January
THE inter-county season got underway three weeks into the New Year with every county full of hope for the year ahead.
There were new management teams in place – Shane McCormack in Armagh, Peter Lynch and Caoibhe Sloan in Down and James McGurk in Derry. Familiar faces remained too – Maxi Curran in Donegal, Gerry Moane in Cavan, Sean O’Kane in Tyrone, Kieran Kearns in Monaghan, James Daly in Fermanagh and Emma Kelly in Antrim.
For Donegal, the 2022 Division One finalists, they would have to plan most of their league without household names like their captain and 2002 Senior Players’ Player of the Year Niamh McLaughlin, Geraldine McLaughlin, Karen Guthrie, Yvonne Bonner and Niamh Hegarty.
Even just two games in, despite positive performances from young players Maxi Curran was blooding, Donegal were struggling.
Armagh were the early Division Two pacesetters while Monaghan claimed Ulster derby bragging rights with victory over neighbours Tyrone. Derry were also struggling early doors in their Division Four group while 2022 All-Ireland Junior champions Antrim along with Fermanagh were still patiently waiting to get started.
February
ARMAGH continued their winning start to the season with three more Division Two league wins making it five out of five as they homed in on a league final spot. Cavan also made February a winning month with three from three in Division Two.
Donegal’s difficult start to the season continued as they still sought their first win and indeed points in Division One, while in Division Four Derry recorded their league win in four years with a 10-points defeat of Kilkenny, who were the last team they beat in the league since 2019. This was also their first competitive victory since July 2021.
Antrim all but secured their place in the Division Four semi-finals with two wins from two in their four team group.
The Third Level Colleges football programme was in full swing with Queen’s University booking their place in the O’Connor Cup semi-finals.
March
MARCH saw the last rounds of league games take place with final standings revealed. Donegal, a year after reaching the 2022 Division One final, narrowly missing out to Meath in the decider, were relegated after finishing bottom of the table with no points from their seven games. Kerry finished top of the table with six wins and a loss to set up a league final against Galway.
In Division Two, Armagh were league toppers with seven from seven and would ready themselves for a league final against Laois.
Cavan and Tyrone finished off the top two but with three wins each avoided any relegation scenarios. Monaghan’s draw against Roscommon in the penultimate game was enough for them, coupled with their win over Tyrone earlier in the league, to secure their second tier league status for 2024. Roscommon dropped into Division Three.
Down just missed out on a place in the Division Three league final on points difference as Longford were relegated to the bottom tier for next season.
Antrim qualified for the Division Four final for the first time since 2019 with a semi-final win over Limerick while Fermanagh missed out on the chance to fight for promotion losing to Leitrim in their semi-final.
In schools’ football, Loreto Cavan were crowned All-Ireland Junior ‘A’ champions with a comprehensive 10-15 to 0-7 win over St Mary’s Midleton (Cork) in the final but there was final heartache for Ulster champions St Ronan’s Lurgan who missed out on the Junior ‘B’ title to Maynooth Educate Together (Kildare) and Virigina College Cavan who were defeated by St Mary’s Naas (Laois) in the All-Ireland Senior ‘C’ final.
April
THE National League finals were held in April and for Ulster, two league champions from the province were crowned. Armagh put their 2022 Division Two final defeat to Kerry behind them to land the title with a 4-9 to 2-10 win over Laois in the Croke Park decider, Aimee Mackin hitting 3-3. Previous winners of the competition in 2005 and 2015, the Orchard County will return to the top-tier of Division One for the first time since 2017.
Antrim finally got out of Division Four with a win victory over Leitrim, 1-19 to 2-6 in Parnell Park. It was a first league title for the Saffrons, at their fourth attempt, but more importantly, it means they will play Division Three football in 2024 in what they hope will be a springboard for further development in the county. Orlaith Prenter finished with eight points, six from play, Bronagh Devlin with an early fourth minute goal.
