevin McDonnell have still to see any game time.
