Black proud as Fermanagh Juniors create SuperCup history

The U14 Fermanagh squad claimed the scalps of Rangers, FC America and Canadian side DME Football during the tournament and although defeat in the semi-final of the Globe ended their hopes of coming home with silverware, Black was delighted with their achievements.

“I’m told it is the first time a Fermanagh Junior team has had three wins from the five games, but regardless of how previous teams have done, I think the boys have done fantastic,” he said.

“Pride is the word we can use for the week. Parents are proud, players are proud and even the committee. The words that Bernie and Ernie said to the boys afterwards - they said they were very proud about how they handled themselves on and off the pitch. You can’t even begin to think how much the players are going to take away from it, especially after a really good week.”

Black had overseen some impressive pre-tournament performances in the warm-up games, and he was not surprised by the quality of football the players produced once the tournament got underway.

“I knew we had something in us,” he admitted.

“It is a special group of boys. We had extreme confidence in them to know that there was no fear, no matter who they went up against. We definitely have boys who will push the Premier team next year a year young, and who knows after that.

"There are boys that lifted the level of our camp by their own individual performances. They might not know it, but the other boys have pushed their own boundaries higher because of them. They are thinking, 'if he can get to that level then so can I'.”

The tournament started with a massive high as they beat Rangers 2-1, and although they slipped to defeats against St. Patrick's Athletic in the group stage and to County Londonderry in the Globe semi-final, Black was delighted with the effort and commitment of his team in every game they played.

“We can have no regrets,” he said.

“Even the games we lost, they weren’t easy wins for the opposition, and that was good to take away. We can look back at a load of chances we had. We created chances and we definitely had the ability to win the games, and they need to take pride from that.

"It could have been even better than it was, but it was extremely good. We would have regretted it if we had downed tools and dropped heads when goals went in, but the one thing the team had throughout the week was that they played right to the final whistle and we gave it everything.”

“If we look at the St. Pat's game, St. Pat's dominated but we made them work hard for it.

"We looked at some of their results after that and they weren’t great, so maybe we took a lot out of them.

“We had played all the counties before the tournament apart from Derry, so that game was a bit of an unknown, although we knew it was going to be tough.

At club level, the boys knew some of the players so we knew we were going to be able to give it a good go, and we did have it in us. Tiredness had set in, yes, but I think we gave them a really good game. Two errors, if you could call them that, that’s maybe harsh, but that was the difference.”

It was Black’s first time to manage a team at the Super Cup, and he admits he and his coaching staff have the players to thank for a memorable week.

“I want to thank the players,” he said.

“We could have gone up there for the week and had our opportunity and then just come home again, but they are the ones that gave us the experience.

"I want to thank the committee for giving me the opportunity. We have backroom staff, some of them have done it before, and for some like myself it was the first time, and we are all really thankful that we got the chance.

"From the bus drivers to the kitmen, there were loads. You don’t really see the ins and outs of it all but the preparation that must have gone in before we got to that week was immense.

"I hope next year there are other people that want to be involved. There is a lot of work to be shared and it would be great for other people to come in and help out."