Mayo to end Fermanagh fairytale with plenty left in tank

THE thought of Fermanagh contesting the Bank of Ireland football championship final is now a real possibility. Tomorrow they take on Mayo; the Ernesiders first All-Ireland semi-final.

It's their reward for a record fourth consecutive win in the championship, specifically for overcoming Armagh, who seemed invincible in the Ulster final against Donegal.

The qualifier system, now in its fourth year, has largely benefited the strong counties by giving them the chance to re-group after defeat in their provincial championships, although there have been notable exceptions,

Fermanagh made it to the quarter-final last year but suffered a hammering (1-21 to 0-5) at the hands of all-conquering Tyrone.

The progress made by Fermanagh this year has been nothing short of phenomenal. To date they have played 15 games, including the McKenna Cup (where they lost to Queens Univ), the League, Ulster championship and qualifier series. Apart from wins in the four qualifier rounds, their only other victory was against Longford in the League. In the same competition they were humbled by Kerry in Killarney (2-18 to 0-6) and I can still remember the perplexed look on manager Charlie Mulgrew afterwards, who simply couldn't explain such a poor display.

However, the team demonstrated they had character when they managed a draw in the next round and that, allied to some splendid football, has since shone through.

They play a no-nonsense style of football. It owes little to systems or strategies, just an honest approach to all-action covering in defence, a running game in attack and fairly consistent scoring. Not unexpectedly, they were stretched when beating Armagh, because of some poor finishing and, by all accounts they played poorly against Donegal. But they were impressive against Meath and Cork, running up scores of 0-19 and 0-18, respectively, testifying to their strength in attack.

Anybody who saw Mayo's games in Connacht, particularly the semi-final against Galway and the final with Roscommon, would have been impressed. And, it was carried through to the All-Ireland quarter-final against Tyrone. They defend well, but more importantly have two powerful midfielders in David Brady and Ronan McGarrity and an attack built around the precocious Kieran McDonald.

Mayo haven't always distinguished themselves in Croke Park on the big occasion, although they were pushing Cork hard in their last semi-final appearance five years ago before Fionán Murray scored an injury-time goal. But, based on what we have seen of them so far this season, they seem better qualified to advance to the final. And, potentially, they look the best of the four teams remaining.

I expect them to win with something to spare.