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Cullen twins leading the Fermanagh charge

Lee Cullen of Fermanagh in action against Ronan O'Toole of Westmeath during the Allianz Football League Division 3 match between Fermanagh and Westmeath at St Josephs Park in Ederney, Fermanagh. Photo by Stephen Marken/Sportsfile

Lee Cullen of Fermanagh in action against Ronan O'Toole of Westmeath during the Allianz Football League Division 3 match between Fermanagh and Westmeath at St Josephs Park in Ederney, Fermanagh. Photo by Stephen Marken/Sportsfile

By John Harrington

The old sporting adage that there’s no substitute for experience comes to mind when you assess the impact that Belnaleck twins Che and Lee Cullen have had on the Fermanagh team this year.

Before returning to the fold for the current League campaign, neither of them had represented their county since the 2019 season, with Lee travelling to Australia and Che basing himself in Hungary for work.

It would have been no surprise had their edge been dulled by three seasons away from inter-county football, but instead both players have contributed hugely to Fermanagh’s run to Saturday’s Allianz Football League Division 3 Final against Cavan.

They haven’t just made the Fermanagh defence a much more difficult one to play against, their ability on the ball is also a big reason why the Erne County team has been able to transition this season to a more expansive style of play that has seen them score an average of four points more per match than they did in last year’s League.

Former Fermanagh captain Eoin Donnelly played with the Cullen twins for many years, and hasn’t been surprised by the hugely positive impact they’ve made since returning to inter-county football.

“First and foremost they're two brilliant lads,” he told GAA.ie “Very easy-going and good craic. They get slagged for some things they do off the pitch, but they're very smart on it.

“When you look at Gaelic footballers of today, in the last ten years it's become a lot about athleticism, and those two boys typify that in terms of their size, power, strength, speed, and athletic quality.

“They've built on that by developing their game over a period of time. They've gone from being young lads who were very well physically developed to now being able to fit in to the more tactical side of things where they're having to be not only man-markers, but also able to break down opposition defences which in the modern game starts with your full-backs and corner-backs coming up the pitch, being comfortable on the ball, taking the right options, and occasionally kicking a score. The two of them are able to do that as well.

“Both of them dipped out of county football for a few years with work commitments and travel, but they've come back and fitted back in seamlessly. Looking in now from the outside as a spectator now it's great to see them back in there and doing so well.”

Niall Carolan of Cavan in action against Ché Cullen of Fermanagh during the Allianz Football League Division 3 match between Cavan and Fermanagh at Kingspan Breffni in Cavan. 

Niall Carolan of Cavan in action against Ché Cullen of Fermanagh during the Allianz Football League Division 3 match between Cavan and Fermanagh at Kingspan Breffni in Cavan. 

The Cullens are very well-rounded footballers, but that bit of dog and physicality they both bring to the game was perhaps particularly needed by a Fermanagh team that has brought through a lot of young players in recent years.

Absolutely,” says Donnelly. “When Fermanagh got to the Ulster Final in 2018, Che was always tasked with marking the most dangerous forward in the opposition's team, whether that was Conor McManus or whoever it was, Che was the man who stepped up to the mark and he never faltered at all.

“To lose that from our team was a massive blow. Both he and Lee coming back in now has really bolstered things for us defensively. The younger lads can see and learn from them.

“Last year against Cavan people would have said that Cavan were physically imposing and in that Tailteann Cup game they used that physical power to beat us.

“Whereas now when you add back in Lee and Che to our defence it makes a big difference in terms of being able to deal with that physicality from a Fermanagh point of view.”

The experience they both possess should come in handy in Croke Park on Saturday, a venue the younger cohort of Fermanagh players have never played in before.

The big prize was promotion, but Donnelly expects the Cullen brothers to rise to the occasion of playing in a national final at headquarters.

“In fairness to the boys, they're at the stage in their career where they want to do well and win things and they know that to do that you have to be switched on tactically and mentally,” he says.

“That has come more and more into the game and you need to be thinking all the time and I'd say the boys have really bought into that.

“They'll be looking for information on who they'll be playing and up against, what can they do to make sure they get the better of their man and what not.

“They'll want to sponge that information from the resources that they can get because they have experience of playing in big games and they know you can't afford to switch off, especially in Croke Park where there's so much space.

“You have to be on your game there the whole time really and I'd expect the lads to be leading by example this weekend.”

Che Cullen of Fermanagh in action against Ethan Rafferty of Armagh during the 2018 Allianz Football League Division 3 Final match between Armagh and Fermanagh at Croke Park in Dublin. 

Che Cullen of Fermanagh in action against Ethan Rafferty of Armagh during the 2018 Allianz Football League Division 3 Final match between Armagh and Fermanagh at Croke Park in Dublin. 

There’s nice balance now to this Fermanagh team. The return of the Cullen brothers has added defensive steel, Ryan Jones is one of the most in-form midfielders in the country, Ultan Kelm, Ryan Lyons, and Darragh McGurn are all moving nicely in a balanced attack, and Sean Quigley is consistently making a big impact from the bench.

They have the toughest draw in the Ulster championship this year with a first round match against Derry, but that fixture no longer looks like the formality many would have presumed when it first came out of the hat because Fermanagh are improving with every match they play.

“They've been very good,” says Donnelly. “You can see what they're trying to do in terms of building on their play. They've shown with the few lads back in this year that they're steadily building.

“It's not a flick of a switch overnight thing, it's going to take a bit of time to get the newer lads into the squad more comfortable at this level. I think the few games in the Tailteann Cup last year helped in that regard, and that built into the good League form they've shown this year too.

“It'll be good for them to move up to Division 2 now because that's we've always felt in Fermanagh that's the level we should be at. For a few years we were always up at the top end of Division 2 and that's where we'd like to be again.

“We haven't always had a consistency of performance down through the years when it comes to the championship, and I think playing in Division Two of the League will help us develop that.”