FERMANAGH........................... 2-3
MONAGHAN ............................ 2-7
It wasn't to be a day of double success for Fermanagh as the minor team produced a limp display to finish a well beaten side to Monaghan in the curtain raiser tie at sun swathed Brewster Park.
Four points the gap separating the sides at the finish and Fermanagh could have no complaint about that for the team had simply failed to perform to the anticipated level.
In fact it could be said that the team delivered what was expected of them for just a relatively short spell, this period coming in the ten minutes leading up to the interval.
Monaghan had been the livelier side over the opening twenty minutes though this had not been translated into anything which could be regarded as a commanding position.
And then the game was to be grasped by a resurgent Fermanagh and with a feisty spree they slammed in a two goal and one point haul which hoisted them into a promising six point interval lead. But in truth a somewhat flattering one.
Scarcely a deserved advantage for the team had been disjointed but with the two goal burst there would have been belief as the side went in for the half time get together that a corner had been turned.
A foundation had been established and it was now a question of following on from there.
But unhappily the spark that the team had shown over the ten minutes prior to the break was not to reignited, so much so that there was not to be a single other score registered over the closing thirty minutes.
The team was only a pale shadow of the side which had played with such purpose and organisation especially in the latter stages of the recent league campaign.
Within a matter of moments after the resumption Monaghan had signalled that it was they who were to be the authoritative figures once again and with a salvo of quickfire scores they totally undermined a Fermanagh team who buckled and eventually slid into anonymity.
Long before the end this contest was securely wrapped up by the much more effective and nimbler Monaghan team as the Fermanagh challenge fizzled out.
Fermanagh had come into the game with realistic hopes that they could make an impact over the summer months. League form had been heartening and the team was spliced with more than enough talented players to suggest that they could fashion out a victory here.
But there was an unconvincing aura surrounding the team right from the opening whistle. Monaghan were to be the sprightlier side and soon pushed out in front though they too failed to sustain the initial breezy nature of their play.
Yet Monaghan who would have gone in at the interval, despondent at the way in which the game had swung away from them, were able to resurrect themselves with immediate conviction on the restart and they duly finished with a rock solid win.
One of the key factors in shaping the Monaghan second half surge was the introduction of Ciaran Hughes from the subs bench and he duly asserted a presence in the middle of the park plus engineering the Monaghan revival with a brace of early scores.
And the Monaghan defence overall had the Erne forward line well policed. Fermanagh's full forward Tomas Corrigan did pose a threat but as the game progressed the supply coming into him became increasingly sparse.
Much had also been hoped for from players such as Chris and Joe O'Brien and Gavin Leonard but this was not to be their collective day and the potentcy which they possess just wasn't to surface.
In the defence there was some steady work turned in by Ryan Leonard at corner back, Brian Cox in the half back line and in the middle of the park there was to be sporadic moments from Ryan Jones but in the main this was a display which failed to gel to any appreciable degree.
The team didn't rise to the occasion and Monaghan eased home with plenty to spare.
The signs that it was going to be a difficult sixty minutes were evident from the outset with Monaghan full forward Aaron McCarey indicating that he was all too capable of being a dangerman and within a relatively short time there had to be Fermanagh defensive reshuffling to cope with the questions McCarey was asking.
The lanky full forward hit his sides two opening points, sandwiched between them being a Ryan Jones free for Fermanagh, the award made for a foul on Corrigan in the semi circle.
Another foul on Corrigan offered up another place kick for Jones to swing over to tie the sides on two each on ten minutes. McCarey knocked over his third of the afternoon to restore the Monaghan lead before the game dipped into a trough for the middle stages of the half.
Monaghan had been having the greater share of the attacking play but sound Fermanagh defensive organisation had kept them at bay before the game took an unexpected twist as Fermanagh hit what was easily their brightest patch of the contest.
It began with a terrific ball from outfield hoofed in by Brian Cox. It was won under extreme pressure by Corrigan and despite being harassed by the defender he had clearly only one aim and the Kinawley players duly worked his way into a shooting position before unleashing a precise shot to the corner of the net.
An exceptionally well taken individual score and Fermanagh were boosted by it. Ryan Jones rifled over a medium distance free and the half was to end on a massive note for Fermanagh with a penalty goal from Corrigan, his shot just escaping the outstretched hands of keeper Emmett McArdle.
A positive restart from Fermanagh and presumably the Erne boys would close out the win. But they were to have their fragile confidence sapped by a rousing Monaghan spree that was orchestrated by the arrival of the influential Hughes.
Hughes slotted over a free in an early raid and then Monaghan prised out a goal opening which was ended by a footblock tackle by goalkeeper Matthew Jackson. Hughes wrong footed the Fermanagh keeper with his adroit shot and an edgy Fermanagh were sliding into trouble.
For a couple of minutes they managed to hold the fort but crucially they were unable to shoot a fortifying score in return. The cutting edge wasn't present, a number of half chances lost out on with slipshod handling and then on the threequarter mark the roof fell in.
As had been the case on several occasions failure to convincingly retain possession saw a turnover and this time Monaghan extracted the full penalty centre half forward smacking home his team's second goal.
It motored Monaghan into the lead, a minute later Christopher McGuinness looped over a fine point after good approach work from midfielder Chris Deery and Monaghan were on their way into the semi final.
Fermanagh were not dead and buried, there was still some ten minutes remaining but it now became a case of taking the wrong options. Points on offer were spurned in the headlong chase for a goal.
Another instance of casual dispossession popped up another Monaghan score to make it a three point game and McCarey slotted over the score to make it a four point advantage with five minutes remaining.
A lead which was could still be overhauled but Fermanagh were now playing with minimal conviction and though they did have a measure of play in the Monaghan half the chance of staging a dramatic recovery was by now a long shot.
Monaghan were not to be unduly pressurised and Fermanagh had limped to a tame defeat.
Fermanagh;
Matthew Jackson; Martin Quigley; Paul Leonard; Ryan Leonard; Conall Smyth; PJ Rodgers; Brian Cox; Ryan Jones and Richard O'Callaghan; Gavin Leonard; Chris O'Brien;Ronan Ormsby; Michael McAleer; Tomas Corrigan and Joe O'Brien; Subs; Declan McCusker for P Leonard; Kane Connors for M McAleer;
Monaghan;
Emmett McArdle; Mattie Reilly; Christopher Farrell; Sam Dooney; Patrick Boyle; Declan Farrell; Colin Walshe; Kieran Duffy and Christopher Deery; Kevin Mooney; Dermot Malone ; John Farrell; Christopher McGuinness; Aaron McCarey and Philip O'Callaghan; Subs; Ciaran Hughes for K Mooney; Peter Dooney for P O'Callaghan; Gerry Connors for C Farrell;
Referee
Jimmy Galligan Cavan.
