Tyrone begin their Ulster Championship campaign at home to Monaghan on Sunday in Healy Park. I must first mention the complexities and irregularities of the new championship structure. One can argue that progressing in the provincial championships will provide little benefit to any of the top performing counties from this year’s national league.
If we were to lose on Sunday, we won’t play again until at least 20 May. Of course, winning Ulster has always been prestigious and is probably the only football provincial championship still consistently worth watching. Look at how an all-conquering Mayo lit up the league then limped meekly out of Connacht last weekend to Roscommon. It remains to be seen how certain counties will treat their provincial championships if they have already qualified for the All Ireland round robin group stage.
Things have changed significantly with the removal of the backdoor structure. In the past, losing early in Ulster meant more games to reach the All Ireland series – strangely, now progressing in Ulster means more games. There are going to be a lot of games all over the country regardless of how we perform and supporters will struggle with the costs of this. Fuel is still dear and hotels will need booked at short notice next month for the neutral and away games in the round robin. We have no idea at this stage where any of those games will be.
The players will certainly be exposed to burnout and injuries. From the end of May, players will face six or seven games in just two months if they go on to reach an All Ireland final. Beating Monaghan first should still be the aim. It simply generates a winning spirit and will certainly be more fun for the squad than effectively embarking on another gruelling five-week training camp. Derry are the favourites to lift the Anglo Celt cup again but may have focused their sights further than that this year. Armagh meanwhile are on the comparatively easier side of the draw and surely have to win an Ulster title to indicate progress has been made under Kieran McGeeney despite their relegation from Division 1.
Tyrone finished the league very strongly with three wins in a row – putting Kerry, Monaghan and Armagh to the sword – after a very tepid opening few rounds where we suffered three heavy defeats away to Connacht opposition. I must confess I was worried after seeing what we saw in 2022 but I am feeling much more confident going into championship. Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher used 29 players in the league with eight players starting all seven games. The management know their best team and the return of Ronan McNamee is a huge boost. Darren McCurry continues to score freely, registering 32 white flags in the league while Darragh Canavan is in the best form of his Tyrone career to date and is our top scorer from play. The form of Cathal McShane remains a concern and he didn’t feature towards the end of the league campaign.
The U20s bowing out prematurely on their first championship outing could lead to a few lads being promoted to senior duty and blooded in championship action before the summer is out. Ruairí Canavan has already made a few impressive cameos in the league this spring while the highly rated Conor Cush hasn’t featured since the McKenna Cup.
Monaghan were very poor against us in Clones a few weeks ago but I suspect we will see a different side to them in Omagh after they survived relegation to Division 2 with a crucial win away to Mayo in Castlebar. The recent big championship meetings against Monaghan in Croke Park have all been in our favour – 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2021 – however Monaghan dumped us out of Ulster quarter-finals in 2014 and 2018 in Clones and Omagh respectively.
These are two counties who know each other very well with regular meetings every year in Division 1 since 2017. I expect it to be hotly contested but I wouldn’t be surprised at any particular outcome. While winning provincial silverware and possibly avenging Derry in the next round appeals greatly, a high level of performance is probably the most important thing on Sunday as we start this new truncated format of championship football. Make sure and arrive early for the hurlers!
Unofficial Tyrone 