Dr McKenna Cup Section B: Fermanagh v Derry (tomorrow, Ederney, 1.30pm)
REGINING Ulster champions Derry get their 2023 season up and running tomorrow as they head to Ederney to take on Fermanagh.
It’s familiar stomping ground for Derry boss and Fermanagh native Rory Gallagher, who played for and managed his native county.
Gallagher guided the Erne county to the 2018 Ulster final, their first appearance in the showpiece since 2008, but his former side Donegal proved too strong on the day.
Gallagher has taken Derry on a similar journey but went one step further last season and saw off Donegal after extra-time to end a 24-year wait for the Anglo Celt.
This will be Derry’s first outing since their All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Galway, when two Damian Comer goals knocked the Oak Leaf county out of the race for Sam Maguire.
Derry, who also face Fermanagh in the opening round of the Ulster Championship, made huge strides in 2022, where their League campaign proved the only blot on an otherwise phenomenal year.
And it’s not as if the League was a disaster either. They finished third in Division Two, behind Galway and Roscommon, but failed to deliver one of their main objectives, promotion.
An upgrade to the top flight will be on Gallagher’s wish list for 2023 and they’ll have the likes of a rejuvenated Dublin, Colm O’Rourke’s Meath and Kildare to contend with.
Fermanagh, on the other hand, have already had one outing in 2023 as they travelled to Omagh last Wednesday evening.
Kieran Donnelly’s men certainly drew the short straw in terms of the McKenna Cup groupings, coming up against 2021 All-Ireland champions Tyrone before facing the current kings of Ulster.
Tyrone comfortably saw off their neighbours with seven points to spare in the end although there were some notable plus-points for the visitors. Ultan Kelm grabbed a well-taken goal late in the game, goalkeeper Sean McNally pulled off a fine early save at the other end, while Diarmuid King marked his senior debut with two points.
That defeat more or less makes tomorrow’s clash a must-win game for Fermanagh if they want to stay in the competition, however unlikely that is.
Most of their attention will soon gravitate to their own League campaign, which will prove to be a ferociously competitive one.
Outside of clashes with fellow Ulster sides Down, Cavan and Antrim, Fermanagh also take on Longford, Westmeath, Tipperary and Offaly.
So, Donnelly’s side will hope that competitive games against Tyrone and Derry will bring them up to speed and offer plenty of learnings ahead of the League.
How much emphasis Derry will place on the McKenna Cup is another issue and won’t be fully known until throw-in tomorrow, but you can be sure Gallagher will be looking for some new players.
He will, of course, be without the Glen contingent, who have much bigger fish to fry this weekend as they aim to reach the All-Ireland Club decider.
While Derry won’t be at full strength, far from it, they will still have enough to get through this one unscathed and set up a winner-takes-all encounter with Tyrone on Wednesday night.
Fermanagh will hope that home advantage counts for something but Derry are the favourites here and should prevail.
