McKenna Cup 2024

[orangeman]

Hope your right and I would never underestimate Harte as he has proved himself all down the years.

[never kickt a ball]

Hope your right and I would never underestimate Harte as he has proved himself all down the years.

Harte eyeing Dooher return in eight weeks
26 September 2007
Tyrone football boss Mickey Harte says he is hoping ace attacker Brian Dooher will be back in training in two months following his recent operation. Dooher underwent corrective surgery in recent days for a groin/hernia condition that resulted in him having to retire during the O'Neill County's championship clash with Meath at Croke Park.
"It is hoped that he will be able to get back to doing dome training in six to eight weeks," said Harte. That time frame would be the most optimistic outlook. The Meath game was a calculated gamble," said Harte.
"He didn't know how long he would last in it and made it through at half-time, gave it all he could. He will hopefully be back in about eight weeks."
http://www.hoganstand.com/Tyrone/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=83893

Dooher back to lead the charge for the five in a row?
Also, Harte has obviously freshened up the training regime with the introduction of innovative "dome training".
In addition he also appears to be gambling. I feel another book coming?

[Star Spangler]

Dooher back to lead the charge for the five in a row?

I hope not.  Brian's certainly not getting any younger and the last thing he needs is too much football early in the year.  He should take it handy until the tail-end of the league and make sure he's 100% for the championship.  The McKenna Cup isn't for winning - it's for looking at newcomers to the squad and the players with guaranteed places such as Dooher shouldn't be involved.

[orangeman]

Agreed Spangler  - precious players should be spared !

[rrhf]

who saeriously in their right mind gives a tiddlers toss whether Tyrone take 5 in a row Mc kenna cups.  We need a 3, an 8 and 9 and an 11, and a 14 and 15.  Thats what we want from the Mc Kenna cup. 

[orangeman]

Couldn't agree more RRHF - In last years Mc Kenna cup final, we gave Donegal an awful pasting but when it came to the league fixture, we got a pasting ! So obviuosly there was more emphasis at least in players minds that the Mc Kenna cup final was more important - hoepfully this year there will be a change of emphasis !

[Tyrone Dreamer]

Orangeman I dont think your logic holds up. Although Tyrone may have lost the league match after beating Donegal in the McKenna cup, Tyrone also stuffed Donegal in the championship when it mattered most. Although people have said Harte puts to much emphasis on the McKenna cup I think if you look at last years team sheets you'll find your wrong. Most senior players only played one group game at most which is hardly going to effect their year. I think Cavanagh may have been an excepton to this but he's always keen to play. Harte actually changed the entire 15 from one game to the next so I think some of you lads are misguided when going on about burnout etc. He did play 3 or 4 senior players in each game but that was just to give the younger lads a chance to blend in at a decent level. Harte I think used up to 40 players last year. Id say we'll see something similar this year with hopefully some emphasis on addressing the problem areas. Its still nice to win the compeition and I dont think Tyrone will want to give it up.

[orangeman]

Donegal had run their race by the time championship time came around - there were also reports of excessive drinking after the NFL win which led to Mc Ivor's resignation - so maybe Tyrone's result against Donegal in c'ship wasn't as good as what it seemed at the time - Donegal never lifted a leg after it - in fact Leitrim should have beaten them !

[never kickt a ball]

'Guests are running the household' - Harte

Mickey Harte
16 November 2007
Tyrone football boss Mickey Harte has hit out at Universities who want the upcoming McKenna Cup fixtures re-arranged to suit their timetable. UUJ, Queens University and St. Mary's all spoke out against fixtures being run off in January which prompted the Ulster Council to come up with a Plan B which wouldn't clash with students' exam times. "It's a bit ironic that they are saying they can't play on a Sunday, Wednesday and Sunday," blasted the O'Neill County supremo."If they just played on consecutive Sundays, I'm sure they would train at least once so there is no reason why they couldn't play on a Wednesday.
"They are guests of the competition - now they're telling people how to run it."

http://www.hoganstand.com/Tyrone/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=85977

Mickey seems serious about five in a row.

[Hardy]

"blasted the O'Neill county supremo". Wouldn't you just love two  minutes alone with that "journalist". In a locked room. With a copy of "First Steps in English". And a baseball bat.

[never kickt a ball]

UUJ in Tyrone McKenna Cup group
Holders Tyrone will face Down, Donegal and UUJ in the group stage of the Gaelic Life McKenna Cup in January.
Group A will see Fermanagh, Armagh, Derry and St Mary's College Belfast in opposition while Antrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Queen's comprise Group C.

The winners of group B will face group C winners in the semi-finals with the top team in group A facing the best runner-up in the other semi-final.
Tyrone won last year's competition - but only after winning an appeal.
The Ulster Council initially stripped them of the title over the unauthorised use of university players but Tyrone successfully appealed against that ruling.
Despite last year's controversy, there is a possibility of Tyrone manager Mickey Harte again becoming embroiled in a row over the selection of third level players.
Harte has indicated that established Tyrone squad members will be able to play for their universities but he believes that he should have the option of picking other players who are not regulars for the county.
The Tyrone manager has said that he will have negotiations with university managements over the issue.
The fixtures dates and venues will be finalised by the Ulster Council on Wednesday.

