ST MARY'S boss Paddy Tally will look to a talented quartet from his native Tyrone in the McKenna Cup.
However, Red Hands boss Mickey Harte will be pleased to know that his former trainer has the primary aim for his players of avoiding injury this month.
Tally can call on Cathal McShane, Conor Meyler, Kieran McGeary, and Conall McCann, all of whom have represented Tyrone seniors. Down’s Kevin McKernan is the most experienced player in the ‘Ranch’ set-up this season but the Burren clubman may not feature in Sunday’s Section B opener against Antrim in Glenavy.
“He’s touch and go at the minute, going through a bit of rehab work,” said Tally.
“All being well, he’ll get some game-time during the McKenna Cup.”
Staying fit is the target for all his charges, Galbally man Tally comments: “For the universities, it’s got to the stage that you’re really just hoping that you get out of the McKenna Cup with no injuries and all your lads have pulled together.
“You want to get an idea of a settled team or squad for the Sigerson [Cup] which comes in pretty quickly after that. It’s about managing the situation as much as managing a team. Obviously you want to get as many lads as much game-time as possible; a lot of them have been training well and you want to see them get an opportunity against a county team in that environment.
“It gives you a chance to see if you can cut it as a player; if you aren’t able to play well at McKenna Cup level, then you would wonder whether the player will be up to the Sigerson Cup game, which is a much more intense affair. That’s the beauty of having this competition now, it does give you a good insight into where you’ll be come the first round of the Sigerson.”
Managers like to say 'the door is always open’ for admission to their squads. For Tally though, it’s a different sort of door, as he explains: “It’ll be a revolving panel, we’re still waiting on a few boys to see how they are.
"You have 24 for the first game and then you can change things around, so we’re just working on that basis. Most of our cubs are quite young, not too many established county players.”
As well as those fairly well-known Tyrone names, he has the Derry duo of Niall Toner and Brian Óg McGilligan, plus up-and-coming Armagh players - Crossmaglen’s Oisín O’Neill and Aaron McKay of Dromintee - while Matt Fitzpatrick could feature against his county, Antrim.
All will be aiming to secure starting slots in the St Mary’s side ahead of their Sigerson tie against the winners of the game between NUI Galway and Trinity College Dublin.
After years of tugs-o-war between university sides and county teams over talented young players, such rows appear largely to have been consigned to the past, at least as far as St Mary’s are concerned.
Tally has only one such absentee, with Pete McGrath having laid claim to Ciaran Corrigan of Maguiresbridge. “We’d have loved to have had him but Fermanagh have taken him - but he’s really the only lad we have lost out on,” he said.
At least Tally may be able to see Corrigan in action in person as the Erne men will provide the opposition for St Mary’s in round two of this McKenna Cup, scheduled for Brewster Park on Sunday, January 15, before a midweek trip to take on Monaghan in Clones on Wednesday, January 18.
