SATURDAY 15 APRIL
Fermanagh v Derry, Brewster Park, 5pm
SUNDAY 16 APRIL
Tyrone v Monaghan, O'Neills Healy Park, 4pm
ONLINE
Live blog on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app.
RADIO
Live commentary and updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport. Also live updates on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta's Spórt an tSathairn and Spórt an Lae.
TV
Fermanagh v Derry is live on BBC2 NI from 4.45pm on Saturday. The Sunday Game Live from 3.30pm on RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player will be in Omagh for the Tyrone v Monaghan clash, as will BBC2 NI from 3.45pm.
Highlights of all the weekend's action on The Sunday Game, RTÉ2 and the RTÉ Player, from 9.30pm.
WEATHER
Saturday: Dry at first with sunny spells but cloud in the southwest will gradually extend across the country with outbreaks of rain and drizzle following. Driest in the east and southeast. Highest temperatures of 9 to 12 degrees with moderate southerly winds developing.
Sunday: A dull start with patchy outbreaks of light rain and drizzle along with lingering patches of mist and fog. Becoming drier with some sunny spells developing as the day goes on. Mild with highest temperatures of 14 to 17 degrees generally, possibly reaching 18 degrees, with light to moderate southerly breezes. For more go to met.ie.
Gallagher's tried and trusted still showing the way for Derry
In terms of games it's a quieter weekend, with the focus firmly on Ulster. Defending champions Derry are looking to emulate the side that won back-to-back titles in 1975-76. With Tyrone and Monaghan on the same side of the draw, Rory Gallagher's side won't have it easy in their quest to land the Anglo Celt trophy again.
Derry, as many expected, secured promotion to the league's top flight. The highlight of that campaign was the narrow win over Dublin in the regulation round.
However, the tables were turned a forrtnight ago when a four-goal blitz in the second half from the Dubs saw them lift the Division 2 trophy. The Ulster side had chances to raise green flags in the opening period but didn't take them, with Gallagher rueing the fact that such opportunities weren't taken.
After their march to an All-Ireland semi-final last year, the question is can they again be involved at the business end again?
Of course this year's championship involves a round-robin phase after the provincial series, and getting past that point sees one arrive at the last-eight stage of the All-Ireland race. Have Derry the depth in their squad to take them to meaningful games in July?
Conor Glass came off injured early in the second half against Dublin and his influence was clearly missed. Alongside Brendan Rodgers, he forms part of a formidable midfield duo - a partnership that is "the real deal", according to Gallagher. With Glass off the field, Derry lost their way somewhat, and eventually lost the game.
Glass is fit enough, however, to resume his place in the engine room against Fermanagh, with Derry also boosted by the return of Chrissy McKaigue, who missed the league decider through injury.
Ciaran McFaul returns to the squad after his return from America last month. The Glen player hasn't featured since the March 2022 Division 2 win over Meath but worked closely with Derry’s S&C coach, former Tyrone player Peter Hughes, prior to his return home.
Matthew Downey, Lachlan Murray, Eoin McEvoy, Niall O'Donnell Mark Doherty are eligible at both Under-20 and senior levels, and Gallagher successfully pushed to have the county's Ulster Under-20 semi-final with Donegal played earlier so they wouldn’t be caught out by the seven-day rule.
Running a tight ship, the manager clearly wants his strongest hand available. Just 29 players were involved in last year's championship run. In five of those games, Derry started the same 15 players. For most of their league campaign, the same personel were involved.
Speaking on the latest edition of the RTÉ GAA Podcast, former Tyrone star Enda McGinley, highlighted the thiness of Derry's panel in their recent loss to the Dubs.
"They've moved Brendan Rogers out [from full-back] because Emmet Bradley is away this year, who was playing midfield.
"Yes, Eoin McEvoy has come in, great, but it means that your options are thinner on the ground again.
"Oisin McWilliams, who was one of their main subs to come in, if he’s out, you're looking at a really, really stretched team.
"He obviously made a big shout about the U20 championship because he has four or five U20s on the panel, and that’s only on a panel of, what, 27 he’s carrying?
"If two or three of them are down, does he have a full 26 actually to name a panel?"
