McKenna Cup 2024

[rodney trotter]

2 of that panel are back again this year for them, Darren Hughes and Raymond Mulgrew, Mulgrew was in Australia for a few years and is resuming the course he was doing before he went.

[never kickt a ball]

Hogan stand:


Kernan omitted in Armagh revamp - Report
10 November 2013

Stephen Kernan has been left out of Armagh's senior squad for the 2014 season, according to a report in the Gaelic Life newspaper.

Manager Paul Grimley is thought to have made a number of changes in a revamp of the Orchard County squad, but Kernan is not one of the new additions.

The Crossmaglen attacker has been in rich form for his club recently and is expected to play in this afternoon's Ulster club SFC quarter-final replay against Kilcoo (throw-in 2.30pm), however, it could be the last action he sees until Rangers' 2014 campaign should Joe Kernan's men lose out to the Down champions today.

It is understood that Gavin McParland, Declan McKenna, Peter Carragher and Niall Rowland have also been excluded in Grimley's training panel. All four left for America during the championship campaign this past season.

[BennyCake]

Does Kernan just not want to play for Armagh, or is there something else going on here?

[mylestheslasher]

Anyone know when the draw will be made for the 2014 competition?

[never kickt a ball]

Hidden away in the annals of BBC website

29 October 2013
Ulster Council aim to resolve impasse in McKenna Cup

The Ulster Council wants to resolve the impasse which led to Queen's University withdrawing from the 2013 McKenna Cup.
GAA Presidential candidate and former Ulster Council President Aogan Farrell is to head up a review committee aimed at reinstating the college in 2014.
Queen's pulled out of the competition over growing concern at the power of county teams who wanted first call on players for the pre-season competition.
Farrell's committee is expected to give its recommendations in mid-November.

"We decided back a few months ago that we would set up a committee that would look at the McKenna Cup in its entirety," said Ulster Council spokesman John Connolly.

"(It) would include a look at the third-level colleges, because of the issues surrounding players not being allowed to play for their county or their college.

"When the McKenna Cup went well for us at the start, bringing in the colleges, it was a marvellous competition.

"We want to bring it back up to that mark but over the last few years it had become messy."

Current holders Tyrone will be looking to retain the title when the competition takes place in January 2014.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/gaelic-games/24733284?print=true

"Current holders Tyrone will be looking to retain the title when the competition takes place in January 2014."

Not that is a surprise.

[never kickt a ball]

Anyone know when the draw will be made for the 2014 competition?

Tomorrow at 6.30pm in the Wellington Park Hotel apparently.

[never kickt a ball]

The draw has taken place for the groups for the 2014 Dr McKenna Cup.

Section A: QUB, Donegal, Tyrone, Armagh
Section B: St Mary's UCB, Fermanagh, Monaghan, Derry
Section C: UUJ, Down, Antrim, Cavan

The competition fixtures will be finalised at a meeting of Comhairle Uladh CCC on Thursday 21st November, with the games taking place on the following dates:

Sunday 5th January: Round 1

Sunday 12th January: Round 2

Wednesday 15th January: Round 3

Sunday 19th January: Semi Finals
Section B Winners v Section A Winners
Best Runners Up v Section C Winners

Saturday 25th January: Final

Ulster GAA will once again be selling a limited number of competition tickets for the 2014 Dr McKenna Cup which will permit you access to Round 1, Round 2 and Round 3 games involving your team, both semi finals and the final for just £20/€25... that's a potential saving of over 60%!

For all information relating to the 2014 Dr McKenna Cup, view www.ulster.gaa.ie/mckennacup2014/

[never kickt a ball]

Sorry left out this from previous post:

Ulster GAA also confirmed that Ulster Inter-Provincial Joe Kernan will serve as a mediator for any player disputes in the competition.

[FermGael]

Sorry left out this from previous post:

Ulster GAA also confirmed that Ulster Inter-Provincial Joe Kernan will serve as a mediator for any player disputes in the competition.

Why can't the ulster council  grow a set and actually make a decision?

[ck]

Sorry left out this from previous post:

Ulster GAA also confirmed that Ulster Inter-Provincial Joe Kernan will serve as a mediator for any player disputes in the competition.

Why can't the ulster council  grow a set and actually make a decision?

Would have to agree with this. The Ulster Council are spineless? Instead of enforcing the rules they hire big Joe to do their dirty work? Maybe they should let Mickey Harte and Jim McGuinness just run the Ulster council for them!

[never kickt a ball]

