McKenna Cup 2024

[Our Nail Loney]

From An Dún website down.gaa.ie

Gaelic Life Dr McKenna Cup: Down v Queens Thur 7.30 pm Newry
  Date : 18/01/2009 22:59

Down will take on Queens University Belfast on Thursday Night at 7.30pm in Pairc Esler, Newry in the Dr McKenna Cup Semi Final.

The match was originally fixed for Wed night but Down boss Ross Carr agreed to change the match to Thursday night as Queens would have been missing upwards to 12 of their starting team due to exams.

awful good of ross..

Only 2 days between the semi final and final now.

And what. No bother to the flying mourne men.

[Our Nail Loney]

Where is the final likely to be? Casement again?

[western exile]

Where is the final likely to be? Casement again?

The Ulster gaa website has it as TBC  http://ulster.gaa.ie/2009/01/19/gl-dr-mckenna-cup-round-up/
I suppose they are waiting to see who is in it.  Last year Casement was natural choice for Down v. Derry.

[charlie stubbs]

would imagine if armagh progress it will be in casement as convenient for both down qub.  though if donegal win omagh could be the possible venue??

[Our Nail Loney]

would imagine if armagh progress it will be in casement as convenient for both down qub.  though if donegal win omagh could be the possible venue??

Love to see Down Armagh in Casement, thinking about heading up...

[AFS]

Wouldn't be too confident of Armagh progressing any further unless at least 4 or 5 more regulars were thrown in on Wednesday night. In truth, we're very lucky to get this far after beating a very poor Antrim and robbing Queen's.

[armagh leg-end]

whats the chances of the final being in the athelic grounds if armagh dont progress that far!

im sure the ulster council would like to get a high profile game under lights there!!

[ardmhachaabu]

Would love the final to be in Casement again.  Can't see Armagh beating Donegal, being honest.  If we couldn't beat Cavan...

[RMDrive]

Can't see Armagh beating Donegal, being honest.  

What makes you think that? I can't see Donegal beating Armagh TBH but I suppose at this time of year it's hard to know.

[Uladh]

Are we confirmng that the semis are wed in omagh and thurs in newry?
home fot the week and that'd be hndy for taking in two games

[corn02]

Are we confirmng that the semis are wed in omagh and thurs in newry?
home fot the week and that'd be hndy for taking in two games

Indeed Uladh. The seocnd one is very appealing.

[J70]

Would love the final to be in Casement again.  Can't see Armagh beating Donegal, being honest.  If we couldn't beat Cavan...

Our sides have been very experimental too, so I'd imagine it will be tight enough.

[never kickt a ball]

Gaelic Life Dr McKenna Cup Rd 3

Tyrone 1-18 Monaghan 0-17

Tyrone made it back to back wins in the McKenna Cup when they had four points to spare over Monaghan at Healy Park Omagh on Sunday but the result wasn't enough to book a semi final place as they lost out to neighbours Armagh  on score difference.
Once again Mickey Harte made a number of changes to his starting fifteen although it was still a strong side that he sent out to battle with seven players on board who had began last September's All Ireland final against Kerry. Monaghan too field a strong side and they enjoyed a blistering start to the contest with four unanswered points inside the opening half a dozen minutes with the inform Tommy Freeman notching three of those. Tyrone though soon got into their stride with Sean Cavanagh, Tommy McGuigan and Stephen O'Neill all landing points before Enda McGinley fired in a twenty second minute goal for a lead that they were never to lose.
The Tyrone defence played particularly well with former All Star attacker Tommy Freeman the only starting Monaghan forward to feature among the scores. He hit a superb individual tally of ten points but on the day it wasn't enough to prevent Seamus McEnaney's side from slipping to defeat. With Sean Cavanagh and Stephen O'Neill helping themselves to seven points each and Enda McGinley and Aidan Cassidy on top in midfield Tyrone surged   into a 1-13 to 0-9 lead by the 13th minute of the second half and they were full value for that advantage as they played some superb football. Monaghan though hit back with Tommy Freeman leading the way in the scoring stakes and Paul Meegan, Paul McGuigan and Dessie Mone all coming off the bench to make a scoring contribution. Tyrone though weren't going to let a winning position slip and efforts from Sean Cavanagh, Gareth Devlin and man of the match Stephen O'Neill ensured victory.

Tyrone - Johnny Curran, Mickey McGee, Joe McMahon, Philip Jordan, Davy Harte, Peter Donnelly, Martin Swift, Enda McGinley, Aidan Cassidy, Ryan Mellon, Tommy McGuigan, Raymond Mulgrew, Gareth Devlin, Sean Cavanagh, Stephen O'Neill. Subs - Martin Penrose for Ryan Mellon, Kevin Hughes for Peter Donnelly, Jason McAnulla for Gareth Devlin, Collie Holmes for Enda McGinley, Conor O'Donnell for Stephen O'Neill

Monaghan - Padraig McBennett, Dermot McArdle, Mark McNally, Gary McEnaney, Vinny Corey, James Conlon, Conor McManus, Dick Clerkin, Paul Finlay, Kieran Hughes, Shane Smyth, Damien Freeman, Ciaran Hanratty, Brendan McKenna, Tommy Freeman. Subs - Dessie Mone for Kieran Hughes, Mark Downey for Damien Freeman, Rory Woods for Shane Smyth, Paul Meegan for Ciaran Hanratty, Shane Smyth for Brendan McKenna, Paul McGuigan for James Conlon [yellow]

