By Shaun Casey

FERMANAGH will take the confidence of having already defeated Sligo into Sunday’s semi-final showdown says their manager CJ McGourty, but warns that they won’t be taking the challenge lightly.

The Erne County were ten points better off when these two sides clashed in round six of the National League four weeks ago, but with a Division Four final spot up for grabs, McGourty won’t be taking anything for granted.

Sligo competed in Division Three last season and that exposure to a higher level of quality makes them a dangerous prospect. Fermanagh also beat them in the championship last season on their way to All-Ireland Junior glory, but were lucky to do so.

“We can probably take a bit of confidence from beating them, we beat them last year by a point in the championship but they probably should have beaten us if I’m being honest, then we beat them by ten points a couple of weeks back,” said the former Antrim footballer.

“They were missing two key players and we were missing one as well but every Sunday takes on a life of its own. It could be windy, it could be wet, it’s an old cliché but they usually are games of two halves.

“I know the pitches are starting to firm up and the weather is getting that wee bit better but I don’t know what Sunday is going to bring. No one does and that’s the beauty of why we take part in sport.

“We will take confidence from beating them the first time but at the end of the day, they’re coming down from Division Three and looking to bounce back. They’re probably going into the game as slight favourites having played at that higher level but it’s a 50-50 game.”

Reaching the last four of the league was the overall target for Fermanagh when they set out their stall at the start of the season and McGourty is delighted that they have fulfilled their first goal of 2025.

“We had three or four smaller ambitions but the major one was to get to a semi-final,” he added. “We’ve done that and the three or four smaller goals in terms of development of players, trying players out in new positions, different styles of football, I think we’ve achieved them as well.

“I think our squad is a lot better than it was last year, which it had to be because of the amount of injuries we’ve had throughout the league, albeit smaller injuries. The goal was to reach the semi-final and we’ve done that.”

In terms of the squad, McGourty is hoping to have a full bill of health.

“We’re definitely getting there but I would like all 33 of them fit. There’s loads of options there which is great – if someone does get injured, we have the capacity to replace them.

“We’ve built up a good spirit and good team morale in the squad with lots of different attributes and qualities so we’re in a good place.”