 Ryan McCluskey and Chris Breen show their delight after Fermanagh's win |
Ryan Carson's left foot did for Down in the Ulster SFC opener although the championship debutant modestly played down his contribution. "It was just my left foot," as the Newtownbutler club-man explained his selection for Sunday's game. "It suited to take the frees and we've been working on them all year. "We had the problem last year of not taking our scores. A lot of hard work has gone into it this year. Plenty of practice just." Carson added:"We've also been working on shooting from further out and taking our chances when we can. Again, that worked on the day." Experienced forward Ciaran McElroy acknowledged a sense of vindication after "the boys took a bit of stick last year" and their failure to close the deal in the Ulster decider against Armagh.  | 606: DEBATE |
"I think we scored seven from play in the first half," added McElroy. The Fermanagh man also felt that his team had simply outworked Down in the second half. "We pride ourselves on a lot of workrate. Boys going right to the bitter end and we did that today. "We're just glad to get through but at the end of the day, we have won nothing." Erne manager Malachy O'Rourke felt his team had responded with "tremendous character" in the second period after going in at the interval with their "backs to the wall". "We saw on numerous occasions last year when they faced adversity and they responded very well," said the Fermanagh boss. "We were fully confident that they would do that again and that's the way it turned out. "We're delighted to get through. It was a tough game but we got over the line."
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