As inter-county football awakens from its extended slumber, there is considerable interest in Ulster with new eras dawning for three counties in this week’s Dr McKenna Cup.
Two of them begin at Breffni Park on Wednesday as Mickey Harte oversees his first competitive match since his much talked-about appointment as Derry boss against a Cavan side now managed by former captain Raymond Galligan.
At the same time on Wednesday, Jim McGuinness returns to the cauldron of Ulster football as Donegal boss, nearly a decade on from the end of his first spell.
It is, of course, a particularly big week in Derry. On top of Harte’s first outing on the sideline, Glen are in All-Ireland club action with a mouth-watering semi-final against Dublin kingpins Kilmacud Crokes, a sequel to last season’s hugely dramatic and controversial final.
Glen’s bid for revenge against Crokes will be the centre of the GAA world in Newry on Sunday, but before then, Harte will aim to get his Oak Leaf tenure off to a winning start against Cavan.
Like Derry, Cavan are settling into life under a fresh managerial set-up with Galligan swapping his goalkeeper gloves for the Bainisteoir bib after succeeding Mickey Graham in September.
Galligan, who captained Cavan to the Ulster title under Graham in 2020, was handed a three-year term and has former Tyrone star Stephen O’Neill in his backroom team.
O’Neill will be coming up against the man under whom he won three All-Ireland titles with the Red Hands in Harte, who will be without his captain Conor Glass due to Glen’s All-Ireland bid.
Harte is likely to field several Derry youngsters during the McKenna Cup as he prepares his Derry panel for a first Division One campaign since 2015 with a home game against Down also to come in Section B on Saturday.
And while he will be without Glen’s Glass, Ciaran McFaul and Ethan Doherty, Harte will have plenty of experience at his disposal for Derry’s McKenna Cup defence, including wing-back Conor Doherty, who says he is looking forward to the new era in the county.
“It’s a new challenge and everything’s positive, the players have reacted really positively to it [Harte’s arrival] and we’re excited to have another go at it this year,” said Newbridge club-man Doherty.
“We couldn’t be happier with the appointment of Mickey and Gavin [Devlin, Harte’s assistant]they bring a great CV with them.
“The McKenna Cup is a good competition. It gives us the chance to see new players added to the squad and to work on things that we’ve been working on in pre-season.
“We’re going to attack it at full pace and hopefully we can retain it.”
Wednesday’s clash with Cavan will be Derry’s first competitive game since their agonising All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Kerry in July, an experience Doherty says Derry are moving on from.
“Look, we have to park it,” added Doherty, who scored a goal in Derry’s All-Ireland quarter-final win over Cork.
“It will be reviewed upon when we have the whole squad back, to see where we can learn from it. It has to be parked for us to move on and take this year ahead.
“It’s a new year, a new chapter and new management so there are a lot of new beginnings.”
As Harte casts his eye over his new charges in Cavan, McGuinness – one of the Tyrone legend’s old adversaries – begins his second reign in Donegal, 12 years on from leading his native county to All-Ireland glory.
While McGuinness has already overseen a victory in a charity match against Roscommon in Ballyshannon in December, the McKenna Cup offers him the chance to lock horns with two Ulster rivals for the first time since returning to the Tir Conaill hotseat with a trip to Tyrone on Saturday following Wednesday’s meeting with Armagh.
McGuinness used the Roscommon game, which his side won 2-12 to 2-6, to experiment, handing out debuts to six players, and Wednesday’s game is likely to showcase another youthful Donegal line-up against last season’s beaten Ulster finalists.
Armagh, like Donegal, are gearing up for a stint in the second tier of the National Football League after being relegated from Division One last season with boss Kieran McGeeney set to begin his 10th season as Orchard boss.
The third McKenna Cup game taking place on Wednesday sees Monaghan host Antrim in Section C in Castleblayney with Farney boss Vinny Corey and Saffrons manager Andy McEntee both beginning their second seasons in charge.
Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone begin their campaigns at the weekend.
McKenna Cup fixtures
Wednesday 3 January (all 19:30 GMT)
Section A: Donegal v Armagh (Ballybofey)
Section B: Cavan v Derry (Kingspan Breffni)
Section C: Monaghan v Antrim (Castleblayney)
Saturday 6 January (18:00)
Section B: Derry v Down (Celtic Park)
Sunday 7 January (13:00)
Section A: Tyrone v Donegal (Healy Park)
Section C: Antrim v Fermanagh (Ahoghill)
Wednesday 10 January (all 19:30)
Section A: Armagh v Tyrone (Athletic Grounds)
Section B: Down v Cavan at (Pairc Esler)
Section C: Fermanagh v Monaghan (Brewster Park)
Semi-finals: 13/14 January
Final: 20 January
