The Ulster GAA Championship starts this Sunday and we take a look at each County as they begin the countdown to the most competitive Provincial championship.
The Ulster Championship is a competition that each County can go into and quietly be confident of winning the Anglo Celt title on July 19th.
Here is how each County are looking at the moment as the Championship throws in this Sunday in Ballybofey.
Donegal
Donegal start the campaign with a difficult looking assignment against Tyrone. Starting from the Preliminary round it won’t be easy for Rory Gallagher’s side but they did win Ulster from that stage in 2011 and 2012 under Jim McGuinness.
Donegal had a solid NFL campaign making the semi finals while familiar names such as the McGee’s, Murphy, McGlynn and co will make sure Donegal are still in the mix come the long Summer evenings.
Down
After topping Division 2 in the NFL and getting the ticket back to top flight football in 2016 all is rosy in Down football. After coming so close in the 2010 All Ireland Final many would suggest the Down outfit has went back a bit.
Caolan Mooney has been a huge help in recent showings while a tricky tie with Derry is still very hard to call.
Tyrone
After winning the U21 All Ireland title Tyrone football got a shot in the arm after relegation for the senior side back in April in the NFL.
Facing Donegal won’t be easy while a number of Tyrone players have walked away from the panel with Kyle Coney being a huge loss to Mickey Harte’s side.
A win over Donegal and Tyrone will feel that another Ulster title can be added, we should know more come Sunday at 5pm.
Monaghan
Malachy O’Rourke’s side are looking good once again and will feel that an Ulster Final can be achieved with Cavan in the first round for the Farney side proving probably more difficult than people have expressed.
A confident NFL display gave them a top 4 finish, while players such as Connor McManus and Kieran Hughes will prove difficult for any defenders in Ireland let alone Ulster.
They looked well equipped to go close once again.
Fermanagh
An excellent division 3 league campaign resulting in promotion has kept confidence high in the Erne camp at present with a league defeat to Armagh in the Final maybe keeping the players feet grounded.
Antrim come calling to Enniskillen once again this year and Fermanagh fans will not need reminding of what happened in 2014.
Not many will give Fermanagh a chance of winning Ulster but a win on May 31st could gather plenty of momentum for Pete McGrath’s young squad.
Armagh
A tough opening start to Armagh’s Ulster Championship campaign is a certainty with Kieran McGeeney’s side facing the winners of Donegal and Tyrone.
Armagh football took a nose dive over the last few years but many within the County are confident that the tide is turning, especially with a talented group of younger players coming from winning Minor and Under-21 sides of late.
They ran Donegal so close last year in an All Ireland Quarter Final and will take great heart in that. May surprise many this year.
Derry
Derry will be hugely disappointed with last years Championship campaign with two games played and two defeats.
2015 has not started much better with relegation confirmed early on in division 1 but a Championship run is always possible from a side that possess plenty of good ball carriers.
A huge game against Down in the first round will determine each sides season on guesses.
Antrim
Antrim make a return once again to Enniskillen and will be aiming to make it two wins on the trot against Fermanagh.
They only just missed out on promotion from division 4 but still showed plenty of potential.
CJ McGourty is a class act and his return along with the current form of Michael Pollock will certainly give Antrim a chance on May 31st.
Cavan
Cavan football was very much on the up in 2013 with a run to the all Ireland Quarter finals but 2014 was hugely disappointing with defeats to Armagh and Roscommon.
With plenty of good footballers coming through from Ulster winning Under-21 sides many in the Breffni County will now be expecting Ulster glory to come at Senior level, but as we all know football doesn’t work like that.
They will go into the Breffni Park clash against neighbours Monaghan as underdogs that will sit just fine with them. If they can shock the Farney County anything will be possible for Terry Hyland’s side in 2015.
Fixtures
Preliminary Round: Donegal v Tyrone
Quarter Finals: Cavan v Monaghan Fermanagh v Antrim Derry v Down Armagh v Donegal / Tyrone
Semi Finals: Cavan / Monaghan v Fermanagh / Antrim Derry / Down v Armagh / Donegal / Tyrone
By Tom Thu 14th May
