Fermanagh v Antrim, Brewster Park, 3.30pm
Fermanagh v Antrim, Brewster Park, 3.30pm
Fermanagh v Antrim, Brewster Park, 3.30pm
Sunday, June 1
Ulster Senior Football Championship Quarter-FinalFermanagh v Antrim, Brewster Park, 3.30pm
Perhaps the least aired of all pairings in the famously competitive Ulster Championship, neither Fermanagh nor Antrim have got their hands on the Anglo Celt Cup in over 60 years.
Fermanagh have actually never won the Ulster title, while the last of Antrim's nine titles came in 1951 - therefore it's probably not surprising that Sunday's game in Enniskillen is only the eighth championship meeting between, on current league standings, the two lowest ranked Ulster sides.
Fermanagh finished a respectable third in Division III of the Allianz Football League this spring, but Antrim had a very disappointing league campaign, finishing sixth in the bottom tier, with only London and Carlow finishing below them in the national standings.
Sunday's game is therefore a chance for the Saffrons to redeem themselves in the competition that matters most to them, but Pete McGrath's Fermanagh will feel that anything less than a victory would represent a huge missed opportunity for them to reach a first Ulster semi-final in four years.
Antrim boss Liam Bradley is certainly looking at the game as a chance for redemption though. "We had a poor enough league campaign and we can't hide from that," he said. "But I think we have revamped the squad since then and if we win on Sunday that will probably be forgotten about. There's been a few guys in and out in recent weeks and we have had six or seven weeks of real hard training that will stand to us. We are ready for the game now."
Both sides experienced some stormy waters in the spring. McGrath, appointed as the new Fermanagh manager at the start of the season, hoped to have the gifted Séamus Quigley at the apex of his attack for 2014, but as has happened before, the Roslea man left the panel after a dispute with the management.
He was initially joined in departing by his brothers Seán and Conor, but Seán has since returned to the panel and is likely to start on Sunday - a huge boost for the Erne men given the forward's scoring credentials, which were fully in evidence during the league.
Antrim had their own departures this spring. St. Gall's trio CJ McGourty, Chris Kerr and Michael Pollock all left the panel last month due to a reported 'breakdown in communication' with manager Bradley.
All three were important players for Antrim during the league. McGourty was Antrim's top scorer in their Division IV campaign, Pollock, also a forward, was a regular during the league while Kerr was the county's first choice goalkeeper. Nonetheless, Bradley has been planning without them for the past six weeks, and there appears to be no prospect of return.
He has named his team for Sunday's trip to Brewster Park and a major boost is the return of Niall McKeever, back in Championship Saffron for the first time in five years, having spent the last few seasons in the AFL with the Brisbane Lions. He starts in midfield alongside Michael McCann.
McCann and his brother Tomás are both back in the team having fallen out with previous manager Frank Dawson, but neither Paddy Cunningham nor Seán McVeigh are in the starting XV. Kevin Niblock is named at full forward, having being involved with soccer club Cliftonville in recent months.
Goalkeeper Patrick Flood is making his championship debut, replacing the departed Kerr. Meanwhile, Fermanagh have named three championship debutants in their side. Bellanaleck twins Lee and Che Cullen both start in the full-back line, while Paul McCusker plays in the half-back line, joining his brother Declan in the team.
The side features Seán Quigley in the full forward line with two time All Star Barry Owens named alongside him at full-forward.
However, he will be without Tiernan Daly, as the Derrygonnelly defender has a hamstring injury. Overall, McGrath is happy with his young panel, having been impressed by the newcomers he has introduced since taking over from Peter Canavan.
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"The safe thing would be to go back to the tried and the tested players who maybe didn't get you where you wanted to be in the past," he said. "There is no point in revisiting that. You should be more adventurous and look to the future and show confidence in younger players."
Of their seven previous meetings, Fermanagh have won four and Antrim three. They have only met once in the championship in the last 22 years, that being a 2006 quarter-final which Fermanagh won 1-9 to 0-9.
The winners of this game advance to an Ulster semi-final against Donegal, which takes place on June 22.
FERMANAGH: C Snow; J Woods, C Cullen, L Cullen; D McCusker, R McCluskey, T McElroy; E Donnelly, R O'Callaghan; E Maguire, R Jones, P McCusker; S Quigley, B Owens, T Corrigan.
ANTRIM: P Flood; K O'Boyle, R Johnston, N Delargy, M Johnston, J Crozier, J Laverty, M McCann, N McKeever, C Murray, M Sweeney, P McCann, B Neeson, K Niblock, T McCann.
Preview: Arthur Sullivan