“We felt like we gave it up in the finals last year, so it’s good to have a chance to get that right,” Philly said. “Even with my own career, I remember losing one before you can win. You’ll learn a lot from a defeat, and I hope so. Sometimes players get this opportunity, but we’ve learned a lot about how to deal with it, and I hope that experience stays with us.”

Fermanagh lost to Wicklow in their first match of the group stage, but Felike felt that this was Gordon County’s second game going into the clash.

“The game that Wicklow played last week before they played us definitely stood out with them, it was a stormy day and it was very difficult.

“Since then we have been able to improve our change but I think defensively that we are very good and we want to go further on the ball with the quality there,” he added.

On the way to the final, Fermanagh defeated Carlo and Limerick, but progress has been made since then.

“We have a great improvement week, there’s a big bond, the girls are working hard. We’ve been able to move all the games forward and develop things since that wiclow. We had a couple of great results and success helps you progress, so we’re happy with the girls so far,” he said.

“Everyone is waiting for Saturday’s final,” he said.

“At some point this year you might have thought we weren’t even going to win a championship football, so coming up with an All Ireland final this Saturday is an exciting time for the girls.

“Even for the families of players and supporters, it helps them look forward to the game being able to watch it live on television.”

What does it mean for players to come out as winners on Saturday?

“It will make sense to the world to them. They deserve it because they worked so hard and gave it to everyone. It’s amazing and they can go out and do it with hope.”