Tyrone scorers - Sean Cavanagh 0-7, Stephen O'Neill 0-7, Enda McGinley 1-1, Gareth Devlin 0-2, Tommy McGuigan 0-1
Monaghan scorers - Tommy Freeman 0-10, Paul Meegan 0-2, Conor McManus 0-1, Dick Clerkin 0-1, Paul Finlay 0-1, Dessie Mone 0-1, Paul McGuigan 0-1

Referee - John Joe Cleary, Derry
Attendance - 1,211

http://www.tyronegaa.ie/county/football/news/story.jsp?newsid=739

[never kickt a ball]

Derry 0-13
Donegal 0-13
Two superbly taken frees from Eoghan Brown in the closing minutes earned Derry a deserved draw in an at times entertaining game in testing conditions at O'Cahan Park, Dungiven yesterday afternoon. The game was in doubt until a hour before the throw in, the blanket of snow that covered the pitch in the morning melting away to allow the game to go ahead after a couple of pitch inspections. With nothing much at stake-Derry already gone from the competition, Donegal safely through to a semi final meeting with Armagh-the game lacked the intensity normally associated with these North-West rivals.
Yet Antrim referee Gregory Walsh still saw fit to issue five 'yellow' cards, three against Derry in a crucial twenty minute spell in the second half, one in each half against the visitors.His decision-making in 'card selection' was confusing and perplexing at times, 'black cards' issued where 'yellow' looked more appropriate, no cards flourished on two or three for off the ball holding by defenders. Still the small band of hardy fans saw some excellent finishing from both teams, from frees and open play.
Donegal centre half forward David Walsh picked off three superb scores in the second half, while the free taking of Stephen Griffin and Kevin McMenamin in the first half contributed to four of their five points. Enda Lynn and Seamus Bradley were to the fore for Derry in the scoring stakes in the first half as the sides traded points for 0-05 each before Derry pulled away in the final minutes of the half to lead 0-08 to 0-05 at the break. The introduction of Conal Dunne and Neil Gallagher ten minutes into the second half, the switch of Barry Monaghan to the heart of the defence, allied to the loss of Joe Diver and Paul Cartin to yellow cards, turned the game inexorably at 0-11 to 0-08, five unanswered points putting Donegal in control with seven minutes to go.
However the home side showed commendable determination in deteriorating conditions to pressurise the Donegal defence into errors, and the concession of a couple of frees that Brown pointed. After two minutes Sean martin Lockhart was penalised for touching the ball on the ground and Kevin McMenamin pointed. Enda Lynn then swept past Kevin Rafferty to dissect the posts, Seamus Bradley putting Derry 0-02 to 0-01 ahead in the 11th minute from a Paul Young pass.
Stephen Griffin levelled from a free, Enda Lynn edging Derry 0-03 to 0-02 ahead before Griffin and McMenamin landed free for a 0-04 to 0-03 Donegal lead midway through the half. Gavan McShane and Paul Cartin had points either side a fisted score from Griffin, Bradley free, Lynn and Eoghan Brown on target as Derry took a 0-08 to 0-03 advantage to the break. Ciaran Bonner was yellow carded three minutes from half time.
Within five minutes of the restart Derry had extended the lead to 0-11 to 0-06, Brown and Lynn responding to a third minute pointed free from Griffin.
McMenamin and Griffin from a free cut the lead, Derry's Joe Diver and Paul Cartin yellow carded either side of these scores. Seamus Bradley restored Derry's three point lead in the 47th minute but three well taken points from David Walsh and one each from substitutes Neil Gallagher and Brendan Boyle put Donegal in control, especially as Patsy Bradley who had a fine game as a defensive midfielder, was shown a yellow card in the 53rd minute.
However Eoghan Brown scored two fine pointed frees in the gathering gloom, honours even at the final whistle.

The Derry scorers were Enda Lynn 0-03, Seamus Bradley 0-04, 0-01 free, Eoghan Brown 0-04, 0-02 frees, Gavan McShane and Paul Cartin 0-01 each
The Donegal scorers were Stephen Griffin 0-05, 0-04 frees, Kevin McMenamin 0-03, 0-02 frees, David Walsh 0-03, Neil Gallagher and Brendan Boyle 0-01 each

Derry
Shane McGuckin; Brian Og McAlary, Sean Martin Lockhart, Michael Drumm; Paul Cartin, Chris McKaigue, Barry McGuigan; Joe Diver, Patsy Bradley; Enda Lynn, Paul Young, Brian Mullan; Seamus Bradley, Gavan McShane, Eoghan Brown
-Aidan McAlynn for Joe Diver 45 mins Yellow
-Mickey McBride for Paul Cartin 49 mins Yellow
-Paul Murphy for Gavan McShane 52 mins
-Caolan O'Boyle for Patsy Bradley 53 mins Yellow
-Kevin O'Connor for Paul Young 65 mins

Donegal
Eunan McGinley; Johnny Gallagher, Raymond Sweeney, Paddy McDaid; Eamon McGee, Kevin Rafferty, Shane McGowan; Ciaran Bonner, Rory Kavanagh; Michael Doherty, David Walsh, Odhran Doherty; Kevin McMenamin, Ryan Bradley, Stephen Griffin
-Barry Monaghan for Ciaran Bonner 32 mins Yellow
-Caolan McGettigan for Eunan McGinley H-T
-Conal Dunne for Odhran Doherty 44 mins
-Neil Gallagher for Ryan Bradley 44 mins
-Brendan Boyle for Rory Kavanagh 55 mins
-Charlie Byrne for Kevin Rafferty 70 mins Yellow
Referee Gregory Walsh Antrim

http://www.derrygaa.ie/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=952&Itemid=56

[Our Nail Loney]

Paddy Power odds:

Donegal 10-11 Armagh 6-5

Down 10-11 QUB 11-10