Promotion a real fillip as Fermanagh eye a big scalp
As for Fermanagh, well one main box was ticked in getting promotion to Division 2. They actually topped the tier 3 standings after defeating Cavan on the final day, though the Breffni were already through at that point.
Both sides met in the divisional final a forrtnight ago, with Cavan producing two decisive scoring bursts in the second period to win comfortably in the end.
In Ultan Kelm, Fermanagh have a forward who knows the way to goal and now doubt Conor McCluskey will be entrusted to keep tabs on him. Darragh McGurn is another Erne live wire up front.
Ryan Jones' duel with Conor Glass in the middle will also be worth watching in a game where Derry should have enough to come through, but Fermanagh will be buoyed by the number of tight games that they won during the league.
Enda McGinley's thoughts: "Fermanagh are on a bit of a crest of a wave.
"They are delighted with where they have come to through the National League.
"Some of their results, they were fortuitous enough, but that is a very, very happy Fermanagh camp and they love playing the underdog."
Did you know?
- Fermanagh have lost their opening game in the Ulster championship for the past four seasons. Their last win in their first game came against Armagh in 2018.
- Both have poor records in their first Ulster championship outings over the past ten seasons. Derry have won two and lost eight. Fermanagh have won three and lost seven.
Tyrone rediscovering their vigour
There hasn't been a lot to choose between Tyrone and Monaghan in their recent championship encounters. The 2021 Ulster final saw the Red Hand hang on by a point, while the 2018 All-Ireland semi produced the same winning margin, with the team in red and white again coming out on top.
Tyrone had a 2022 to forget, as evidenced by their tame defence of their Ulster crown, and then not raising much of a gallop against Armagh through the back door. They didn't pull up too many trees in their start to the league, but three wins on the bounce saw them comfortably retain their top flight status. Enough evidence then to suggest that they may redisocering the form of two years ago.
The form of Darren McCurry and Darragh Canavan also points to better days ahead.
Defender Ronan McNamee returned for their final league game against Armagh, while Cathal McShane, who missed the closing stages of the league, is fit and available. Maybe the stars are aligning again for Tyrone, with joint-manager Feargal Logan pleased by the manner in which they carved out crucial wins against Kerrry and Armagh.
He told the Irish News: "So we're just glad that we got those couple of wins. You have to hand it to the players. The day out against Kerry, they were 6-1 down after 10 minutes, and they really dug in that day and dug out a result."
"It was a good finish to it obviously, it was a hard, championship-type game against Armagh.
"We didn’t help ourselves in the early phase of the League. We were on the road down in Connacht a lot, and we didn’t come up with much out of that, so it left us under a bit of pressure.
"But listen, the players dug in brilliantly, they stayed loyal to the cause and they showed their mettle and their steel over the past few weeks."
Same old Monaghan ready for another battle
"Nothing is certain except death and taxes" - a famous quote from Benjamin Franklin. Well, I'm sure supporters in the land of the Farney might want to add: "And Monaghan stay in Division 1". And that they did after defeating Mayo in the final round of this year's league.
Veteran attacker Conor McManus was the star of the show yet again, shooting 1-07, including converting a penalty with the last kick of the game to seal another famous last-day victory to keep the Farney up.
The win was no more than Vinny Corey's team deserved (okay, Mayo had little to play for), and was the fifth time in nine seasons that Monaghan have got the result they needed to stay up in the last round of the competition.
A boost then heading to Omagh, where veterans like Conor McManus, Karl O'Connell and Darren Hughes will no doubt see game time as Monaghan look for a first championship win over Tyrone in five years.
Corey, who enjoyed stellar career as a player, was eventually talked around to take the Monaghan job last autumn. He's not much older than the aforementioned trio, but he's getting the most of them, while also aware that Monaghan's pick is not that big.
Did you know
- Championship games between the counties have been very close. The average winning margin in the last seven has been two points either way.
- Goals have been in fairly short supply in Tyrone-Monaghan championship clashes where only 14 have been scored in their last twelve meetings. The only time two goals were scored by either team was in the 2005 All-Ireland qualifier which Tyrone won by 2-14 to 1-7 in Croke Park.
- Tyrone have won five, drawn one and lost four of their first games in the Ulster championship over the last ten seasons. Monaghan have won eight and lost two in the same period.
