It was almost a glorious day in every way at Brewster Park on Sunday last, the first inter-county game in the new revamped stadium on new sod, bags of sunshine, a near capacity attendance (14,500), a great win for the seniors over fancied Monaghan but unfortunately a disappointing display and a defeat for the minors.
Michael Breslin chatted to players, managers and fans after Sunday's match:
n PETER SHERRY
(FERMANAGH DEFENDER)
"Liam's goal was a great help. That is why we had him in there to take the chances. Monaghan probably didn't get a rub of the green. Our defence knew if we gave them an inch they had men in there who would skin you alive. In the second-half especially, they were putting in the long high ball for Vincent Corey who is a great man at breaking it down for the forwards, so we tried not to give them an inch, and we played to our game plan the whole time".
n MARTIN McGRATH
BBC'S MAN OF THE MATCH
"Yes, I took a few knocks, including a cut on the head which the referee didn't see either, but that's good enough. As you know, I have been away and I found the going tough, but glad to be back. But, at the end of the day, it's only one game, and make sure you print that. We're through against either Derry or Donegal. Today's game is over".
n JOE KERNAN
FORMER ARMAGH ALL-IRELAND WINNING MANAGER
"Coming into this match, people would have been talking about Monaghan, perhaps from last year, and Fermanagh being the Cinderella County in Ulster but, once again, Fermanagh rose to the occasion. They dominated most of the match and for a while in the second-half when Monaghan came at them there were a few doubts. But, once they got the point and then the goal, there was only one winner.
"There were some great performances, Martin McGrath in the middle of the field and (Mark) Murphy: some of the fielding was excellent, and it's great to see that as part of the game. After this performance, Fermanagh is going to be improved confidence-wise by 20 per cent, so it doesn't matter who they meet next. They will be ready for them. I enjoy the way they play. They always play with enthusiasm, and this is only the first game. They will improve the further they go on".
n SEAMUS McENEANEY
MONAGHAN MANAGER
"Very disappointed. Did we under-estimate Fermanagh? Absolutely no way. We knew we were in for a serious battle, and the question was would we hang in but, unfortunately, we were too far away with 68 minutes to go. We were really, really prepared for the game. We felt, yes, I was disappointed not to get promotion but, listen, when we left Croke Park on 12th August last year there was only one thing that mattered to us, and that was today's game.
"The bottom line is that these fellows have given up the last 5-6 months of their lives for today's game. They're shattered in there and it's wild disappointing that the effort we have put in over those seven months is down the drain. Yes., I would have loved to be going (to Croke Park) on the high road, but we have to travel by the low road and battle our way back into it".
n PAUL COYLE
FERMANAGH BACKROOM STAFF
"A great performance for the first round of the championship. Monaghan were well fancied, so it's just reward for the amount of work that this panel has put in. But, we have only one game won. We have a lot of work to do. Touch wood, we should have a very strong panel again available for the next day. We will regroup on Tuesday (last) night and look forward to the Ulster semi-final".
n JOE PAT PRUNTY
PRUNTY CONTRACTS
"We have been producing pitches for 40 years and we're all the time changng the system, and I think we have a tremendous pitch here at Brewster Park. While my son is very much involved in the business we have a great workforce who put a lot of commitment into this pitch over the last two years, and we have a lot of craftsmen in the business, so this pitch here is a tribute to them'.
"Did the field contribute to the win? - 'No doubt. There was no slipping or sliding which certainly happens on a lot of pitches. It was a great performance and I hope they get on to Croke Park".
n JIM TREACY
OWNER OF THE LOUGH ERNE GOLF RESORT
"What a performance. Brilliant. It was a really positive performance. I knew it would be close, but this is a good management team".
n STEPHEN MAGUIRE
BELCOO AND EX-FERMANAGH
"Yes of course I would have loved to have been out there at the opening of a new pitch. The boys gave a great display, in both halves. In fact, I thought the scoreline did not reflect the true situation at halftime. The Monaghan comeback? No, I wasn't too worried about that. At halftime I was reasonably confident. We were playing well within ourselves and I knew from previous years that these lads would continue to work the whole way against the wind. That's where the minors lost out. They could not come to terms with the wind".
Stephen is well over a groin operation and expects to be back playing for Belcoo in a few weeks' time
