FERMANAGH ......................0-11

LOUTH ...............................0-10

BY DAMIAN CAMPBELL

The bottom line is that this win over Louth in Tempo was a third successive victory and it keeps the promotion challenge alive.

As for the game itself this was a seventy minutes which will be quickly tossed into the rubbish bin. Precious little in the way of entertainment, a stop go affair that rarely offered up some semblance of fluency.

Pernickety refereeing was a prime cause for this. But it would be unfair to allocate all blame on the shoulders of the hapless official in the middle.

At the minimum there are thirty one personnel on the park and all concerned have an influence on the way that the game is played and the quality that is served up.

Once again we had an all too ready willingness to simply stop the opponent with a foul. No thought given to the alternative. A little more imagination, especially from the alleged elite, wouldn't go astray.

Fermanagh just about deserved to come out on top in a match which struggled to capture interest but which did have the compensation of a nervous finale. That it was a tense end game was essentially down to the fact that the home side failed to drive home the advantage which they had established in the middle stages of the second half.

After a whirlwind opening which saw them spiral over three points in the space of a couple of minutes, Fermanagh proceeded to sag. So much so that at the break, despite the fact that they had the benefit of the breeze they were to turn around a point adrift.

A precarious position and when the Leinster team resumed with a snappy flourish to edge themselves into the lead there was a distinct possibility that Fermanagh were going to undermine a great deal of the good work which they had achieved in the opening two games.

But Louth, who really were in a highly promising situation, failed to build on that and in fact they slithered into anonymity. Had they managed to poach a draw, or indeed a win, it would have been an undeserved return for in truth they looked a side of only moderate ability.

For sizeable portions of the second half Louth were to make virtually no impression whatsoever and their attacks became increasingly sporadic. A Fermanagh interval position which had looked perilous was not to be unduly worsened and in the end it was clear that unless Louth snatched a goal, then Fermanagh were going to come through.

Full points then and optimism high for the weekend visit of Limerick. A win here and we will certainly be shaping up as real live contenders. Much to look forward to then but the wins so far have been edgy and that gives a sense that we are walking a tightrope.

We have been coming out on the right side so far of matches which could have slid in the other direction,

There was to be a tornado of a beginning from Fermanagh as they swooped with assured ease for a three points tally, all the scores collected inside a matter of minutes. In fact it only took seconds to register the first with Pat Cadden steering over a free, the first of what was to be an interminable number of awards made by the match official.

Mark Murphy who was to enjoy a strong performance caught the resulting kick out cleanly, offloaded to Mark Little and point number two was on the board.

Bright stuff from an energetic Fermanagh and they raided immediately for a third score this one clipped over by Eamon Maguire.

But the rollercoaster then stalled and for the remainder of the half the game was to become much more evenly balanced as Louth steadily settled to the business. They got off the mark with an Aaron Hoey placed kick and Fermanagh goalkeeper Chris Breen had to be agile to deny the visitors a goal.

The points continued to come, two for Fermanagh from placed kicks, both awarded for fouls on full forward Jonathan McGurn who was claiming most of the ball that was channelled into him.

Louth responded with scores from Shane Lennon, Aaron Hoey and Colm Judge the latter one of their breezier performers in attack and on thirty minutes the teams were tied at six points each.

But it had been a subdued and listless affair despite the fact that the teams had been trading points on a regular basis.

Louth were to go in at the break a point to the good, their final score of the half coming from another Judge score and with the wind to assist them on the changeover they would have been happy enough with their position, especially in light of the fact that they had suffered a very indifferent start.

As for Fermanagh they had been creaking and the interval review was to result in a reshuffle in personnel for the second half.

The key change was to bring the introduction of Shane McDermott, back after absence through injury while Declan Reilly who had come on initially as a blood substitute was now a fully fledged member of the defensive set up.

The opening segment of the second half was to see an improved standard of play from both teams, the game not punctuated so much by stoppages though this standard was to drop once again as the half progressed.

Fermanagh were to shoot three points in a row which restored a lead which was never to be relinquished. A fortunate free was knocked over by Matthew Keenan, Mark Little stroked over a second placed kick and Keenan fired over the third to establish a two point advantage.

It was a positive response to what had been a poor half time position and for the remainder of the game, though the team was never to gain any appreciable comfort zone, there was the growing sense that the contest could be won.

Louth were always in the hunt of course but their play was ragged and they were only sporadically on the offensive.

Into the final quarter and points for Louth from Keith White and Aaron Hooey narrowed the gap to the minimum so the game at least was going to have the compensation of having a tightly argued finish.

In those closing ten minutes it was Fermanagh who enjoyed the greater bulk of the attacking possession but a malaise had infected the attack with a whole clutch of players unwilling to shoot. Play became far too elaborate, the ball transferring aimlessly back and forth across the park.

After a great deal of effort a score finally arrived, Jonathan McGurn the marksman but there was still seven minutes of normal time on the clock and what was eventually to be four minutes of added on time.

McGurn's score put Fermanagh two up but it was to be the team's final point and though there was a fair proportion of the remaining exchanges to be played out in the Louth half of the pitch, Fermanagh were to undergo some anxious moments.

Louth had a goal properly disallowed for a technical infringement and Chris Breen had to pull off another smart save to parry away a Shane Lennon effort.

Lennon was to drive over his team's tenth point on sixty nine minutes leaving it a one point game and that made for a testing closing passage as Louth sought out an equaliser or if possible a match winning goal.

Fermanagh, all too aware that their position hung on a thread, adopted a policy of keep ball but this was fraught with danger and Louth posted a few late attacks.

But defensively Fermanagh were competent and they didn't yield up a late scoring opportunity for the visitors who, with three defeats on their record, must now be considered as eliminated from the promotion race.

Something in the region of a dozen yellow cards handed out, more or less evenly distributed between the two sides, in a game which didn't have a single tackle which could be construed as nasty.

Teams

Fermanagh

Chris Breen; Shane Goan; Shane Lyons; Niall Bogue; Damian Kelly; Ryan McCluskey; Thomas McElroy; Mark Murphy; Ciaran Boyle; Shaun Doherty; Matthew Keenan; Mark Little; Patrick Cadden; Eamon Maguire; Jonathan McGurn; Subs; Declan O'Reilly for N Bogue; Shane McDermott for C Boyle; Ryan Keenan for P Cadden; Niall Keenan for S Doherty;

Louth

Sean Connor; Alan Page; Dessie Finnegan; John Neary; John O'Brien; Colin Goss; Ray Finnegan; Mick Fleming; Ronan Carroll; Jimmy Murray; Aaron Hooey; Mark Standfield; Colm Judge; Shane Lennon and Brian White; Subs; Darren Clarke for B White; Paddy Keenan for J O'Brien;J J Quigley for M Standfield.

Referee Thomas Quigley Dublin.