Blood, sweat and tears

Marty McGrath on his search for that elusive Ulster title

FERMANAGH badly needed a decent run in the Ulster Championship.

After the highs of last year and the Ulster final against Armagh there was always a strong possibility that the team might suffer a bit of a slump.

The problem was that the early season slump became a slide and then it became a crisis which saw them relegated from Division Two.

The omens weren’t good heading into the preliminary round game against Down but the team pulled together to dig out a crucial victory.

“We were disappointed to lose the final last year, naturally enough,” said captain Martin McGrath.

“We were even more disappointing by the manner in which we lost the final.

“So we needed to get off to a good start to make sure that last year wasn’t a flash in the pan.

“It was disappointing to get relegated. It was not what we wanted but there was no panic. We lost the last few games narrowly and we also were carrying a few injuries.

“We’ve focused on the Championship and hopefully we’ll be fresh and ready to do well.”

Unfortunately, the Erne bandwagon never managed to pick up any momentum and hit the rocks against Cavan.

It leaves the 27-year-old McGrath still looking for that Ulster title and who knows how many more chances remain?

Marty, as everyone in Fermanagh will tell you, is a former All-Star and Ulster Player of the Year (2004). A rep for the Quinn Group, he has played both midfield (his favoured position) and centre-back for his county.

He has represented Ireland in the International Rules series and this year he has the added responsibility of being Fermanagh’s captain.

The St Joseph’s Ederney clubman has been a regular county player for almost a decade and he still savours every chance he gets to play football although he doesn’t get to play for his club side as often as he would like.

In many ways it’s not surprising that he still enjoys the opportunity to compete. Over the years McGrath has had to deal with a heart problem and a cancer scare.

He’s suffered more than his fair share of injuries and it’s helped him appreciate the basic act of getting out onto the field to play.

“Sometimes it can be a bit demoralising to be held back by injury but you just have to keep going,” he added.

“I suppose when you get knocks playing county football it’s the club scene that suffers. Sometimes trying to do both just puts too much wear and tear on the body.

“I enjoy any chance I get to play and I still look forward to it.

“I’m 27 years of age now and I don’t know how much longer I’ll be playing for so you have to take every opportunity you can get.

“I’m playing for nine years or so now without a county medal to show for it. There’s been a lot of final defeats. I’d love to get a medal and that’s why I enjoy getting out there to play.”

McGrath played midfield against Down in he preliminary round, picking up a point as Fermanagh progressed but like the game itself, he came in for some criticism after the final whistle with Down boss Ross Carr accusing him of diving following a push from Aidan Carr.

The Fermanagh star brushed aside the incident which saw Carr red carded and insisted that he wasn’t too concerned by the adverse publicity.

“It’s part and parcel of modern game and sometimes you use it as a motivation,” he said.

“Fermanagh has come in for a bit of criticism (after beating Down) I suppose we can use that to motivate us, we can disprove those accusations.”

With the Ulster Championship as a whole, also coming in for some heavy criticism, particularly after the Derry/Monaghan game the midfielder offered some insights into the ‘win at all costs mentality’

“Players are training all year. They are out in the long dark nights and at the end of the day you want to win your games,” he said.

“You also want to be involved in games that are good and exciting. If it’s a high scoring game and you come out on the right end it’s great to be involved but if it’s a high scoring game and you’re beaten it’s disappointing.

“If it’s one of the best games ever and you lose you’re left thinking that it is of no value to you.

“Now, looking at it from the punters point of view, they want to see good games and they are there to support you and be entertained but generally come championship time, it’s winning that counts.”

On the same theme, McGrath disputed some claims that the experimental rules, ditched after the national league trials, would somehow have contributed to a better spectacle in Ulster.

“In general I wasn’t a fan of the experimental rules,” he said.

“I think that the small teams were at a disadvantage because if they lost a player or two they didn’t have the depth in their squads to replace them whereas the ‘bigger’ teams had a larger pool to choose from.

“People kept referring to the Dublin/Tyrone game and how great a game it was but there wasn’t much tackling and it wasn’t at championship level

“I don’t know if the rules would have worked because the intensity is so much less in the league than it is come championship time.

“The rules that are there at the minute are adequate if they are used consistently.

“I always thought the experimental rules put far more pressure on the referee which wasn’t fair because it was a hard enough job in the first place.

“A referee generally is looking to get through a game without being seen but with the experimental rules the whole talk was all about referees.”