Dublin left to rue missed chances

NFL Division One A/ Fermanagh 0-9 Dublin 0-8: These are changed times around Fermanagh. They are not afraid to hope and shout for victory against giant reputations like Dublin. Nor are they afraid to celebrate it and show what it means to them. The home team got a passionate ovation as they warmed down after hanging on for a cliffhanging victory at Brewster Park yesterday.

It was not so long ago the mere visit of Dublin around these parts would have meant a challenge game or a pitch opening. This, though, was for two priceless league points that probably keeps the Ulster team in the top tier. The Dubs had a late, late chance to get a draw but Tomás Quinn's 21-metre free - kicked from the most unforgiving of angles - died short of the near post.

This was an elemental Allianz league game, tough, absorbing stuff played out on a leaden day. Dublin might well have journeyed back from Ulster feeling they had been undone by some true country cunning as much as anything. As Dublin manager Paul Caffrey generously noted: "Fermanagh were magnificent on far less chances than we had."

It was the kind of day the ever-composed Caffrey had to chalk down to bitter experience. Quinn's free was a tough finish. As Fermanagh coach Charlie Mulgrew observed, Quinn had been striking the ball so sweetly all day it would have been no surprise to see him cut the acute angle.

But as well as that disappointment, Caffrey also had to endure the annoyance of watching Quinn's 15th-minute penalty cannon off Chris Breen's right-hand post. That miss summed up a wasteful opening period and Dublin trailed by 0-5 to 0-2 after a first half brightened by some scintillating attacking football from Fermanagh.

Mulgrew's team is smart, light and organised. They are one of the teams that has absorbed the principle that in modern Gaelic football a player in possession is going to need a support player coming to help at speed.

At times, Fermanagh transfer the ball beautifully and use their small, energetic half backs and corner forwards to carry the ball at frightening speed. Dublin's Paul Casey is no slouch but found it hard to live with Eamonn Maguire in the first 20 minutes, picking up a yellow card that would have serious repercussions later on.

Aidy Little, a late recall, clipped two good points early on and Seán Doherty, another change to the programme, used his physique to muck in from the start - and it was a match in which plenty of unfashionable digging was required.

Liam McBarron and Ciarán Whelan guarded one another closely and around the crowded centrefield, Mark Murphy stood out, kicking a fine early point and hauling down a massive ball in the 68th point which set Fermanagh on the road for Mark Little's brave, emphatic winning point. Barry Owens was again eye-catching in the heart of Fermanagh's busy defence and Shane Goan gave a workaholic performance in the left corner.

With Fermanagh organised and confident, Dublin found Enniskillen a tough nut to crack. They were crying out for the subtle vision which Jason Sherlock - present but convalescent here - brings to their game. Conal Keaney kicked two fine points, Barry Cahill had an impressive day at full back and during Whelan's most productive period, Dublin began to motor, firing four points in the first 20 minutes of the second half.

They took their first and only lead through a converted 50 which Quinn made look easy after 55 minutes. Casey had been punished with another yellow during this rich vein. Mulgrew said later he feared the worst when Dublin lost their defender, noting that those decisions often afflict the side with the supposed advantage. And as Caffrey admitted: "I thought we played better with the 14."

Fermanagh did reclaim a grip on their fate but whether the extra man was the central reason is debatable. Referee Frank Flynn was in the thick of the action, awarding a phenomenal number of throw-ins and missing a few home calls that enraged the local crowd. He punished Fermanagh's Shane McDermott for delaying a sideline ball (having earlier called Cahill for the same transgression) and Whelan got a vital arm to that hot ball, which Bryan Cullen snatched and won the last-gasp free. Had Quinn landed that difficult shot, Flynn would have been guaranteed a hot farewell as he left the field.

"Well, if they don't blood young referees in the national league, when are they going to do it?" reasoned Caffrey. "I thought that was just two hungry teams out there today playing hard, clean football."

So it was. No classic and Dublin will chalk it down and move on. For Fermanagh though, it is another significant reflection of where they have come from and where they are going.

FERMANAGH: C Breen; N Bogue, B Owens, S Goan; R Johnston, S McDermott, P Sherry; M Murphy (0-1), L McBarron; S Doherty (0-1), M Little (0-1), T Brewster (0-2, free, 45); E Maguire, A Little (0-3), R Keenan (0-1). Subs: J McGurn for A Little (53 mins), T McElroy for Johnston (68 mins), C Bradley for Keenan (72 mins).

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; Griffin, B Cahill, D Henry; P Casey, C Goggins, P Andrews; D McGee, C Whelan; D Lally, A Brogan (0-1), B Cullen; K Bonner, C Keaney (0-2), T Quinn (0-5, three frees, one 45). Subs: P Burke for Bonner (33 mins), S Ryan for Keaney, D Marshall for Brogan (66 mins).

Referee: F Flynn (Leitrim).