Only two teams have so far failed to win a senior provincial title in football. In Leinster, Wicklow are still waiting, while in Ulster, Fermanagh have yet to get their hands on the Anglo Celt Cup. However, Pete McGrath, as manager of the latter, believes he has a group of players that can create history and bring home a first provincial crown.
It’s the aftermath of Fermanagh’s defeat to Dublin in the All-Ireland quarter-final. McGrath is raking over the coals of that loss. He laments the nine wides kicked in the opening half and the costly turnovers that yielded “easy scores” for Dublin.
Ten points down at half-time and with the game gone from them, Fermanagh could have wilted, but McGrath was delighted with the “character, courage, enthusiasm and high-skill levels” that underlined his side’s second-half showing. In the end, Fermanagh lost by eight points; many had predicted they would lose by twice that.
And so the 2015 season is at an end for the Ernesiders. “A lot of positive boxes have been ticked,” was McGrath’s assessment of the journey.
Promotion to Division 2, three championship victories and a couple of visits to Croke Park is a real indicator that Fermanagh have made progress. Already, thoughts are turning to 2016.
"We have the players to do it. I don’t say that with any kind of arrogance, I say it with belief, total belief"
“As a collective, we must all sit down now and plot out next season and try to ensure that the graph keeps rising,” said McGrath with steely determination.
Winning silverware is also foremost in his mind and the main target for next year is to reign supreme in Ulster.
“Fermanagh have never won an Ulster championship and that is our target,” he added
“We’ll now work towards that and I feel it’s something that we can achieve. A provincial title is everybody’s ambition in the province.
“Why should Fermanagh not be able to stand up and say that our objective for next year is to win our first Ulster title. No other Ulster county has that as their objective – but we have. I think it would be a marvellous achievement for this group of players that they could go on and be the first Fermanagh team to do that.
“We have the players to do it. I don’t say that with any kind of arrogance, I say it with belief, total belief.”
The former All-Ireland winning manager with Down also believes that playing in a higher division next spring will help in their bid for summer success.
“We’re in a very tough Division 2. It will be a mini-Ulster Championship with five Ulster teams in it. There is one thing for sure that by the end of that campaign, we’ll be battle-hardened for championship.
"Getting to Division 1 is also important. You’ve got to try and push up through the ranks.”
