THERE is a lot of talk at the moment with the lack of competitiveness in most of the provincial championships. This conversation is certainly something that cannot be aimed at the Ulster Senior Football Championship. After the way they dismantled Derry, Donegal went into last week’s semi-final as raging hot favourites. And, anyone who knows […]
Shane O’Donnell delighted with achieving goal
By Michael McMullan TWO years after making his championship debut in a win over Armagh, Shane O’Donnell will be hoping his second taste of Ulster final action is a winning one. O’Donnell’s two points weren’t enough to stop Derry edging Donegal in an extra-time arm wrestle in Clones to land a first title in 24 […]
MATCH PREVIEW: A big ask for Tyrone
ULSTER SFC SEMI-FINAL Donegal v Tyrone Sunday, Celtic Park, 2pm By Niall Gartland THE punishing runs from deep, the disciplined defending, the economy in front of goal and the cutaway shots of Jim McGuinness on the sideline – last Saturday’s unexpected mauling of Derry was like booting up the time machine and setting the dial for to the […]
KEVIN CASSIDY: The Championship is here with a bang
WE expected last week’s games would spring the championship into action, but I don’t think any of us expected what was about to unfold at Celtic Park on Saturday evening. I am going to look at this game in two parts and treat them as two separate sections because in my eyes, that’s how the game […]
Donegal direct approach a danger says Niall Morgan
By Barry O’Donnell THE long kick-out strategy which reaped rich dividends for Donegal last time out, is a tactic which Tyrone need to have an answer to, Niall Morgan has warned. Derry net minder Odhran Lynch fell victim to the booming deliveries from his counterpart at the other end of the field Shaun Patton last […]
Shortened season is a challenge – Gallen
BY DÁIRE BONNAR DONEGAL star Oisin Gallen believes the shortened season makes it physically challenging to stay at 100 per cent week-on-week. With the split season now, the Ulster Championship typically starts a month earlier and is usually wrapped up before it would have even started previously. It puts an extra strain on players with games […]
Rampant Donegal sink champions to net semi-final spot
Ulster SFC quarter-final Donegal 4-11 Derry 0-17 By Michael McMullan DONEGAL bagged four goals to dump champions Derry out of the race to win a third successive Ulster title on Saturday night at Celtic Park. Advertisement On a night when the home side were wasteful and unable to engineer a clear goal chance, Donegal’s four […]
JOE BROLLY: The litmus test
FR Liam McClarey, our team chaplain when we won the All-Ireland in 1993, had an audience with his Holiness the Pope in Rome last Thursday. Liam played on the Glack team that won the Derry Junior Championship in 1981. The competition is called the Joe Brolly Cup (after my late grandfather) and as my father […]
McGuinness: Derry game is much more than mere ‘free-hit’
By Shaun Casey MICKEY Harte was always the Everest that Jim McGuinness needed to scale. Go back to 2011 before the Ulster and All-Ireland titles, before the All-Stars and Player of the Year awards, before one of the greatest turnarounds in GAA history. McGuinness’ first objective when he assumed the reins of his native county […]
MATCH PREVIEW: Derry’s impact men may tip the scales
ULSTER SFC Derry v Donegal Saturday, Celtic Park, 6.15pm By Michael McMullan WHEN the teams emerge from the Celtic Park dressing rooms on Saturday, a whole 182 days will have passed since Derry and Donegal were pulled out of the hat together. Advertisement There was plenty of time for the Mickey Harte and Jim McGuinness story […]