ALL IRELAND QUALIFIER ROUND 1B
Wexford v Fermanagh
Innovate Wexford Park @ 5.00pm
Referee – Eddie Kinsella (Courtwood, Laois)
Fermanagh travel the long 184 miles to Innovate Wexford Park this weekend in the Round 1B Qualifier clash that both sides will go in knowing that a win is very much possible.
Fermanagh are 1/2 favourites and after a strong Division 2 NFL campaign and a victory over Antrim (1-12 to 0-9) in the Ulster Championship Preliminary round Pete McGrath’s charges will be hell bent on making up for the defeat to Donegal (2-12 to 0-11) 2 weeks ago in the Ulster Championship Quarter Final in Ballybofey.
Fermanagh are still in a good place and losing to Donegal is certainly no disgrace, however after a run in last year’s Qualifiers that resulted in wins over Antrim, Roscommon and Westmeath, it is certain that this Fermanagh squad will not want the 2016 All Ireland Championship to end in Wexford town.
Tomas Corrigan and Sean Quigley will be called upon to find the scores, Corrigan has hit 0-9 and 0-7 in his two Championship games to date, while Quigley grabbed a goal against Antrim and who can dare to forget his sensational 2-36 in last year’s Championship.
Wexford had a poor 2015 with the loss of some vastly experienced players, they still were to defeat a Down side in last year’s Qualifiers so Fermanagh have been well warned on this.
2016 has seen manager David Power go with a young squad that finished 3rd in NFL Division 4 with US soccer prodigy Donal Shanley impressing this season with 0-48 (37 of those points coming from placed ball).
In the league Donal Shanley top scored in the 7 games while players such as Ciaran Lyng (2-6), Ben Brosnan (2-10) and John Turbitt (2-12) impressed in the scoring stakes.
In the Leinster Championship they faced Kildare and although at a rain sodden Croke Park they trailed at half time, 0-3 to 0-7, David Power’s side put in a much improved second half performance and only for a 72nd minute free from experienced attacker Ciaran Lyng hitting the post the Model county could have claimed a deserved draw.
In defence for Wexford Joey Wadding, Syl Byrne and captain Brian Malone have all impressed this season. At midfield Colm Kehoe and Daithi Waters will most likely partner each other, while attackers Ben Brosnan and Donal Shanley will need to be carefully watched.
Both these sides have met before in the Qualifiers with Fermanagh last winning in 2007 (2-12 to 0-11) while they did claim promotion to NFL Division 2 back in 2015 with a 1-12 to 0-7 victory at Innovate Wexford Park.
Despite Wexford playing in Division Four of the Allianz Football League this season and a number of players out injured they still put it up to a Kildare side that could make a Leinster Championship Final on Sunday.
Fermanagh’s two games to date will stand to them and here is hoping we make the journey back to Fermanagh on Saturday evening with a round 2B clash to look forward to against Cork, Mayo, Monaghan/Donegal or Kildare/ Westmeath.
Good luck Fermanagh!
By Tom Thu 23rd Jun
