'We're battle-hardened' says McGourty ahead of final

Fermanagh won six of their seven league games in Division Four, drawing the other one with Carlow before then going on to lose to The Dolmen County in the league semi-final in the dying embers of the game, in March. Since then, they have won every game.

Success in the Ulster Junior Championship final against Derry was followed by four All-Ireland Group A wins over Sligo, Carlow, The Oak Leaf County and London.

It was another semi-final against the familiar foes of Limerick, however, as Fermanagh overcame The Shannonsiders this time around after last year’s devastation to book their place in a fifth All-Ireland Junior final in eight years.

"I suppose we’re battle-hardened, in terms of having a lot of close games, you know against Sligo, Derry, Carlow, obviously the semi-final against Limerick,” manager McGourty said speaking on his side’s road to the final.

“I’m sure Louth are the same, Carlow put it up to them in the semi-final, so, I expect nothing but a close game on Sunday.

"They’ve been very open games we’ve played in. We’ve tried to play an attacking brand of football, coming to Croke Park it's probably just about making sure we execute the basics well.

"We don’t want to give the ball away cheaply, it’s a big pitch to try and get it back, so, we’re trying to execute the basics well in Croke Park and make the pitch small when we don’t have the ball and when we do have the ball, try and make it as big as possible.”

Although McGourty has played in his fair share of huge county games for Antrim, and even briefly as a hurler for Tyrone, he knows Sunday will be all down to his players’ ability to take the final step in their own journey.

Last month’s win was a huge mental block surpassed after falling short at the same stage 12 months before, as well as the defeat to Carlow in Dundalk.

“At the end of the day, we’ve tried to keep everything the same, we’ve a lot of young girls on the panel,” McGourty added.

“Maybe nine or 10 of them haven’t played in Croke Park, so, we’ve just tried to go through the same routine, the same process that we’ve done all year. We’ve gave every team respect.

"We’ve done video work on every team. We’ve made sure our own game is in ideal shape coming into games, so, we’ll just try and keep the same process that we’ve been using all year and look, the girls will be nervous, there’s no doubt about it.

"Every team going to Croke Park on Sunday, whether it's Junior, Senior or Intermediate is going to be nervous. We’ll be just telling them to go out and try and express themselves.

"It’s one of the best stadiums in Europe, so, why not go and try and experience it yourself on the final day of the season and try to make that impact on the game.”

McGourty took over the reins from James Daly as Erne boss following last year’s semi-final defeat and was quick to bring in Belnaleck’s Kane Connor as a coach, with both having a wealth of experience in county action.

Sean McCartney also came in while analyst Conor McGovern has continued in his role.

“I was probably aware that the girls, for whatever reason, over the last couple of years, have fallen at the semi-final hurdle at the All-Ireland and I suppose I’ve tried to put my experience and Kane’s experience in big games, that we can try and help them through that process, and I suppose that was the case last Sunday in the semi-final," he continued.

"We got over that hurdle, but again we’ll be trying to put that into place on Sunday and try and help them as much as possible. As we’ve said all year, in the group, that it’s a two-way process.

"We’re here to help them and they’re there to help us. As a group, we just try to collectively get the job done in Croke Park on Sunday.”

When asked if it had been an enjoyable first year in charge, McGourty said: “Absolutely. I’ve been asked that question a couple of times, just in conversations with people throughout the county.

"It’s been a brilliant experience for not only me. For Kane, for Conor, for Sean. The girls are an exceptional group to work with. Anything we ask, they try to do to the best of their ability.

"There’s a lot of craic around the group. We try and make it as fun as possible coming to training because as a management team, we’re always on the case that when they’re coming to training and not enjoying it, then it’s very hard to get results.

"That’s one thing we tried to make sure at the start of the season when they come to training that it’s enjoyable and feel welcome.

"For me and Sean, coming in from the outside, we’ve been made feel welcome by the group of players and by the county board.

"It’s one of the most enjoyable years I’ve coached, without doubt. It’s a credit to the management team I’m working with, but also the players as well.”