Monaghan needed that point from keeper Rory Breggan as he thumped over a monster free from distance. Tyrone are looking fluency and pacy here so the Farney men's task at the moment is to stay in touch and hope that the Red Hands go off the boil at some point.

Debutant Lee Brennan opens his championship account with a free from 30 yards.

Hard to keep up with the early barrage of scores. Conor McManus fires over a free but Padraig Hampsey restores Tyrone's two-point advantage with another superb effort from distance.

Connor McAliskey swings over a glorious point from 40 minutes and Niall Sludden repeats the dose a minute later. Tyrone showing early intent.

Fintan Kelly has acres of space to fire Monaghan ahead after only 25 seconds but Cathal McShane equalises within 60 seconds. A fast start here.

Referee David Coldrick throws in the ball at Healy Park.

Both teams take a little prompting before taking their places behind the band for the parade.

The delay to the start will have had a knock-on effect on the players' normal pre-match routines.

The injury to Colin Walshe seems to have surprised even some of the Monaghan support staff here in the stand.

Looking like the throw-in is going to be nearer to 16:30 BST with the anthem still to take place.

Malachy O'Rourke indicated a couple of hours ago that Monaghan would play as selected but the team sheet now shows two changes with Dessie Mone in for former All-Star Colin Walshe with Ryan McAnespie replacing the highly-rated Conor McCarthy.

Midfielder Niall Kearns is Monaghan's only championship debutant.

Monaghan: R Beggan; D Mone, D Wylie, R Wylie; K Duffy, V Corey, K O'Connell; N Kearns, D Hughes; F Kelly, J McCarron, D Ward; R McAnespie, K Hughes, C McManus.

Monaghan have pulled clear in extra-time to earn a 1-20 to 1-16 win over Down at Healy Park. In Sunday's other minor game, Derry earned a comfortable 2-11 to 0-5 win over Fermanagh at the Armagh Athletic Grounds.

Image source, BBC Sport

Cian Murtagh
BBC Sport NI at Healy Park

There is a feeling of calm here at Healy Park before the storm that most surely will erupt at throw-in. It's the deep breath before the battle and a nervous tension in the air.

Joining the throng on the long walk up Gortin Road feels more like a pilgrimage than anything else – albeit a pilgrimage lined by chip vans, flag sellers and cars crammed into seemingly impossible spaces.

The Monaghan minors are playing Down in the opening game and so there’s a large visiting contingent already in the ground - the Ulster council are expecting a crowd of 17,000.

The talk among the supporters concerns the big questions of the day. Can Monaghan break Tyrone’s stranglehold over them? Will Colm Cavanagh really start? Which stall does the best burgers?

I know all of you are listening in on BBC Radio Ulster Medium Wave as well as taking in our text commentary but you will be able to watch a full deferred TV broadcast of the big game on BBC Two Northern Ireland at 19:00 BST. You won't miss a minute of the action on that as well all the post-match reaction.

Tyrone boss Mickey Harte has told BBC Radio Ulster's that the Red Hands will play as selected.

That means Colm Cavanagh will line up in midfield with free-taker Lee Brennan and Frank Burns making their championship debuts.

Tyrone: N Morgan; P Hampsey, R McNamee, C McCarron; T McCann, F Burns, P Harte; C Cavanagh, M Donnelly; C McShane, N Sludden, C Meyler; L Brennan, C McAliskey, M Bradley.

The senior game will now throw in at 16:20 BST because of the extra-time in the minor game. More time to really enjoy that burger rather than gulping it down.

Cian Murtagh
BBC Sport NI at Healy Park

Fermanagh’s shock victory yesterday was at a balmy Brewster Park. Today is an entirely different prospect. It’s dull and dank in Omagh with steel-grey clouds overhead, a stiff breeze blowing from the town end and a soft drizzle has started to fall.

Tyrone v Monaghan was the stand out game when the championship draw was made and more than once I’ve heard people suggest that it is, in fact, this year’s Ulster final – which is probably no surprise when you recall that four of the last five Ulster titles have been shared by these two sides.

Monaghan’s win over Dublin in the league has infused their supporters with a real sense of hope but this is Tyrone at Healy Park and the memory of their All-Ireland quarter-final losses to Mickey Harte’s men in 2013 and 2015 will be hard to erase.

Image source, Inpho

We will have extra time in the minor match here which could mean a slightly delayed start to the big game.

Monaghan came from five points behind in the second half before Down converted a free with the last kick to square it on 1-12 apiece.

The Monaghan minors are managed by Seamus McEnaney and Down have James McCartan in charge - just like old times.

So after a somewhat pedestrian beginning at Ballybofey, we had a bit more fire yesterday in Enniskillen but this is the game people have had their eye on since the draw was made in the autumn.

Tyrone begin their bid for a third straight Ulster title against Monaghan, the previous winners in the province in 2015.

Some high-profile pundits are tipping Monaghan to down the Ulster holders after the Farney men beat Dublin at Croke Park in late March.

However, that was a league dead rubber. Whatever about back doors and the Super Eight being the only show in town this year, today's contest is anything but a dead rubber.

It's going to be fascinating.