Capitulation to Down was lowlight of career for Fermanagh's Declan McCusker
Declan McCusker said Fermanagh's recent defeat to Down in the Ulster SFC, despite being seven points up with eight minutes to play, was "brutal". Pic: ©INPHO/Lorcan Doherty
Fermanagh captain Declan McCusker has conceded that vice-captain and AFL hopeful Ultan Kelm could miss the entire Championship.
Fermanagh will begin their Tailteann Cup campaign at home to Carlow on Sunday but will be without versatile forward Kelm again.
The Belleek man hasn't featured for Fermanagh since being taken off in Round 2 of the league, his only start of the year.
An apparent flare up of a long-standing hip issue came just weeks after his dreams of making it in the AFL were dashed for a second time.
Kelm had trialled with the Fremantle Dockers but said in mid-December that he was knocked back as the club is 'not focusing on Category B rookies'.
Fremantle had previously indicated in 2021 that they would sign the then 21-year-old though a combination of the pandemic and hip trouble scuppered that deal.
"Ultan Kelm has missed the whole league and he's still injured at the minute, it's his hip," said McCusker. "A few years ago, when he signed the contract in the AFL, he made a balls of his hip and then it's kind of reoccurred. I actually don't know how far away he is, he's weeks away anyway. So whether he gets back to play for Fermanagh at all this year or not, I don't know. It would be a massive boost if we could get him back."
Fermanagh approach the Tailteann Cup as fifth favourites and dark horses for a title charge.
They topped their group last season with a perfect record and, more recently, were seven points up on Down in the Ulster championship with eight minutes left only to lose narrowly.
McCusker, who made his Championship debut in 2011, when Fermanagh were shocked by London in the qualifiers, said the Down experience was a career lowlight.
"It's definitely up there," he said. "I've had a few bad days but, aye, it was brutal. It was so disappointing. We were in control and then they got momentum and we couldn't get it shifted, couldn't win a ball and a couple of wee mistakes near the end then. It was heartbreaking, there's no other way to describe it really."
His challenge to the group now is to deliver on their potential in the Tailteann Cup. The 34-year-old said that while they believe they can win the competition, they've failed to deliver in the past.
"It's been the same the last few years, we've always been a number one seed and we sort of come into it thinking we are good enough to win it and we've underperformed," he said. "Look at some of the other teams, Laois and Antrim for example, they've performed really well in the Tailteann Cup so that's something we need to be aware of and to try to get right this year."
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