DERRY
Management: John O’Dwyer, Gerard McCloskey and Movita Gallagher
DERRY will play in Division 2 of the Littlewoods Ireland National League and in the All-Ireland Intermediate championship and they are the defending Ulster Senior champions.
They have appointed a new management team for 2018 and will hope that this will help build on last year when they were beaten 2-16 to 1-5 by Cork in the National League final and exited the championship at the play-off stage.
Another successful run in the national league could depend on if, and when, the Slaughtneil contingent becomes available. It is difficult to see how they can make real progress without the Cassidy sisters, Bróna, Aoife and Éilís occupying key positions in the spine of the team.
There are also rumours that the equally talented Tina Hannon, who transferred to Slaughtneil at the start of last year but continued to play for Offaly seniors, is considering declaring for Derry this season and that would considerably boost their standing.
Everyone should be filtered back by the time the Ulster championship comes around, a competition they have won in five of the last six seasons. They are away to their biggest threat, Antrim, in the semi-final.
Then it is on to the All-Ireland Intermediate championship for the June and July. They are placed in Group 1 with Carlow, Cork, Down, Laois and Wexford. I would be surprised if they did not emerge from this group to contest a semi-final in August with the games against Cork and Wexford key to their progress.
Should they make it through, the semi-final would not be easy, but momentum gained through the competition could be crucial.
ANTRIM
Management: Aidan McKeown and Joe Baldwin
ANTRIM will play in Division 2 of the Littlewoods Ireland National League, in the All-Ireland Intermediate championship and the Ulster Senior championship.
Antrim have had a troubled few years with players turning down the opportunity to wear the Saffron and White. Two years ago the county Board was forced to abandon a senior team and Loughgiel (plus Cushendall’s Orlagh O’Hara) fulfilled the remaining fixtures in the Ulster senior and All-Ireland Intermediate championship.
Indeed they caught Derry with a late goal in the Ulster final to upset all the pre-match expec-tation of a first ever five in a row for the Oak Leaf. But they were not able to maintain the momentum in the All-Ireland, although they picked up a couple of wins and lost narrowly in other games.
Last season none of the Loughgiel players committed to the county with the exception of Emma McFadden who was added to the squad at the start of the championship. Again there were creditable performances, but no successes.
Early indications this season are that they have a better mix of players, including several from their four in a row county champions. There is also available a very successful group of young players that won an All-Ireland Minor last season and back to back Ulster minor titles – with considerable ease as well – and that will open up a lot of possibilities for the Saffrons.
Antrim could be a work in progress – with getting the best 25 senior players in the county the biggest task for management.
Their best chance of silverware could be the Ulster championship where they are at home to Derry in the semi-final.
Given their results over the past couple of seasons in the Intermediate championship with less than ideal preparation, they could do very well over the summer months – if they have got the top players committed.
ARMAGH
Management: Sean Paul McKillop and John McKillop
ARMAGH will play in Division 2 of the Littlewoods Ireland National League, in the All-Ireland Premier Junior championship and in the Ulster Senior championship.
Two years ago Armagh went very close in Croke Park, losing to Carlow in the Junior final. Last year they couldn’t match that high-point. However with the new management in place they could well get back to the September sunshine in Croke Park.
Unrelated McKillops, Sean Paul, who took Antrim to back-to-back Ulster minor champion-ships and an All-Ireland Minor title in 2017 and John, who steered Cushendall hurlers to the All-Ireland club final in 2016, had some knowledge of what kind of panel they were taking over with Sean Paul heading up the Ulster inter-provincial team for the past few years.
Ulster took the series in both 2015 and 2017 and quite a few Armagh players were in those teams: Aoibheann Murphy, sisters Ciara and Leanne Donnelly, Bernie Murray,
Rachel Merry, Grainne Kelly, Colleen O’Hare, Catherine Toner, Clodagh McClelland,
Ciarrai Devlin, Caella Casey, Leah McGoldrick and Sheena Woods. McKillop will know the potential and work them hard.
Armagh will find Division 2 of the league challenging enough. It would be a surprise if they pick up enough wins and qualify for the semi-finals. Rather I would venture that “success” for them would be a couple of wins and good solid performances in the other four games.
They have avoided both Antrim and Derry in the Ulster championship. So a place in the final is a strong possibility here – but silverware would be a surprise given their relative inexperience and the fact that their only three titles at this level came 1992-4.
A place in Croke Park is a reasonable target for the championship. Dublin would be their only threat to topping the group, while in the knock-out stages, Clare and Offaly will pose questions.
DOWN
Management: Still to be appointed
DOWN will play in Division 2 of the Littlewoods Ireland National League, in the All-Ireland Intermediate championship and the Ulster Senior championship.
It is 13 years since Down took the last of their 15 Ulster senior titles and, while there have been a couple of high points in the interim, there has not been much of a consistency from season to season.
An All-Ireland Minor B title in 2006 didn’t boost the senior squad significantly although from 2011 – 2014 there was a period of steady improvement that resulted in an All-Ireland Junior title in Croke Park.
Two seasons ago they took another Minor crown under Declan Napier and Declan took over the senior reins last season, bringing a number of those players straight into the team.
