TYRONE begin their Ulster Intermediate Championship campaign at home to neighbours Monaghan on Sunday (Healy Park, 2pm) and captain Aoibhinn McHugh is looking forward to the challenge ahead. 

The Red Hands will have two matches in the round robin format competition and a win first day out would give them an early advantage as they wait to see how Monaghan and Antrim get on the following week before their own final game against the Saffrons which would determine the who will reach the provincial final at the end of May. 

There’s no doubt Tyrone will fancy their chances of provincial success. Although Monaghan have just come down from senior, with both sides playing in Division Two, they know there is not much between them it’s a wide open championship, 

“Nothing is promised in this provincial competition. Championship football is unpredictable and anything can happen on the day. However, we feel we’re in a good place and have been enjoying our championship preparation so far,” said McHugh. 

Tyrone finished just inside the bottom half of the league table, wins over Roscommon and Westmeath enough to keep relegation worries at arm’s length. 

However, they did lose to Monaghan, a game that they fell way short in, in terms of standards and performance says McHugh. 

“We had a bit of a mixed league campaign with some good performances and some disappointing ones,” she said. 

“Overall, we are happy we retained Division Two status and have been focusing on preparing for championship as best we can these past few weeks,” said the Aghyaran player.  

“We were quite disappointed with our performance against Monaghan during the national league. 

“We’ll be aiming for a good performance this weekend and hope for a strong start to our championship campaign.”

ROUND ONE

April 30 Tyrone v Monaghan (O’Neills Healy Park, 2pm)

ROUND TWO

May 7 Monaghan v Antrim (venue TBC, 2pm)

ROUND THREE

May 14 Antrim v Tyrone (venue and date TBC)