By Cian O'Connell

Undoubtedly the 2020 Championship will be one like no other so Eoin Donnelly is trying to become accustomed to the new ways.

Such a distinguished performer in the green and white shirt of Fermanagh for so long, Donnelly acknowledges that the preparations have differed significantly to previous campaigns.

“It’s just night and day to be honest," Donnelly says ahead of Sunday's Ulster SFC quarter-final against Down at Brewster Park. 

"Nothing you can really compare it to, to be honest. Just every day you go training and every match day, it’s just been surreal I suppose. 

"Even landing down to Clare, in Ennis, to play that game and you’re arriving in a ground with a man with a clipboard and a list of names and he’s having to check you in and then you have to travel on your own, you can’t travel with anyone else."

That is a tricky adjustment too. "You can’t go down to training with any players, you’re having to go on your own so usually going to training, part of it is the craic that you have in the car going down the road, for me from Belfast, Carryduff," Donnelly admits. 

"I’d be with five or six students, seven or eight students, maybe we’d share a lift between us and you’ve got three or four boys in the car each week and you kind of catch up on the craic and you can see how boys are doing. 

"You don’t have any of that right now. You’re landing at training and you’re straight out onto the pitch and you’re trying to get your head around it, that that’s the only time you have together really, out on the pitch."

Fermanagh have been forced to deal with Covid cases too in recent weeks so the uncertainty is testing. 

"There’s no craic in the changing rooms beforehand, you don’t have the changing rooms and then outside of that you’ve got the whole concern, I suppose, that you could get a message at any point, any day, to say training’s cancelled because there’s been positive cases or there’s been close contacts," Donnelly adds.

"So you’re just taking each day as it comes at this stage and you’re hoping that people stay safe and you’re teammates are looking after themselves and you get through and you get your game played I suppose. You can’t look too far ahead."

It is certainly the case and Donnelly's work as a physio means he remains on the front line.

Donnelly's wife gave birth in July so it has been a hectic spell in Donnelly's life.

"My wife is originally from here, Carryduff in County Down, and we just had our first child in July so there was a lot going on along with lockdown," Donnelly explains. 

"My wife was pregnant and all that happening and a newborn in the house so you’re conscious as well that you don’t want to be bringing in infections into the house with a newborn in the house so there was nothing going on. 

"I couldn’t get down to club training just with one thing and another and I just ended up doing a lot of my training on my own up here and that worked out well because I knew I wasn’t mixing with people unnecessarily and things like that."

Donnelly didn't want to give up on playing inter-county with Fermanagh either.

“Yeah, I know my uncle, John Donnelly, he played for Fermanagh until 1981 and he retired in 1981 and Fermanagh got to the Ulster final in 1982 and I’ve never asked him about, it but I’m sure he probably thinks back, one more year, might have made a big difference to him - just to have that opportunity to play in an Ulster final," Donnelly states.

"Father time is going to catch up on me. I know I don’t have too many years left, but I was going to want to play, no matter who you are, if your county… if you’ve been there before with your club or whatever and they end up getting to a final and you have to miss out, it’s kind of bittersweet. 

"You want them to win, you want them to do well, but you want to be part of it too. It would be a nice problem to have. At the end of the day, if Fermanagh win a Championship, I’m not going to begrudge it whether I’m on the field or not to be honest.”