And they say the League doesn’t matter.
Anyone who tries to tell you that inter-county teams and supporters aren’t taking the League seriously is probably a spoofer.
The weekend just past was like a high octane, top drawer Gillette Soccer Saturday. Teams were falling, others were soaring in every corner of the country from Ballybofey down to Cavan and onto Fermanagh. The agony and the ecstasy of it all as some teams earned promotion, survived or experienced the dreaded drop was akin to the final day of the Premier League season.
With do or die, win or bust games taking place all over on Sunday afternoon, the drama was on foot in all corners. Every GAA head in the country was busy watching one game and frantically updating their Twitter to see the scores far and wide.
And it does matter. Relegation is a bitter pill to swallow and in a game based on momentum it’s not a good way to begin a championship. Promotion on the other hand can set a team up.
It’d get you thinking, wouldn’t it be great if all the provincial championships went ahead at the same time on the same day across the country? Imagine The Sunday Game that’d be in store after a night like that.
Fermanagh were one of the teams who earned promotion over the weekend. Rory Gallagher’s side scored a late winner to deny Longford and in turn book their place in Division Two for the 2019 season.
The Erne County are flying this year. After an impressive McKenna Cup campaign, the side for whom Ryan McMenamin is a selector continued that fine form into a League campaign where only score difference kept them off top spot by the end of it.
Fermanagh play a defensive style of football but it suits them and they won’t be a soft touch for anybody come championship. With Conal Jones and Seamus Quigley up top they’ve plenty of power and threat to worry any defence.
It all boiled down to a controversial last kick in Pearse Park, with the aforementioned Quigley sealing the deal late on for the travelling side.
Controversial because the free was harshly awarded. This prompted anger amongst the home crowd, and Quigley did appear to take it closer to the goals than where the foul was originally committed.
Fermanagh didn’t mind that, however, and with the ball sailing over the black spot, the jubilation in the crowd was something else.
“Seamie Quigley,” they roared and you immediately got the sense how much it means to them all.
It’s hard to beat a game of GAA to get the passion going. What a finish! Well done @seamiequigley and @FermanaghGAA Go on Seamy, Go on Seamy!!! #Promotion pic.twitter.com/AR8H4EdqNu
— John McGurn (@johnharps) March 25, 2018
It meant a lot to the team, too, and they belted out the famous ‘Salah’ on their bus journey home after the famous win.
Via Custard … 😂👏 pic.twitter.com/ime95vsYPn
— Ryan Mc Cluskey (@clucker60) March 25, 2018
