By John Harrington

Saturday will be a proud day for everyone associated with St. Patrick’s, Lisbellaw Hurling Club.

Fermanagh play Louth in the Lory Meagher Cup Final, which effectively means that St. Patrick's, Lisbellaw play Louth in the Lory Meagher Cup Final.

They’re the only senior club hurling team in the county, and the entire Fermanagh team apart from a couple of exceptions is made up of Lisbellaw club hurlers.

Trying to compete on a national level with players from just one club might seem like a huge disadvantage.

But Fermanagh midfielder Conor McShea believes the natural camaraderie and instinctive understanding they’ve developed with their club has actually helped them at inter-county level.

“Absolutely, because whenever the county scene finishes we're all together as Lisbellaw,” he says.

“We all know each other really well because we've been playing with one another from the age of five upwards. We very much know each others strengths and how to play to them.

“Maybe each others weaknesses, even, so we can help each other in matches to get over the line.

“Look, it's boys you've grown up with playing hurling. It's massive for the club, so it is and we're just really looking forward to it.”

McShea is hopeful that Fermanagh won’t be as reliant on Lisbellaw hurlers in the future as they are now.

A significant effort is currently underway in the county to develop young hurlers in other clubs that should bear fruit in the years to come.

“Previously Lisbellew would have been drawing people from all over the county but now there's serious work being put in at underage level in other clubs,” says McShea.

“There's maybe eight underage teams in Fermanagh now playing up to U-12 or U-14 which is quite good. For the first time in a long time there was actually a minor final played between two clubs, Lisbellaw and Belleek.

“It's about player retention, keeping all of those clubs going now and actually making sure they're getting hurling. Eight clubs going now with boys getting plenty of hurling, it would look good for the future generations.

“But we don't just see the Fermanagh seniors as keeping it alive for them, we want to drive on ourselves. We want to get into the Nickey Rackard, we want to be playing at the highest level of hurling that we can be playing.

“For young people within the county, the fact that they can see that the Fermanagh county hurling team can get to Croke Park and play in these big occasions is definitely something that could drive hurling on throughout their generation in the county.”

It will also give people from outside the county a chance to see just how talented Fermanagh’s star player, Sean Corrigan is.

A scoring machine for Fermanagh for many seasons, he has recently returned from a stint abroad and the Erne-siders are all the better for it.

“Whenever I first joined the panel you would have taken it for granted that Sean would be scoring 1-10 plus every game,” says McShea.

“Obviously he was away for a few years in Canada and that's maybe why we weren't performing as well as we were.

“He's a real marquee forward and he's just slotted back into the team with ease.

“He scored the winner against Louth off the stick way out by the sideline. He's just a real talent, so he is, and we're absolutely delighted to have him back.”

Fermanagh are also boosted by the addition to the panel of county footballers Danny Teague and Ciaran Corrigan.

Neither was involved in the Round Robin phase but will most likely see action in Saturday’s Final.

“The two boys have been great,” says McShea. “They've raised the training levels so much higher, so they have, too.

“We're absolutely going into this game thinking we can get the win and get over the line. We're looking forward to it.”

Fermanagh have already beaten Louth in the round-robin phase of the Lory Meagher Cup this year so they’re entitled to feel confident.

There was only a single point in it that day, and McShea is expecting Saturday’s Final to be another hard-fought contest that will be decided by some fine margins.

“Our manager (Joe Baldwin) always said it's a grain of sand that can tip the scales,” says McShea.

“He said before the Louth game it would be a one-point match. He said before the Cavan game it would be a one-point match and that was a draw.

“We're absolutely expecting a massive battle, so we are. I can't see there being much between the sides. Our boys were even practicing penalties the other night.

“We've done our video analysis from the Louth game and there were areas we were very outnumbered in, the puck-outs being one.

“We'd be quite a young team and maybe a bit on the smaller side. Louth definitely have a physical advantage over us. So we'd be targeting the puck-outs for one and looking to get ahead in that aspect of the game.

“Our manager has a few mottos and keeping the ball is one of his main ones. We're not just looking to hit the ball down the field for the sake of it as soon as we get it.

“Often in the first game against Louth we felt Louth had a sweeper in which is something we've been working on in training. It's not about hitting the ball down the sweeper's throat. It's about waiting for runners off the shoulder and very much ball retention oriented.”

Which team adapts to playing in the unique surroundings of Croke Park will also surely be a factor on the day too.

McShea is hopeful the firm underfoot conditions and the open spaces of a large pitch will suit Fermanagh’s pacey attack.

“The last Louth game was quite adverse conditions, there must have been a gale wind,” he says.

“We've been checking all the matches in Croke Park to see if boys were slipping. It does seem to be a tight, wee breeze blowing through it.

“We felt maybe the Louth pitch was quite small and might have suited them a bit more. Whereas we'd like the open space for our runners. A big Croke Park pitch should suit us well.”