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ULSTER SFC FIRST ROUND: Antrim v Tyrone: A YEAR on and technically the counties have drawn even closer together

IAN O'RIORDAN and SEÁN MORAN
Sat May 22 2010 - 01:00

ULSTER SFC FIRST ROUND: Antrim v Tyrone:A YEAR on and technically the counties have drawn even closer together. Antrim's momentum has carried them to a second successive promotion whereas Tyrone slid to relegation and tomorrow's pairing will feature in next season's Division Two.

Antrim have suffered a frustrating loss to Sligo in the divisional final and had some frissons in the camp this week whereas Tyrone knuckled down quietly to training and have seen some important injuries clear up.

Brian Dooher’s recovery once again from an apparent date with the breakers’ yard means the champions’ attack is a formidable unit on paper. Stephen O’Neill is also back after a league written off by injury although the Antrim match last year was unproductive for him. How match sharp the pair will be remains to be seen but Mickey Harte was sufficiently pleased with their progress to start them and has in Peter Harte and Kyle Coney promising newcomers on the bench. Dooher and Joe McMahon will be asked to do a lot of tracking back to counter the Antrim wing backs. Defence is a different story. At times during the league they were jaded looking and Conor Gormley’s absence won’t have help in tightening up.

One of Antrim’s main difficulties last year after shipping the early leaks was an inability to get enough ball through to Paddy Cunningham.

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Tyrone have different corner backs on duty tomorrow but they’ll remember the lessons. Antrim need to start well and sharpen up their finishing but they can expect to be under big pressure.

TYRONE: P McConnell; M Swift, Justin McMahon, D Carlin; D Harte, R McMenamin, P Jordan; K Hughes, C Cavanagh; B Dooher, S Cavanagh, Joe McMahon; M Penrose, S O'Neill, O Mulligan.

ANTRIM: J Finucane; C Brady, A Douglas, K O'Boyle; T Scullion, J Crozier, S Kelly; A Gallagher, B Herron; T O'Neill, K Niblock, J Loughrey; P Cunningham, M McCann, T McCann.

Referee: Pat McEnaney (Monaghan).

LEINSTER SFC FIRST ROUND: Louth v Laois

NOT FOR the first time Louth’s push for promotion to Division Two fizzled out over the closing rounds, but they still racked up some big scores along the way and have a dangerous forward line based around JP Rooney and Shane Lennon. Eamonn McAuley will make his debut in defence having recently been called into the panel.

Experienced team captain Paddy Keenan should help them dominate around midfield, while Colm Judge has been given the nod over Darren Clarke, Aaron Hoey and Páraic Smith to start in the full forward line alongside Rooney and Lennon – and that suggests manager Peter Fitzpatrick is happy to go with form more than experience.

Longford’s attack is still largely built around Brian Kavanagh, who is named at full forward despite reports he had broken a bone in his ankle. It remains to be seen how fit he is and otherwise Longford must look to Paul Barden for scores.

Manager Glenn Ryan also starts Paddy Dowd in the attack after his short-lived retirement earlier this year, but still Louth’s scoring threat looks superior.

LOUTH: N Gallagher; E McAuley, D Finnegan, R Greene; R Finnegan, M Fanning, J O'Brien; P Keenan, B White; A McDonnell, M Brennan, A Reid; C Judge, S Lennon, JP Rooney.

LONGFORD: D Sheridan; D Brady, D Masterson, S Hannon; S Mulligan, E Williams, P Foy; A O'Connor, B Gilleran; P Dowd, F McGee, K Mulligan; D Reilly, B Kavanagh, P Barden.

Referee: P Fox (Westmeath).

MUNSTER SFC QUARTER-FINAL: Waterford v Clare

THE TEAMS meet for the fourth time in five years and there’s never been much between them.

However, going into the last round of Division Four of the league, they were both within reach of promotion, but Waterford won easily, 0-20 to 2-5, in Dungarvan.

Waterford manager John Owens gives championship debuts to Kieran Coonery, Tommy Prendergast and Conor McGrath, but there are just two changes from the team which subsequently lost the Division Four final to Limerick, with Eamonn Walsh returning at left half back and Patrick Hurney coming back into the attack.

Clare manager Micheál McDermott has made six changes from the team that lost to Waterford.

WATERFORD: T Wall; M O'Gorman, T O'Gorman, K Connery; T Grey, S Briggs, E Walsh; M Ahearne, T Prendergast; B Wall, C McGrath, W Hennessy; P Hurney, G Hurney, L Ó Lionáin.

CLARE: J Hayes; M Tubridy, B Duggan, B Carrig; M McMahon, G Kelly, D Callinan; G Quinlan, G Brennan; M O'Shea, P O'Dwyer, A Clohessy; D Tubridy, D Russell, D Daly.

Referee: A Mangan (Kerry).