Again a Fermanagh boys sportshall athletics squad excelled themselves at the UK finals of the event in Birmingham as the local U-13 side took fifth spot in the National Indoor Arena last Sunday.

This was a fine example of maximising potential from a squad that would not have been considered as Ulster medal contenders back in January and their performance means that in the last seven years the Erne county have filled every position from first to sixth at the UK finals, a remarkable record for such a small county without any junior athletics club.

Two performances vie for the outstanding achievement of the day; Conal Mahon's excellent bronze in the Long Jump and the 4 x 2 lap relay squads silver in the final event of the day.

Mahon is much more slightly built that many of his rivals or his predecessors like Ciaran Dolan but he has great natural spring, which he employed to good effect to win the bronze with his first effort of 2.40m in the standing Long Jump. This was Fermanagh's first medal at the UK finals in this event and Ulster's only medal of the day in an individual event.

Mahon was only beaten on countback, by virtue of a superior second jump, for the silver medal and as he develops he can look forward to some good distances outdoor in both Long and Triple jump.

In the other field events, there were excellent performances from Adam Stockdale and Ryan Treacy, 5th in the Speed Bounce and Vertical Jump respectively. Dale Johnson and David Fitzpatrick, who both finished 6th in the Shot Putt and High Jump although Fitzpatrick was disappointed not to have equalled his PB, which would have given him the bronze medal.

Ben Brown took 9th in the Triple Jump meaning that Fermanagh had at least one athlete in the top ten in every event, a first at these finals, while there were also solid performances from Niall Beggan in the Triple Jump, Che Cullen in the Vertical Jump, Niall Shannon, Long Jump, Donnchadah Tierney, Speed Bounce, Chris Woods in the High Jump and Lee Cullen in the Shot to lay the foundations for a solid overall finish, with the Long Jump not surprisingly being Fermanagh's top event, they finished second to Durham.

Back on the track, Stockdale and Brown played their leadership roles to the full with 8th place finished in the two and four laps races, both missing the final by a single position, while Niall Beggan took 9th over the demanding six lap event.

David Fitzpatrick acquitted himself well in his first outing in the short sprint but both Ryan Treacy and Che Cullen found the going difficult in their four and six lap runs, with many competitors who would have looked quite at home in the U-15 event, in a sport where size and power off the boards does matter a lot.

It was in the relays, however, that Fermanagh had hoped to consolidate their target of a top six finish and to do so reaching the finals of each relay was critical.

The first event of the programme, the circuit relay heats, saw Fermanagh up against traditional experts the Isle of Wight, a huge Surrey team who were fancied to go very well overall, and home favourites Birmingham.

Despite a solid enough run from the local quartet of Shannon, Woods, Mahon and Tierney, they could only finish fourth in their heat and had to wait an anxious15 minutes to see if they had made the top seven, which they just managed by virtue of accumulating less penalties that some of the normally faster teams.

Although avoiding being the first Fermanagh team to miss out on the circuit final, they were always going to find the final a challenge and so it proved as they took 6th spot behind a Surrey quartet, who made up for some flaws in technique with speed and power, which befitted their size and strength.

The parlaff duo of Beggan and Che Cullen found it very tough to lift themselves after their exertions over six laps a little earlier and could not push for the top six in an event where Fermanagh have twice won medals at these finals in the past and it was left to the two sprint relay squads to see if they could add to Mahon's earlier medal and cement a good overall finish for the team.

The 4 x 1 lap event was introduced only a few years ago and Fermanagh had high hopes of equalising or improving on last year's bronze medal following their total domination of the event at Ulster level.

Third in their heat in Birmingham, but fourth fastest overall and within a second of the fastest qualifiers, their slick baton changing kept the Erne lads in the hunt but the physical size and strength of the opposition saw them edged into fourth in the final, the team being Lee Cullen, Niall Shannon, Chris Woods and Donnchadah Tierney.

The final event of the UK finals is always the thrilling 4 x 2 lap relays, which are a noisy and exciting finish to the event. Missing out on the finals is something that the Fermanagh team of Adam Stockdale, Lee Cullen, Ryan Treacy and Ben Brown had no intention of doing as they dominated their heat with slick baton passing and smooth sprinting to win clearly and went into the final as second fastest qualifiers behind Birmingham, who were in the adjacent lane.

Perhaps not quite as close as the superb U-15 battle between the midland city and the Lakeland lads 12 months ago, this final was nonetheless a fine demonstration of all that is best in junior athletics as Fermanagh's diminutive quartet chased the hosts' 'goliaths' to the line, forcing Birmingham to run almost a full second quicker than in the heats, as they became the most successful Fermanagh U-13 sprint relay team in sportshall, surpassing the bronze won in 2000.

It was a fitting climax for the local lads, three of whom – Stockdale, Cullen and Brown – were here 12 months ago, and for Treacy who had given up on a family holiday to be available for the Ulster finals, showing that persistence and preparation pay off, a lesson for all young sportsmen and women who want to make it at the highest level.

Overall, this was yet another outstanding effort from Fermanagh, who continue to defy logic at this event. Looking at the champions of both Wales (a regional select side from North Wales) and Scotland, and huge populated areas like Essex and Nottingham, who were all well behind the Erne lads, it is amazing to consider that the Fermanagh team is selected essentially from a school population of just over 1,200 boys from St Michael's College, Erne Integrated College and Lisnaskea High School with one athlete from each of St Eugene's Roslea and Devenish College.

These finals are a magnificent event for all the young athlete, who experience them and it is unfortunate that not all local youngsters have the opportunity to at least try to get on to the county teams by participating in the local heats each December. Because of this, the team may not always be the strongest that might be available to represent the county, and with our tiny and shrinking population we need to maximise our resources.

Over the last decade, sportshall athletics has been, if nothing else, one platform that has shown that we in Fermanagh have the generic, athletic talent to compete with the best in these islands. How many of these young sportsmen will be given the opportunity to go on and develop their talents at their pace in their chosen sports is a question that remains unanswered as the demands on a decreasing pool of young talent keep increasing from a variety of sources.

What is certain is that the 12 young men who represented Fermanagh on Sunday last, and Niall McKeever and Daryll Rice, who got valuable experience for 2008 in the substitutes events, can be proud of how they acquitted themselves and be content in the knowledge that they maximised their potential with another fine display at the highest level.