Railway Cup 2009

[Goats Do Shave]

Any word on the Ulster Squad? - I've heard they're playing in Armagh tonight.

& Play Leinster in Cross 24th or 25th of this month.

[johnpower]

Any word on the Ulster Squad? - I've heard they're playing in Armagh tonight.

& Play Leinster in Cross 24th or 25th of this month.

Where has Martin Donnelly gone ? Was at last years final me and about 100 others . Fair play to all the players who keep at it

[Throw ball]

Saw the first half of Ulster v Pearse Ogs tonight (too cold to stay any longer!). The players I recognised were Joe McMahon at full back. Aaron Kernan, Ciaran McKeever and Davy Harte were the half back line. I think Hub Hughes and McCann of Antrim where in midfield. The half forward line was McGinley, Coulter and I think Danny Hughes. Two Bradleys and Murphy from Donegal were the full forward line. As I was at the far end of the pitch did not catch the others. Ulster looked quite sharp up front and Aaron Kernan was really looking sharp. Was not a bad game with only a couple in it when I left. Clarke scored a goal for the Ogs and Coulter one for Ulster when McKinney went for a high ball and he beat him to it.

[Rossa]

First game of the year for Ulster tonight. Team - Packie McConnell in goals, Brendan Donaghy, Justy McMahon & Gerard O'Kane in full back line. Aaron Kernan, Ciaran McKeever & Davy Harte at half back, Hub Hughes & Mick McCann in midfield, Enda McGinley, Benny Coulter, Joe McMahon in half forwards with  Paddy Bradley, Michael Murphy & Eoin Bradley up front. Joe McMahon replaced by Danny Hughes of  Down who looked very sharp. Close enough first half with Ulster pulling away in last 15 minutesof second half. Kernan, Coulter & Hughes the pick of the bunch tonight. Andy Mallon played very well for Pearse Ogs

[T O Hare]

Ulster got their preparations for the M Donnelly inter-provincial football championship underway last night when they recorded a facile 3-18 to 1-9 victory over Armagh county finalists Pearse Og at the Athletic Grounds.

Ulster boss Joe Kernan, who flew out to New York today with his new Galway charges for the FBD Connacht League final on Sunday, will be happy with the workout ahead of the semi-final clash with Paul Caffrey's Leinster on October 24, though he had not bargined for losing Armagh's Brendan Donaghy and Tyrone's Joe McMahon to injuries in the first half.

But with Michael McCann (Antrim) and Benny Coulter (Down) both finding the net, the provincial side held a 2-7 to 1-5 interval lead. The Pearse Og reply came from Ronan Clarke, who could yet feature for Ulster this year.

Kernan and his assistant Seamus McEnaney availed of the opportunity to assess substitutes such as Paul Finlay (Monaghan), Stephen O'Neill (Tyrone), Danny Hughes (Down) and Ronan Flanagan (Cavan) but when Pearse Og hit a three-point blitz on the resumption they looked capable of shocking their star-studded opponents.

A second Coulter goal steadied the provincial side, though, and a raft of points in the final quarter, including a spectacular effort from O'Neill, underlined their authority.