Gaelic Life Dr Mc Kenna Cup Groups

Group A
Fermanagh, Armagh, Derry, St Mary's College Belfast.

Group B
Tyrone, Down, Donegal. University of Ulster, Jordanstown.

Group C
Antrim, Cavan, Monaghan, Queen's University, Belfast.

Semi-Finals
Winners Group B vs Winners Group C
Winners Group A vs Best Runner-Up.

Story from BBC SPORT:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/sport1/hi/northern_ireland/gaelic_games/7105208.stm

[never kickt a ball]

You just know from Mellon's expression that the rest of the counties haven't a chance 

[full back]

You just know from Mellon's expression that the rest of the counties haven't a chance 

More like the rest of the counties dont give a sh1t

[orangeman]

a lot of talent on that team - they should giove a good account of themselves UUJ

[never kickt a ball]

Gaelic Life Dr. McKenna Cup
21 November 2007


The sponsorship of Gaelic Life and the contribution of TG 4 who broadcast  last Tuesday night's draw live and who will be screening 4 matches of this year's competition live has breathed new life into the Dr McKenna cup as evidenced by the big turnout of managers, players and media at last Tuesday nights launch in the Armagh City Hotel. Following the draw for the three groups, each of which includes one of the three universities there was a great air of the enthusiasm about the prospects for this years competition which will be run off in its integrity during the month of January. People like Tyrone manager Mickey Harte, Cavan manager Donal Keoghan, Armagh manager Peter McDonnell and Fermanagh manager Malachy O'Rourke along with Paddy Tally from St Mary's College, Paddy Crozier from Derry and Adrian McGuckian from Jordanstown all spoke off how important the revamped competition was for teams preparing for the new season. Speaking on behalf of the sponsors Dominic McClements told the gathering that their idea in sponsoring the competition was to "broaden the coverage of gaelic games in keeping with our mission statement for Gaelic Life" which was "to enhancethe active coverage of gaelic games in the province".
In the draw for the groupings Monaghan in fact were last out of the hat and therefore joining section C along with Queens University Belfast, Antrim and Cavan which makes for a very interesting section. Speaking to The Northern Standard team manager Seamus McEnaney said "it was a nice group with a situation where Cavan are a team we will be meeting on February 15th in the National Football League. With that in mind they are probably a team that you would probably prefer not to have in the group but like all of the managers who fielded questions from the media and M. C. for the night, Jarlath Burns, Seamus McEnaney was "looking forward to the competition" and would be using it to "maybe find a couple of new players and get ready for the National Football League. Our meeting Cavan is a local derby game and there will be great interest in that and the McKenna cup is a competition
where we can give a mixture of players games and we can blood new players".
Another element of interest in Monaghan's group is that former county player and former selector with Monaghan Bernie Murray is on the Queen's University team management which will make for that little extra dimension when these sides meet in the second round. Like most of the other counties Monaghan will be conceding a number of players to the universities but the manager didn't seem to mid that or think it would be a problem. "We will have probably three players with Jordanstown and we could have three or four with DCU in the O'Byrne Cup but I have no issue with the players being with the universities because playing with the colleges gives a lot players more games and it also helps keep up that winning mentality that we need. We are going out to win every game in this competition and we will be looking to qualify for the semi-final".
The question of the much talked about players strike affecting the subsidiary competitions of which the McKenna Cup is one was not brought up during Tuesday evenings media briefing and launch but it is something that is foremost in managers minds. "We will not be thinking of the players strike", Seamus McEnaney told The Northern Standard, "we will be getting ready to play in the McKenna Cup but every manager, every inter county manager is looking for a resolution to this particular situation. There are not very manypeople who disagree with inter county players being grant aided and quite honestly I think the players are entitled to that. The money is there, the GAA knows the money is there and the GPA wants the money distributed, the big question is to get a vehicle to do that or come up with a mechanism to achieve that. That really is the problem facing everyone but I'm confident that this will be sorted out in the next 10 days or so". It looks like Monaghan's first game will be against Cavan, with round 2 against QUB and round 3 against Antrim with venues and dates to be finalised by Ulster Council CCC.

The full draw for the Dr McKenna Cup but was as follows:

Group A: St Mary's College Belfast, Fermanagh, Armagh, Derry.

Group B: Jordanstown, Tyrone, Down, Donegal.

Group C.: Queens University Belfast, Antrim, Cavan, Monaghan.

Semi Finals:

Winner Group B. v Winner Group C.

Winner Group A v Highest Runner-up.

It is planned to start the Dr McKenna Cup on Sunday, January 6th with round 2 on Wednesday, January 9th and round 3 on January 13th. The semi-finals are provisionally pencilled in for January 18th and January 19th with the final on January 26th although those dates may change due to a number of requests from counties who have other commitments mid-January.
http://www.hoganstand.com/Monaghan/ArticleForm.aspx?ID=86150