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Paddy Tally is anticipating a severe test run from Cavan next weekend after his Down side inflicted a 1-15-0-11 loss to Fermanagh in the Ulster SFC quarterfinal at Brewster Park.
Down led by just one point into the interval, but walked away from his opponents after the restart, with Donal O’Hare scoring a goal that ended Fermanagh’s stamina.
That score was created by influential Caolan Mooney, who was returning to the fray after suffering a serious assault last year.
“The first half was a typical Ulster Championship match, very tight and nervous,” Tally told RTÉ Sport afterward.
“Both times we played it strictly and cautiously.
“We hadn’t played a game in a long time, we weren’t completely sure where we were, so it took a little time to gain confidence.
“But I thought that when the game opened, we were valuable to our victory.”
Morne’s men want a chance to rest on their laurels, with a semi-final against Cavan scheduled for next weekend. Tally believes that getting over the Mickey Graham charges will be a much tougher task.
“Cavan is a different team than Fermanagh,” Tally said. “They are very different in the way they play.
“They are physically very strong and very big in the middle. They have two or three very sharp forwards that will score.”
“Gearoid McKiernan is worth four or five points for that team, whereas Fermanagh probably didn’t have that key shooter in the game.
“It’s a different proposition, and they also have other players like Martin Reilly and Cormac O’Reilly.
“They have very, very good footballers, so we expect a very tough game and all we can do is do our homework and plan it.”
Fermanagh coach Ryan McMenamin admitted that O’Hare’s second-half touchdown turned out to be a key turning point.
“The goal killed us,” he said.
“If you look back at the first half, we were right.
“There were silly mistakes and we gave the ball away and they came down and scored free. That kept them there.
“If you don’t risk playing football, it takes your life.”
Covid-19 has hampered Fermanagh’s championship build-up, but McMenamin remained magnanimous in defeat.
“It’s been difficult, but it’s the same for everyone else,” he said.
“We are not going to make any excuses.”
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