Published: Wednesday, 6th August, 2008 12:00pm

Arena

To play in an All-Ireland competition at whatever level is an honour and a tribute to the hard work which has gone in to preparing the team. But to see all that effort wasted due to the squandering of scoring opportunities is something which frustrates both team management and supporters.

Fermanagh enjoyed plenty of possession against Kildare in Croke Park last weekend but the forwards chose this occasion to squander hard won possession and shoot fourteen wides, eleven in the first-half.

Team manager Malachy O"Rourke tried everything to correct what was an ineffective attack by replacing full-forward Liam McBarron with Shaun Doherty who went to centre-half forward and Tom Brewster being transferred to the edge of the square.

In a game in which Kildare didn"t score for twenty five minutes until Padraig O"Neill sent over the bar was matched by an equally inept Fermanagh attack within a minute from Eamonn Maguire. By the interval it was 3-2 to Kildare and the fans were somewhat relieved to hear the half-time whistle after witnessing low grade football.

The tempo improved in the second-half but not Fermanagh"s accuracy and although Brewster and sub Shaun Doherty shot a point apiece it was their last score until the last minute of normal time. Fermanagh had their opportunities and a goal attempt by Mark Murphy was saved by goalkeeper Enda Murphy. For all of Fermanagh"s inaccuracy, Kildare were equally laboured in their scoring efforts and it took them some eighteen minutes to end their own scoring drought when Kavanagh fisted a point.

That sparked a series of scores from John Doyle, Emmet Bolton and sub midfielder Daryll Flynn and Fermanagh"s hopes were fading.

The Erne side needed two goals to to save the game but only managed a point from Little.

O"Rourke"s response

Malachy O"Rourke said one of the reasons for the defeat was that the management might not have done enough to heal the physical and emotional scars of the two rounds against Armagh in the Ulster final. 'Those two big matches took a lot out of us physically and emotionally. Anyone in the county knows how much an Ulster title would mean to us. Twenty six years is a long time and it was our job to pick the boys up and we felt we had done that job well but I suppose we did not do it well enough and that was also a factor apart from the number of wides. O"Rourke had no explanation for his side"s abysmal failure in front of goal and their final quarter fade-out. 'I am bitterly disappointed' said the former Cavan Gaels coach. 'It was a bitter pill to swallow in the Ulster final, and in the first 20 minutes we were well on top but it just didn"t happen for us, once again missing vital scores. It is very hard

to take'.