They had a reasonable run in the All-Ireland Intermediate championship that included a draw with Meath who went on to win the title. Those games resulted in Soaring Star awards for Niamh Mallon and Marie McNally and there looked to be a foundation laid for the new season.
Napier however stepped back from the role and the County Board have yet to appoint a successor. In the circumstances it is difficult seeing them even reach the heights of last season, despite the presence of Mallon, the best scoring forward in the Ulster game at present.
They will struggle in the National league that starts mid-February. And the new management will probably target a win against Armagh in the Ulster semi-final as the make or break game of the season.
Again in the Intermediate championship, depending on what has happened in Ulster, a semi-final spot would be the height of their aspirations.
Although a poor rum could see them end up in a relegation play-off – and that would not reflect the talent within the county.
TYRONE
Management: Kieran Leadon and Tommy Corr
TYRONE will play in Division 3 of the Littlewoods Ireland National League and in the Ulster Intermediate championship.
After a period of absence from the National League scene Tyrone re-entered last season under a new management of Kieran Leadon and Tommy Corr. The pair have stayed on to build on the blocks set in place last year.
There are ten clubs in Tyrone with Eglish the strongest by a good stretch and they play their games outside the county. Derrytresk reached the Ulster Junior semi-final, while Naomh Treasa of Dungannon defeated Dunloy in a replayed Ulster final to take the Bridie McMenamin Shield. So there is some good talent in the O’Neill county.
However the management has been left with a fairly young squad – at least for the pre-season. There are a couple of the more experienced players on a year out travelling, while Eglish (as they did last year) are hoping to go all the way to Croke Park at the start of March.
The Naomh Treasa success will see more of these players coming into focus with Roisin McErlean leading the attack while Brocagh’s Sally McDonald will be a huge asset. However the Eglish players will be badly needed if the team is to push on from last season.
The National league programme begins on February 25th and, with only three league games (v Kerry, Wicklow and Roscommon), each one is crucial to the semi-final placement in April.
The Ulster Intermediate championship was brought back to give a leg up to teams like Tyrone, but the level of participation of the other counties (Armagh, Derry and Antrim) has not benefitted Tyrone.
The others should be using it to give games to panel members other than the first 15, and to take in younger players. However it happens in mid-June when those younger players are in the middle of important exams and that has led to withdrawals. Perhaps if a better time slot could be found, it would be more helpful to all.
MONAGHAN/CAVAN/DONEGAL
NONE of these three counties play in the National League nor in the All-Ireland championship.
However a series of Development Blitzes have been organised towards the end of May and finishing in mid-June. With so many young players involved, there will be a clash with examinations and a different time slot may have to be found
In all three counties, camogie plays second fiddle to Ladies’ football – particularly in Donegal and Monaghan where clubs contest All-Ireland senior titles and both counties have aspirations of reaching the showpiece All-Ireland senior final. Camogie, with only three teams in each county, can only hope to take small steps forward.
Cavan though are different. They have nine clubs and have jumped forward in club and school camogie in the last couple of years – often alongside football.
Crosserlough contested Ulster finals in both codes last autumn, winning the camogie title. Both Loreto College in Cavan town and St Clare’s Ballyjamesduff have taken Ulster schools’ titles in the last couple of years and Philippa Waters, Niamh Reilly, Ciara Finnegan and Niamh Keenaghan have all made Ulster schools’ All-star teams over the last three seasons.
Cavan should be able to lift themselves into Division 3 of the Littlewoods Ireland National Leauge over the next couple of seasons – but they need a competitive stepping stone in the interim.
Littlewoods Ireland National League Div 2
Section 1: Antrim, Carlow, Down, Westmeath, Cork, Wexford
Section 2: Armagh, Derry, Dublin, Kildare, Kilkenny, Laois, Tipperary,
Group games: Feb 18 – April 1
Semi-finals: April 8
Final: April 15
Relegation play-off: April 8
Littlewoods Ireland National League Division 3: Kerry, Wicklow, Roscommon, Tyrone, (one group)
Group games: Feb 25 – April 1
Semi-finals: April 8
Final: April 15
Intermediate championship
Group 1: Carlow, Cork, Derry, Down, Laois, Wexford
Group 2: Antrim, Kildare, Kilkenny, Galway, Tipperary, Westmeath
Group games: June 16 – August 5
Semi-finals: Saturday August 18
Final: September 9 (Croke Park)
Premier Junior championship
Group 1: Clare, Kerry, Limerick, Offaly
Group 2: Armagh, Dublin, Roscommon
Group games: July 14 – August 4
Semi-finals: Saturday August 18
Final: September 9 (Croke Park)
Ulster Championships
Senior semi-finals: May 27: Down v Armagh, Antrim v Derry
Senior final: June 3
Intermediate: Tyrone, and seconds teams from Antrim, Derry and Armagh – draw to be made dependent on how many of the seconds teams confirm their participation
Final: June 3
Junior: Monaghan, Cavan and Donegal
To be run on Blitz Basis: each county to host one blitz each with two most successful teams to go into a final in mid-June
