Charismatic Fermanagh hurling boss Joe Baldwin led his Fermanagh side to Lory Meagher glory in early June.

It was just reward for this exciting young team who are now back up in the Nickey Rackard Cup a competition they took part in, in 2022.

They retained that status but just missed out in 2023 to a series of one-point defeats.

However, they made no mistake in the Lory Meagher Cup this year.

And this week, Baldwin was ratified for his seventh year in charge of the Erne hurlers which is something of a record in itself.

Joe had a traumatic experience early in the season when he suffered a stroke but that did not deter him from giving his usual passionate 100 per cent commitment to his charges as they took the county’s third-ever Lory Meagher Cup.

And one of the stand-out moments from that great victory was the timeless image of Erne captain Ryan Bogue inviting Baldwin to hold the trophy aloft, a really special moment and a sign of just how much his team respects the County Down native.

“It is always great to win and to win in Croke Park and it is a great feeling, and it gives you that hunger to try and replicate that.

“It is great to be back as manager, but we are under no illusions about the step up in class in the Nickey Rackard Cup competition which we have been in before.

“But we feel we have earned the right to be there, and we can definitely do a lot more than just to compete in.

“We held our Nickey Rackard status and the following year we were very unlucky as we lost five or six games in the championship by a single score.

“But the introduction of Daithi Hand and Peter Galvin to the backroom team has been hugely significant.

“They took Sligo from the Lory Meagher competition right up to the Christy Ring Cup.

“This is a big year for us.”

He added: “We are looking at new players and hoping to get the likes of Francie McBrien and Micheal Flanagan back on board as well.

“We have a lot of work to do but we are really looking forward to the challenge.”

And, the eloquent Baldwin is also looking forward to the challenge.

“The Fermanagh lads are just a fantastic bunch of lads to work with and that is what is bringing me back year after year."