Jim McGuinness keen to 'get rolling' with Donegal for Dr McKenna Cup -

From Donegalnews.com

JIM McGuinness has the look of a man who's counting the days down to the start of the new season. Donegal's first game of 2014 will be against Tyrone in the Dr McKenna Cup on January 5th – in 51 days' time. Seven weeks from Sunday, the old rivals McGuinness and Mickey Harte will cross paths again, but they will be very much in experimental mould. McGuinness and his new backroom team of Damian Diver, Paul McGonigle and John Duffy have spent the last number of weeks devising programmes for their players and getting them assessed by the medical team. The new-look squad includes those players McGuinness has added to his ranks: Ciaran Bonner, Leon Thompson, Christy Toye, Conor Classon, Antoin McFadden, Thomas McKinley, Stephen McLaughlin, Hugh McFadden, and Darach O'Connor. Donegal have been paired with Tyrone, Armagh and Queen's University in the McKenna Cup and it is expected that McGuinness will rotate the squad through those three fixtures. "We have a good competitive group and it'll be interesting to see how it rolls," McGuinness said. "We're looking forward to getting started now. "We'll have a number of players tied up with colleges so we'll be able to look at the squad in a broad sense and seeing how much playing time we can allocate to players." While some of his players, like Patrick McBrearty, Hugh McFadden, Ryan McHugh and Mark McHugh could be otherwise engaged with commitments to college teams, McGuinness will have most of his main men. With Michael Murphy not having returned to college, something McGuinness says is a 'nice wee bonus', Donegal's totemic captain will be available from the off this time around, handing them a significant boost. The medical team have been working on getting some ailments cleared up. David Walsh recently underwent a hernia operation while Paddy McGrath had an operation to correct an abductor tendon muscle injury which prevented him from lining up for Ardara in the Club Championship. McGrath is aiming to be back for January, but could be kept in cotton wool until the start of the National League in February. Walsh and McGrath have been able to do jogging while Christy Toye, McGuinness says, is back 'on the road to recover' and Karl Lacey, the 2012 Footballer of the Year,  'is in good shape' having missed the bulk of the 2013 campaign. McGuinness said: "He is still working on his rehab plan from last season and is doing a lot of work on his own to get back to full fitness again." The memories of the All-Ireland quarter-final hammering against Mayo are still knawing at McGuinness's mind and the Donegal manager hopes the few months off will have done his charges the world of good. 2013 saw Donegal lose their grip on Ulster and All-Ireland titles, but the manager can't wait to get back on the bike again. He said: "We'll have had a long break since we were out in the Championship and we'll be going into it a lot fresher. "We are looking forward to the season ahead. We have an opportunity now to go and enjoy our football." 2014 Dr McKenna Cup: Section A - QUB, Donegal, Tyrone, Armagh Section B - St Mary's UCB, Fermanagh, Monaghan, Derry Section C - UUJ, Down, Antrim, Cavan * Ulster GAA will once again be selling a limited number of competition tickets for the 2014 Dr McKenna Cup which will permit you access to Round 1, Round 2 and Round 3 games involving your team, both semi finals and the final for just £20/€25.

[never kickt a ball]

Fergal 'Doc' back as Foreglen duo named in McKenna Cup panel

THE DOC IS IN . . .Fergal Doherty will make a welcomed return to the Derry senior panel for 2014.
by Michael Wilson

Brian McIver is planning to put Joe Kernan out of work after confirming Foreglen duo Oisin Duffy and Niall McFeely will form part of a McKenna Cup panel which welcomes Fergal Doherty back to inter-county football.

Current Crossmaglen and Ulster Inter-Provincial manager Kernan has been appointed as a mediator by the Ulster Council should any disputes arise concerning colleges and universities having first preference on county players for the pre-season competition, something which last year led to Queen's withdrawing from the tournament. The Derry manager, however, does not expect to be speaking to the former Armagh boss any time soon.

"I have never had any problem with boys playing for their colleges," explained McIver after this week's group draw, "If we have a player is playing for his university or college and we want to have a look at him, we will send someone to the game to watch him or get a video of the game. As long as the boys are getting football by that stage I'm happy enough.

"I don't think I will be talking to Joe (Kernan) any time soon in that regard. In fact, I can safely say we could make Joe redundant on that front!" he smiled.

The Derry boss met with his panel for the first time last weekend to discuss preparations ahead of the resumption of group training in December and revealed O'Brien's duo, Oisin Duffy and Niall McFeely, will be among a number of new faces to get a chance to shine in 2014. Also included will be Ballinascreen duo Mickey McShane and Ciaran Conway, who both excelled in their club's run to the Derry Senior Championship final, while Ciaran McGoldrick and Niall Holly of Coleraine and Karl McKaigue from Slaughtneil are also in the squad.

"We have brought in a few new lads into the panel which will keep things fresh. We have a tricky enough group with last year's Ulster champions Monaghan, St. Mary's and Fermanagh, who are under new manager Pete McGrath which means all their players there will want to make a real impression but that's what you want. You want tough games to test yourself. We want to try and win all the games but also to get a look at as many players as possible.

"It has been a few years since we met Monaghan competitively but they have always been hard games and I would expect nothing less when we meet."

The return of Doherty to the Derry colours is a major boost, especially given the loss to long term injury of PJ McCloskey. The Banagher player was superb when he played last season and his absence was keenly felt but McIver claims Doherty brings both experience and class to an area which has been troublesome for the Derry boss.

"We have brought a few new lads into the panel which will keep things fresh. We met up as a panel last week just to talk and let the players know what was happening and it is great to have Fergal Doherty back again. There was no arm-twisting needed, Fergal was keen to play inter-county football again and we are delighted to have him back.

"He is over the injury problems which he had over the past couple of years and will be a big boost for us. He brings great leadership and gives us a great option at midfield. That is an area where we have had a couple of bad injuries, something we were acutely aware of, but Fergal is an experienced player who knows what is expected when you play for Derry."

After last year's promotion to Division One, the Derry manager knows this season will see a step up in class in the National League but he is looking forward to the challenges that await his side.

"The McKenna Cup is great in terms of getting the season off to a competitive start and allowing us to get a look at players in competitive games as we prepare for the National League. I think we start with Monaghan, last year's Ulster Champions, in the McKenna Cup; with Tyrone in the National League and Donegal in the Ulster Championship so we could not have asked for a bigger challenge to begin each competition with but those are the challenges you want and it will be nice to get going again."

Derry Journal

[onefaircounty]

http://gaeliclife.com/2013/11/exclusive-former-all-star-returns-to-armagh-panel/

What age would Mallon be now? 

[Throw ball]

http://gaeliclife.com/2013/11/exclusive-former-all-star-returns-to-armagh-panel/

What age would Mallon be now?

Played under 21 in 2004 so would be around the 30 mark.

[Walter Cronc]

What is this Cardinal O'Fiach (apologies on spelling) Cup??

I see derry have entered it anyway.