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Ross
names Down side to face Fermanagh in Minor Semi Final - 18/06/03 2003
Ulster Minor Football Championship - Semi Fianl
Down
v Fermanagh 
@ 2.30 p.m. Clones, Sunday 22nd June 2003
 AFTER
an impressive and the most accomplished performance in the 2003 Ulster Championship,
the Down Minors have it all to do again when they take on Fermanagh in the semi-final
of the competition. Down ruthlessly tore Armagh apart in the first round but,
despite the skill and abundance of positive football, the Mourne County realises
it was a flat-footed and out of sorts team they had beaten and they will be playing
a confident Fermanagh side come Sunday who will be biding to reach only the fourth
Ulster final in the county's history. Just like the county seniors, the Fermanagh
minors have never won an Ulster title but this is their most promising team in
years and showed real character to defeat Donegal after a replay in the quarter-final.  Fermanagh
will go in as underdogs against Down, but if players like Dwayne McAlynn, Conor
Foy, Niall Tinney, Shane O'Brien, Paul O'Brien and Michael Kerr can perform to
their potential then they will cause Down problems. The Down team have been training
up to three times a week and Carr does not insist on a club policy of resting
players be he said that it is delicate matter between resting players and training
too hard. "It is has been difficult as we have had a dozen or so players involved
in the Colleges football." He added, "we have had to rest players at different
times as players are also taking exams and some of our them are manual workers
that have been working from seven in the morning and you cant expect them to come
straight to training without something to eat. You can't flog a dying horse."
Now in his second term in charge and after his first championship win Carr readily
states that winning is more a relief than an enjoyable feeling and added. "Regardless
of the result I have a good bunch of lads and I'm sure it's no different than
any panel. We have not set a target this season except for the players to perform
to the best of their ability and I hold my trust in the players."
 Down
will be looking to the likes of James McGovern, Mark Poland and Stephen Sands
who scored ten points in the Armagh game to once again hit the scores. Carr believes
that Fermanagh will pose a sterner test to his side than Armagh. "Fermanagh are
a better footballing team and should have beaten Armagh in the National League
Final." And Carr understands that his team will have to continue to be on top
form and may have to improve to earn their place in the final. "There's always
room for improvement. In the first half, Armagh could have nicked a few goals,
and every game presents different challenges. Against Armagh we scored 16 times
sometimes you would only score ten of those chances." It is Fermanagh's defence
that has received the most praise in their victory over Donegal, and they have
been noted as a very disciplined side. They give away few free kicks but Down
should have the superior midfield. Dwayne McAlynn and Conor Foy are good man-markers,
and they may pose some problems for the Down attack. The Erne County had to make
a dramatic late comeback against a fancied Donegal side to book their semi-final
spot. If the Down team show the same composure and extract the same fluency as
they did in their last match they should be good enough to surpass the quality
of Fermanagh. Although this has been the year for Championship upsets and Carr
will not allow complicacy to be a factor.
Down Team v Fermanagh:
1. PADDY McMANUS, 2. DARRAGH NEESON, 3. STEPHEN TONER, 4. MARK ROONEY, 5. RYAN
LYNCH, 6. JAMES COLGAN, 7. EOIN HENRY (Capt.), 8. CALLUM KING, 9. AIDAN CARR,
10. STEPHEN, 11. JAMES DORAN, 12. JAMES McGOVERN, 13. STEPHEN SANDS, 14. MARK
POLAND, 15 JASON BROWN Fermanagh (MFC): F Murphy, R Dolan,
P Johnston, S Flynn, K Ferguson, C Foy, D McAlynn, S O'Brien, S Tinney, P Gormley,
N McGrath, P O'Brien, P Cadden, T O'Flanagan, D Ward.
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