Ryan Bogue will be hunting a second Lory Meagher success when Fermanagh meet Longford on Sunday in Croke Park.

Bogue was in Australia for Fermanagh’s first title success but played a key role back in 2021 as his teammates comfortably saw off Cavan.

The Erne captain missed last weekend’s sessions following the birth of his first child with partner Aine on Friday but was back on the road on Tuesday evening for training ahead of this weekend.

“It’s not too bad, Aine is pretty good with him, I try and do as much as I can,” Bogue said.

“It’s not affecting my sleep too much. There’s different wee bits to get settled in but it's grand. I had the weekend off and, in a way, you don’t like missing out because you are in a final and you’re getting so close, but I was glad to have the weekend off to take a bit of pressure off.”

Fermanagh staged a dramatic comeback against Sunday’s opponents last time out to book their place in the final.

They were 13 points down at one stage before halftime but clawed their way back into proceedings as Danny Teague hit a late equaliser to take top spot in the group.

“We were glad to get the draw and glad to get back in a final,” Bogue added.

“I suppose, a wee bit relieved as well with how the game went, we fought back, and we were disappointed at how we played in the first half. But just glad to get back in a final. We knew we had plenty of work to do to get back there.

"It was a bit of relief, and everyone is now just buzzing to get into another final.”

Bogue has been playing club hurling for Naomh Eanna CLG while working up in Belfast but has recently transferred back to Lisbellaw to play out his final few years with his home club as his 35th birthday approaches next month.

Despite his experience over the years, Bogue believes it’s the newer generation of young Erne stars that are the driving force for his side with long-term ambitions the driving factor.

“Two years ago we won it, so we were hungry to get back to it but the main thing for this group at the minute is if you win the Lory Meagher you win promotion to the Nickey Rackard and I think that is a big driving force in this group,” he continued.

“The young boys are very ambitious, they want to play at a higher level. That is the driving force, winning the Lory Meagher is one thing but its promotion to a higher level is what you really want.

"As I say, there are a good group of young lads who are ambitious and want to push on and that, for me, is the driving force at the minute. The younger group of Caolan Duffy, Tom Keenan, and Luca McCusker, them three, in particular, played in the Hogan Cup final when they were in St. Michael’s in Croke Park.

"Them boys are very experienced as well and have played big games for Lisbellaw. They’ve all played a lot of the Lory Meagher games over the years. I don’t know whether we have more experience or we’re just older, they are old heads on young shoulders.

"There’s a group coming behind them that haven’t played as much for us this year but have been doing well in training all year. They are playing their part as well which you mightn’t have heard of as much. We’re lucky this year it’s a very strong squad and everyone is looking to kick on.

"There’s players coming to training who may not have played too many games but are pushing everyone on all the time and we haven’t had that in a long time.”

The half-back believes leadership, throughout the squad, will play a huge factor against Longford as Fermanagh return to Croke Park in hopes of Lory Meagher number three.

“There are 10 or 12 boys in that changing room that could be captain, it’s a team full of leaders, all I really do is take the toss. There's boys there who would say a lot more and will have an effect on boys a lot better than me.

"What I try to concentrate on is doing the right thing and hope lads will follow in behind. I’m just lucky that I’ve been picked.”