Kerry were crowned Division One champions after a 5-11 to 1-10 victory over Galway in Croke Park and Kildare were promoted to Division Two for next season after lifting the Division Three title with the narrowest of victories over Clare, 2-11 to 2-10.
The Ulster Championship also got underway at the end of April with first round games in all three competitions – senior, intermediate and junior.
Defending senior champions Armagh were hoping to make it three-in-a-row with Donegal and Cavan out to stop them.
In the intermediate competition, Antrim were the newcomers after winning the All-Ireland junior title the previous year and they were going up experienced, former senior sides, Tyrone and Monaghan
Down, who had been relegated from intermediate grade after 2022, were the favourites for the junior title with Fermanagh, beaten All-Ireland junior finalists in 2022, and Derry hoping to land provincial silverware.
May
THE Ulster championships were in full throttle with the finals down for decision at the end of the month. In the senior championship, the final pairing was as expected, a repeat of the last two finals between champions Armagh and Donegal.
The intermediate championship threw up the novel pairing of defending champions Tyrone and Antrim, the Saffrons winning their first ever championship game at intermediate level when they defeated Monaghan in roun two and suddenly, they were very much on everyone’s radar. The junior final, again as expected, saw Down and Fermanagh battle it out for honours.
Donegal caused an upset reclaimed the Ulster senior title with a dogged but deserved four points win, 1-10 to 0-9 over defending champions Armagh in Owenbeg.
Their lead was one point with six minutes remaining but in the dying seconds, with Armagh stretched, substitute Ciara McGarvey, on the pitch less than a minute before, fired to the back of the net to seal a sweet victory.
Not many gave Donegal a chance of winning back the provincial crown they last held in 2019 especially after their league campaign ended winless and relegation to Division Two.
However, with Niamh Hegarty and Tanya Kennedy back in the team for the first time this season, their experience was a major boost but Curran had a game plan that saw them defend in numbers and attack with patience, led by brilliant captain and player of the match, Niamh McLaughlin.
Antrim clinched a first ever Ulster Intermediate Championship title with an impressive 2-18 to 1-13 victory over Tyrone.
Orlaith Prenter hit 1-8 and claimed the competition’s golden boot award and the Player of the Match award.
In the junior final, second half substitute Aisling Cull was the hero for Down as they came from behind to defeat Fermanagh 3-8 to 1-8.
The Mourne County were two points down, 0-6 to 0-4, when Cull was introduced in the 37th minute and with her first touch of game palmed the ball to the back of the net to give her side the lead for the first time.
Another substitute, Aimee O’Higgins, claimed the second goal to put her side four in front and Cull, who finished with 2-1, struck again in the final minute to ensure the Ulster title was going to the Mournes.
June
THOUGHTS quickly turned to the All-Ireland competitions as they got underway at all three grades. With the majority of groups made up of three teams, it allows for little room for error if you want to book your place in the knockout stages.
Armagh put their provincial final loss behind them to defeat Laois, who they had beaten in the Division Two final two months earlier, and Mayo to book their place in the last eight while Donegal put themselves in contention with victory over Waterford. Cavan were up against it after defeat to Dublin.
Tyrone also booked their place in the All-Ireland intermediate quarter-finals with two wins (Wicklow and Offaly) and a draw against Clare and they were joined by the new Ulster champions Antrim who defeated Westmeath and Longford.
Monaghan, also picked up one of the last eight spots despite losing to Wexford, their victory over Roscommon enough to see them through.
Down and Fermanagh recorded group wins in the junior championship as they headed into July closing in on All-Ireland semi-final places but Derry’s defeat to London meant they were up against it.
There was an All-Ireland title, however, for the Oak Leaf County, whose U14s clinched the Festival of Football ‘Gold’ title with a final victory over Tipperary, 4-9 to 2-6.
Down defeated Monaghan in the ‘silver’ final to land that crown.
