Fermanagh 1-13 Westmeath 0-7
With each passing victory, evergreen Pete McGrath becomes more like the pied piper and the Fermanagh team is certainly dancing to his tune.
After losing to Monaghan in the Ulster semi-final five weeks ago, McGrath made the bold assertion that his unfancied team would still be alive come August, and the players have responded to that public declaration of confidence.
In a character-building qualifier win over Westmeath in Kingspan Breffni Park on Saturday evening, Fermanagh showed character in adversity, overcoming several setbacks to reach the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals for the first time since 2004 and set up a first ever championship meeting with Dublin.
Some Fermanagh supporters may fear what Jim Gavin’s rampant attack will do to their well organised defensive system, but McGrath is sure this is no time to buckle or bend the knee.
“We will approach the game on Sunday in the exact same way as we’ve approached every other game this year,” he said.
“If we don’t, we will be sitting ducks, and we aren’t going down there to be sitting ducks.
“Obviously we are going to have a huge task in our next game but these players do not know when to quit.
“They are playing exceptionally well, have great heart and character, and if they can take that to Croke Park next week, who knows what will happen.”
Fermanagh overcame two black cards, a bad penalty decision and an injury to captain Eoin Donnelly to triumph against Westmeath, who collapsed in the second half.
Ill-discipline resulted in first-half black cards for Fermanagh defenders Marty O’Brien and Ryan McCluskey, and Ruairi Corrigan was denied a clear penalty in the 43rd minute, when he was pushed in the back.
Tomas Corrigan starred with 1-7, his dink over substitute goalkeeper Gary Connaughton in the 64th minute putting the gloss on a fine individual display.
McGrath made a match-winning switch towards the end of the first half, taking an off-colour Sean Quigley off the frees after three misses and moving him out the pitch.
Instead, Tomas Corrigan was isolated inside on his own and took over the free-taking duties, and both moves paid off.
Quigley got on a lot of ball in a deeper role, while Corrigan crucially kicked points from play off either foot before half time, helping Fermanagh recover from a bad start and a 0-5 to 0-2 deficit to level the scores at the break.
Even without John Heslin and Ger Egan, Westmeath were threatening up front early on, but Corrigan’s points before the interval were crucial in the context of the game.
“A lot of things were pushing against us but the five minutes before half time certainly steadied the ship,” McGrath stated. “There were a lot of tentative performances in the first half and when you start hitting a lot of wides, it can destabilise a team.
“At half time we all, management and players, accepted that we weren’t playing well enough - but we were still level.We knew if we went out in the second half and brought our best performance into the game, then we were going to win it.
“And in fairness, the two players who spoke loudest in the changing room were the two who had received black cards. The players went out to play, particularly for those two.”
Westmeath were devoid of ideas in the second half, going 27 minutes without a score. In between times, Fermanagh hit 1-6 without reply.
Manager Tom Cribbin, who wants to stay on for a second year in charge, was at a loss to explain their poor second-half showing.
“It’s very difficult to take and hard to put your finger on what went wrong. This is a massive thing for Westmeath to get this far and a lot of nervous energy showed in the players. Fermanagh have won a lot of games this year and we were coming straight off a defeat, and it does tell.”
Cribbin refused to blame the 13-point Leinster final defeat by the Dubs as a reason for their second-half malaise. “We were 0-5 to 0-2 up in the first half and playing well, and things seemed to be going right for us.
“We sat back a bit then and next thing it was five points all. So you can’t blame the Leinster final or anything else. We just didn’t play in the second half.”
Fermanagh: T Treacy; M Jones, T Daly, N Cassidy; M O'Brien, R McCluskey, J McMahon; E Donnelly, R O'Callaghan; B Mulrone, R Jones, D McCusker (0-2); P McCusker (0-1), S Quigley (0-2, f), T Corrigan (1-7, 5f)
Subs: D Kelly (0-1) for O'Brien (BC, 18), R Corrigan for McCluskey (BC, 28), C Jones for Donnelly (45), C Cullen for Cassidy (70)
Westmeath: D Quinn; K Maguire, K Gavin, F Boyle; K Daly, P Holloway, J Dolan; D Corroon, P Sharry; J Gilligan, R Connellan (0-1, f), K Martin; J Connellan (0-4, 2f), D Glennon (0-1), S Dempsey (0-1)
Subs: G Egan for Connellan (HT), D Lynch for Maguire (41), D Daly for Dempsey (47), G Connaughton for Quinn (55), L Smyth for Glennon (57), P Greville for Holloway (57)
Referee: Padraig Hughes (Armagh)
