Ryan Jones – Interview
Fermanagh go in search of a McKenna Cup Semi-final appearance on Wednesday evening as they head towards Ballybofey and face former Fermanagh footballer Rory Gallagher’s Donegal side.
Ryan Jones has so far been in top form for the Erne County which has seen Pete McGrath’s charges pick up two valuable wins thus far. Jones is in a confident mood ahead of Wednesday’s encounter, “The victory on Sunday was a real positive one, it was important to back it up after the Queens game a week previous, we are now in a confident mood going into the Donegal clash.”
Jones continued, “We conceded a sloppy goal after half time on Sunday but we still continued to play the system we know and each man put his shoulder to the wheel to ensure we got the result that we really wanted.”
The Donegal side who will have Mark McHugh playing for them after his well-documented departure from the Donegal squad in 2014 will know that they face a Fermanagh side who have really hit the ground running. Jones though is also cautious of Donegal, “They had a convincing win over Queens University on Sunday last and I am sure they will have a strong side out on Wednesday evening. We want to be testing ourselves against one of the best teams in Ireland and we all know it will be a tough game, overall though I am confident that we can put in a very good performance.”
The Fermanagh side have reached the Semi-final of the McKenna Cup twice in the past three seasons and the Derrygonnelly Harps man is adamant they reach another Semi-final this year, “We defiently want to make the semi-final spot. The more games we get the better as this is a new squad and the more matches we play together then the more it helps the team and players get to know each other. We want as many games as possible before the big test at the end of January comes against Louth.”
Jones who has kicked 0-2 in the two opening games will know a test against the likes of Eamonn McGee, Frank McGlynn, Christy Toye and Mark McHugh will really tell us how much this Fermanagh side has improved as the 2015 season gets into full swing.
At the moment Fermanagh, Donegal and Derry can still all clinch top spot in Section B before this Sundays Semi-finals.
Top Scorer 2015
Fermanagh – Sean Quigley 2-8
Donegal – Martin O’Reilly 1-6
By Tom Tue 13th Jan
