Sean Quigley based his game on Rory Gallagher growing up but now the Derry boss is seeking to shut him down.
Fermanagh are huge underdogs going into Saturday’s Ulster quarter-final clash and will need Quigley and Co to produce miracles to defeat the reigning champions.
Former Erne star Gallagher is now in charge of Derry and his focus will be on identifying and nullifying any Fermanagh dangerman.
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That certainly includes Quigley who poached a couple of crucial last gasp goals on the way to promotion to Division Two for Kieran Donnelly’s side.
Quigley, 31, admits Gallagher was an inspirational figure for him growing up and he still has ‘huge respect’ for the Oak Leaf boss.
“When I was growing up you watched the likes of Paddy Bradley, yourself (Oisin McConville), Rory Gallagher,” said Quigley on the GAA Social podcast for the BBC
“Rory was unbelievable. He was the player that made things happen out of nothing, he could see a pass that no-one else could see.
“I got a real thrill out of that. I never wanted to be a corner back, wing half back.”
Quigley learned so much more from Gallagher when he took charge of Fermanagh and led them to the 2018 Ulster final and to the brink of Division One football.
“I’ve a huge amount of respect for Rory, he did a lot of great stuff when he was over us,” stressed Quigley.
“He was so intense when he was in the zone. As a person when I got to know him with Fermanagh he was 100%, a great man.
“He did an awful lot of good things for players in Fermanagh that you would never hear of.”
Quigley longs for the sort of freedom and space in the forward line that Gallagher has become renowned for shutting down as a manager. Indeed the Erne forward has even suggested a change of roles to Fermanagh management to buy himself some time and space.
“I have a running joke with the boys, I said to (coach) Ronan O’Neill there about two weeks ago, “I’ll do nets”.
“There’s more opportunity now for a goalkeeper to make things happen. He laughed at it.
“Look at what Ethan Rafferty is doing in Armagh, he has opportunities to kick the ball over the bar.
“You are playing inside and you want a wee bit of freedom to make something happen and you’re just looking around you, you don’t touch the ball. You’re making about 100 runs to get the ball which at times, doesn’t suit me that awful well.”
Despite the challenge ahead of them, Quigley and Fermanagh are not without hope and he insists they have a chance of causing an upset.
“We do, yeah. Hesitantly I say that because Derry are a really formidable team. Genuinely they are a top three team in Ireland I think.
“But in saying that, we are coming off a really good League. We have good players, we have three or four players who would walk onto the Derry team.
“Ultan Kelm, he was always a phenomenal athlete. In the last 12 months he has become a really good footballer too, his ball skills, kick passing, shooting, everything has came on.
“Johnny Cassidy, in my opinion one of the best defenders in Ulster. Johnny Cassidy is every bit as good as Paudie Hampsey of Tyrone who people talk about, no doubt about it.
“Wee Luke Flanagan, an absolute warrior of a man. He’s about four foot nothing, would bite the heels of you all day long. He probably doesn’t get the credit he deserves.
“Hopefully Brewster will be full and we can do everything we can to get our own advantages.”
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