Ulster Football Championship: No time to catch breath as provincial action starts

Derry defeated Donegal in wet conditions during the Dr McKenna Cup final in January and Jim McGuinness has made clear his frustration at the prospect of more "soft pitches" in the coming weeks

After last weekend's excitement at Croke Park, there's little time for us to catch breath as the Ulster Football Championship is immediately upon us with Monaghan and Cavan meeting in Sunday's preliminary-round tie at Clones.

Looking at the fixtures sequence over the coming weeks, one could be forgiving for assuming that this year's Ulster series is going to be something of a slow burner.

This is by dint of the mouth-watering contest between Derry and Donegal not arriving until week three, with three games already having been played.

But while you do get occasional mismatches and snorefests in the Ulster Football Championships, most contests in the northern province take on a life of their own with talking points and controversies aplenty - even though, granted, the importance of the provincial championships has been significantly eroded by the arrival of the Super 16s.

Hopefully the weather and the resultant sodden pitches is not what we are going to be talking about over the opening championship weeks.

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness, as he aims to ambush Mickey Harte yet again in the Ulster Championship after the Tir Chonaill men's three triumphs over Tyrone in his previous stint in charge, has made clear his frustration at the prospect of supporters "going to Derry in the pouring rain with a soft pitch".

Captain Patrick McBrearty missed Donegal's Division Two League Final win over Armagh last weekend because of the unspecified leg injury he sustained against Meath eight days earlier and McGuinness made clear his distaste for the "constant rushing" engendered by the condensed inter-county calendar as the Championship loomed.

"There is no time and I think that's harsh and hard on players," said the Donegal boss after his side's win over Meath on 23 March.

"The split-season for me doesn't allow the championships to breathe.

"It doesn't allow people in communities to have conversations about the game and then look forward to two weeks or whatever it is, three weeks to the next game and have a conversation around that."

But whatever about his above comments, suffice to say McGuinness will be having plenty of Derry-centred conversations with his players right up until the Celtic Park contest on 20 April.

Derry defeated Dublin on penalties in a high-scoring Allianz Football League final thriller last weekend but the Oak Leafers' Ulster SFC tie against Donegal is likely to be a less open contest

Harte's three-in-a-row seeking Oak Leafers will go into the contest as Allianz Football League champions having defeated Dublin in a penalty shootout after a wonderfully open contest had ended 3-18 to 2-21 following extra-time.

Derry had racked up 2-15 of their total in normal time but one suspects McGuinness' tactical plan for the Ulster quarter-final will be predicated on Harte's players having a lot less space to show off their skills in Celtic Park.

Granted, Donegal did rack up some big scores in their successful Division Two campaign which included hitting 1-20, 2-16, 1-17 and 1-18 against Cork, Fermanagh, Louth and Meath respectively.

However in the two contests against Armagh most likely to resemble championship football, Donegal hit 0-12 and 0-15 and while we surely won't get a repeat of the infamous 2011 All-Ireland semi-final when Dublin eventually penetrated the Tir Chonaill men's defensive blanket to win 0-8 to 0-6, no one will be betting much money on a high-scoring contest at in Derry city.

Lopsided Ulster SFC draw

The lopsided nature of this year's Ulster draw means whoever triumphs at Celtic Park will still have work to do to reach the provincial final.

Derry and Donegal are on the same side of the draw as Monaghan, Cavan and Tyrone, with Armagh strong favourites to plot a route to a second successive provincial decider as they face Fermanagh at Brewster Park on 14 April, before taking on the winners of Down and Antrim, who meet the previous day at Pairc Esler.

The big talking point going into Sunday's preliminary-round opener is whether Rory Beggan is going to be parachuted straight back into the Monaghan team after taking part in a squad training camp following his return from the USA.

While Beggan's fellow inter-county keeper, Down man Charlie Smyth, has landed an NFL contract with the New Orleans Saints, the Monaghan man's prospects of securing a similar lucrative deal remain unclear, so the potential is there for him playing his first game for the county since last year's All-Ireland semi-final final defeat by Dublin.

Monaghan avenged that loss when they shocked the Dubs in round one of the league in late January but a run of six straight defeats resulted in the Farney men's 10-year stint in Division One coming to an end.

Could Rory Beggan be about to make a dramatic return to Monaghan action?

On the face of it, a Beggan return would be a huge boost for Vinny Corey's squad who may also have Conor McManus in their starting line-up after he was rested for most of the league.

Cavan's Division Two League campaign was a mixed bag as they lost only 0-13 to 0-12 against Donegal but then imploded against Armagh in a round-six contest where victory would have put them on course for promotion.

A closing home defeat by relegated Fermanagh only adding to concerns about the form of Raymond Galligan's side as he heads into his first campaign in charge after taking over from Mickey Graham - who guided the Breffnimen to their shock 2020 provincial title.

The following three weekends will have two Ulster ties with Down hosting Antrim on 13 April and the Fermanagh v Armagh contest taking place a day later.

Down achieved promotion back to Division Two last month but wasted an opportunity to boost their chances of being involved in the battle for Sam this summer when losing in disappointing fashion to Westmeath in last Saturday's Division Three final, in what in many ways, was a repeat performance of last summer's Tailteann Cup final loss against Meath.

The Mournemen will still be strong fancied to account for a Antrim side who only secured their Division Three survival with a nervy round-seven win over Wicklow.

Armagh will be even hotter favourites to account for Fermanagh even though the Ernemen ambushed Kieran McGeeney's side on their last Ulster Championship visit to Brewster Park six years ago.

Can Red Hands regain heights?

Week three will be started by the big one between Derry and Donegal before Tyrone enter the championship fray against either Monaghan or Cavan.

The Red Hands lifted their fourth All-Ireland title as recently as three years ago but injuries and a player drift away from the squad meant Brian Dooher had to blood several youngsters during the recent league campaign, when his fellow joint-manager Feargal Logan wasn't involved because of illness.

Tyrone's Spring campaign was mixed as they maintained their Division One status thanks to wins over Roscommon, Mayo and Monaghan, but ended the campaign with an almighty thumping by Kerry, when admittedly they fielded an extremely young side.

Forced to peer into our imaginary crystal ball, the smart money has to be on a repeat of last year's provincial final which would mean Derry facing Armagh on 12 May.

Eleven month ago, the Oak Leafers' penalties prowess enabled them to see off the heartbroken Orchard men in an historic provincial final shootout.

A year on, Derry look even more formidable under Harte with most pundits now feeling they have joined Dublin and Kerry in pulling ahead of other All-Ireland contenders Mayo, Galway and Armagh.

However, a seemingly rejuvenated Donegal will represent the toughest of openers for Derry as their messianic returning manager seeks to maintain the championship edge that he held over Harte during his first Tir Chonaill reign.