Sport

McEnaney and his peers get down to new business

GAELIC GAMES NEWS: THE DAWN of a new era takes place across 10 football counties this weekend as the cobweb-clearing provincial…

GAVIN CUMMISKEY Reports
Wed Jan 05 2011 - 00:00

GAELIC GAMES NEWS:THE DAWN of a new era takes place across 10 football counties this weekend as the cobweb-clearing provincial competitions get under way.

Eight men, of varying experience, will have “Bainisteoir” emblazoned across their chests as they begin their managerial terms.

It adds up to 10, considering Pat Flanagan in Westmeath was only parachuted in before last year’s championship to replace Brendan Hackett, who succumbed to a player revolt, while the Val Andrews and Terry Hyland double-act in Cavan returns for a second stint having both been involved from 1998 to 2001.

The first football to be kicked in anger is in Ulster on Saturday night when Fermanagh, under the guidance of John O’Neill and with two-time All Star fullback Barry Owens installed as captain, take on UUJ in the McKenna Cup. The post-Tommy Carr period in Cavan sees the home county welcome Queen’s University, while defeated All-Ireland champions Down host St Mary’s at Páirc Esler.

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There follows a full list of football matches in every province on Sunday.

Pat Gilroy’s third season in charge of Dublin starts in Mullingar against Flanagan’s Westmeath side which will be without the long-serving Michael Ennis, David Duffy, Donal O’Donoghue and John Smyth, for varying reasons.

Since the blanket ban of winter training was lifted on January 1st, Gilroy has been flogging his panel with early-morning sessions. The theory, presumably, is that it paid dividends in 2010.

The most intriguing sight will be in Navan as Séamus McEnaney’s Meath welcome UCD to Páirc Tailteann. McEnaney, of course, was a surprise appointment – or, more to the point, the shock was that Eamonn O’Brien was not retained for another season and that Monaghan cut ties with McEnaney after six seasons.

The successor in Monaghan is another McEnaney, no relation, as former Louth manager Eamonn brings a team up to Celtic Park where John Brennan has been tasked with reviving Derry’s underachieving panel. It helps that Brennan has tempted their marquee forward Paddy Bradley back.

Bradley’s father, Liam, opted to remain with Antrim for at least another year and he brings them to Armagh where Paddy O’Rourke intends to build on last season’s Division Two league title success.

O’Rourke, however, must do so without Justin McNulty on his management team as the former Armagh defender was recruited by Laois as a replacement for Seán Dempsey.

McNulty’s first taste of inter-county management is against the wily Mick O’Dwyer. Possibly the longest-serving manager in the history of sport, O’Dwyer decided to embrace a fifth decade of sideline duty after some gentle cajoling by Wicklow.

There was initial talk of Micko going west, but Joe Kernan’s replacement, after a forgettable one-year term as Galway manager, eventually went to another Kerryman. Tomás Ó Flatharta’s second intercounty managerial job, after Westmeath, starts against Sligo, who are still managed by Galway’s prodigal son Kevin Walsh.

James Horan’s grasping of what many believe to be the poisoned chalice in Mayo takes him to Ballinamore, where Mickey Moran’s Leitrim await.

Moran, another Derry exile, stands alone this season as his long-standing partnership with John Morrison has reached its natural conclusion.

The last of the new managers out the gate this Sunday is Donegal’s Jim McGuinness as he attempts to replicate the under-21 success of 2010, ably assisted by Kevin Cassidy and Michael Hegarty after both committed for another year. McGuinness will need them and all the young talent he can muster for the opening trip to Omagh, where Mickey Harte’s experienced crew lie in wait.

All-Ireland champions Cork are away on a team holiday, so only two from last year’s panel, Alan O’Connor and Kevin McMahon, will feature against WIT at Páirc Uí Rinn, with selector Terry O’Neill taking temporary charge in manager Conor Counihan’s absence.

GAA FIXTURES

SATURDAY

McKENNA CUP – Senior football – Round One– Fermanagh v UUJ, Brewster Park, 7.0, P Hughes (Armagh); Cavan v Queen's University, 3G Pitch, 7.0 E McHugh (Tyrone); Down v St Mary's, Páirc Esler, 7.0, D Helferty (Monaghan).

SUNDAY

O'BYRNE CUP – Senior football– Westmeath v Dublin, Mullingar, 2.0, F Kelly (Longford); Wexford v DIT, Wexford, 2.0, F Barry (Kildare); Kildare v Longford, Newbridge, 2.0, N Ward (Westmeath); Offaly v DCU, Tullamore, 2.0, D Gough (Meath); Meath v UCD, Páirc Tailteann, 2.0, P Kneel (Louth); Carlow v Kilkenny, Dr Cullen Park, 2.0, B Hickey (Kildare); Louth v Athlone IT, Drogheda, 2.0, G McCormack (Dublin); Laois v Wicklow, Portlaoise, 2.0, J Curley (Meath).

KEHOE CUP – Senior hurling: Fingal v Trinity College, Portmarnock, 2.0, K Brady (Louth).

McGRATH CUP – Senior football: Cork v WIT, Páirc Uí Rinn, 2.0; Kerry v ITT, Austin Stack Park, Tralee, 2.0; Tipperary v University of Limerick, TBC, 2.0; Clare v UCC, Cooraclare, 2.0.

McKENNA CUP – Senior football– Round One– Tyrone v Donegal, Healy Park, Omagh, 2.0, J McQuillan (Cavan); Derry v Monaghan, Celtic Park, 2.0, J White (Donegal); Armagh v Antrim, Crossmaglen, 2.0.

FBD LEAGUE – Senior football – Group One: NUI Galway v Institute of Technology, Dangan, 2.0; Sligo v Galway, Enniscrone, 2.0; Group Two: Leitrim v Mayo, Ballinamore, 2.0; Roscommon v GMIT, Ballyforan, 2.0.