Fermanagh always raise their game for Donegal - Mickey McCann

After a well contested Conor McGurk Cup semi-final in Brewster Park, Enniskillen on a frosty Wednesday night, Donegal manager Mickey McCann was smiling after watching his side reach the final for the third year in-a-row.

“It was hard fought. Fermanagh always seem to rise to the occasion when they are playing us. They see us as a scalp; it was tough last year in the Nickey Rackard against them.

“They are tough opponents. The pitch was a bit iffy but we’ll take it. It was a good outing for us at this time of year.”

One of the aspects of the game was the number of times the Donegal supporters and sideline were unhappy with refereeing calls of Cavan official James Clarke, getting just two frees in the opening half and the trend continued into the second period.

“I don’t like talking about refs too much but there were some dubious ones out there tonight. It gets the sideline heated up then, and it was a bit one-sided at times. There was one blatant point that went over the bar and it was given wide. Just things like that, but thankfully we pulled away at the end to get the result.”

It took two late goals from Josh Cronnolly McGee to give Donegal some leeway with Fermanagh difficulty to put away.

“I think we were four up when we got the goal, but I suppose if the goal had landed at the other end it would have been backs to the wall for the last five minutes. We were just patient in there. We put big Josh (Cronnolly McGee) in there on the edge of the square and told him to hang about and a chance or two would come.

“And it did and the second one was a great goal. Liam McKinney broke the line and left a trail of men behind him and slipped a great ball to Josh. And we squandered a good goal chance just before that.

“But look, we opened them up a few times in the second half. Overall, it is good to get that test in tight matches when things are going against you with referee’s calls and that, to see how you react. But thankfully, we did well,” said McCann.

“It is the third final in-a-row. I suppose trying to get friendlies, going to Sligo or Mayo or wherever, when you have games like that there on your doorstep,  you can’t beat it. The more games you get in it, the nearer you get to the National League.

“We are in the final now, and it’s three weeks out from the league and it’s exactly what you need, you know.”

The manager had praise for all his players with Gerry Gilmore very accurate. He also agreed that Brian MacIntyre had made some great blocks.

“Brian (MacIntyre) put in a serious shift and his GPS readings every week are well up  there. He is in the 10k margin every week. Two vital blocks and we actually talked about that after the game, because they are the type of thing that wins games, because Fermanagh seemed to be doing all the hooking and harrying and trying  to stop us. So it was nice to turn it round the other way with Brian stopping them. Them two blocks actually ended up with two scores for us and he had a massive shift there today.”

McGee goals power Donegal into the final of Conor McGurk Cup after win over Fermanagh

Donegal were made fight to the end but the two goals in the final ten minutes saw them ease to victory

Fermanagh’s main threat and arguably the player of the match, Luca McCusker, also drew praise from McCann.

“He is someone we have played against at college level and Fermanagh twice last year, a very tidy hurler. We would gladly have him in Donegal because he is very accurate and is a handful to mark. He works so hard and he is just a natural talent. He would get on most Ulster teams.”

The competition is good for league preparation, said McCann. “You can use six subs in each half and it is good preparation. You still want to win the game and you want to get boys on. We got three on at the end, but the game was that tight.

“We have Down now and that will be a step up. But it will be good preparation for our first league game which is away to Wicklow. Down, you would feel, would be a step up from Wicklow but you don’t know what team they will field.”

Down defeated Antrim in a high scoring affair in the other semi-final, also on Wednesday night.

“They hit 3-28 in January on a frost night so they must have some firepower there. We’ll have to get a bit of homework done to see where them scores came from,” says McCann.