Fermanagh lose Donnelly to broken leg

Fermanagh's frustrating run of injuries continued last Saturday with current captain Eoin Donnelly breaking his leg in the Allianz League Division 3 derby match against Monaghan at Brewster Park.

Donnelly sustained the injury in a first half collision with Monaghan's Darren Hughes, who slid in to make a challenge which the Ernesiders felt deserved some punishment from the referee.

The loss of the half forward comes at a particularly bad time for Peter Canavan's men whose winning start to the league campaign was ended by Monaghan's 0-14 to 0-12 success in Enniskillen.

Donnelly joins fellow leg break victim Sean Quigley and James Sherry (broken hand) on Fermanagh's long-term injury list, with the trio all set to miss the remainder of the league. Barry Owens and Ryan McCloskey have also been absent in recent weeks.

Fermanagh spokesman Ger Treacy told BBC Northern Ireland: "First off, we had Ronan Gallagher dislocating a shoulder in late December and then the injuries to James Sherry and Sean Quigley and now this broken fibula for Eoin.

"The injuries are stacking up and really starting to impact on us. Not having Sean Quigley at the weekend really affected us because we didn't have his free-taking ability.

"Eoin's injury came after about 25 minutes of the game and that incident left us pretty sore in more ways than one because it only resulted in one of our fellows being booked (for complaining about it).

"It's a bad blow for us and for Eoin. Peter (Canavan) actually made him captain for the last couple of games because he has been playing that well.

"He never played minor or Under-21 for the county, but the fact that he was made captain was a mark of how well he has been playing.

"Hopefully, he will be back ready for the Championship but that's it as far as the league is concerned for him."