Some tough draw there in Ulster. Donegal, the provincial champions, can lament the other 3 provincial champions paths to a provincial final.

Hard to speak too much of it for now. Noticeable that the Ulster finalists will be on the A side of the draw. The teams knocked out on Donegal's side prior to the final will be in the B side of the draw. Ulster could be looking at at least 4 All-Ireland quarter-finalists.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7911 - 09/10/2014 20:01:45    1662048

and we had people taking shots at ulster calling it dead before the 4th round qualfiers last year?..strange..looks like it will be the only good provincial championship as you would expect armagh and tyrone to be better but i would also expect donegal and monaghan to go back quite a bit..derry and down who knows really..hopefully galway can make rapid improvements in connacht but i dont see it...dont see anything in leinster to suggest the dubs being challenged and munster will be the same as usual

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 09/10/2014 20:17:03    1662073

Tough draw. But any Ulster GAA fan wouldn't want it any other way. It's the only bit of excitement available before QF weekend in August.

It's mad that Donegal would have to win 6 matches to make it to an AI Final and beat, for example, Tyrone, Armagh, Derry & Monaghan along the way. And Kerry only need 4 wins and to beat Cork + one other Div 3/4 team.

squareball_1988 (Donegal) - Posts: 343 - 09/10/2014 20:20:09    1662079

Its funny every year in ulster there seems to be one hard side and one handy enough side

ros1 (Roscommon) - Posts: 1211 - 09/10/2014 20:39:07    1662094

legendzxix
County: Kerry
Posts: 3926

1662048
Some tough draw there in Ulster. Donegal, the provincial champions, can lament the other 3 provincial champions paths to a provincial final.

Hard to speak too much of it for now. Noticeable that the Ulster finalists will be on the A side of the draw. The teams knocked out on Donegal's side prior to the final will be in the B side of the draw. Ulster could be looking at at least 4 All-Ireland quarter-finalists.

Yes there could be a strong representation of ulster counties in the last 8 next year, but there would be no tactical gamesmanship in order to get into a favorable side of the back door draw. Winning ulster is a massive priority for all the teams in the ulster championship. In many ways it is a blessing in terms of excitement and competition in may-july.

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 09/10/2014 20:51:32    1662105

Mickey Harte was calling for a seeding system before based on league places. If this current draw is what the majority want, there can't really be complaints when ye are getting exactly what ye want.

Mickey Harte's idea would have seen the following:
Donegal, Monaghan, Tyrone and Derry seeded. Antrim and Fermanagh drawn in the preliminary round. The 4 seeded teams then would have been drawn against Down, Armagh, Cavan and Fermanagh or Antrim.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7911 - 09/10/2014 20:54:39    1662115

Every game next year should be competitive in Ulster. Even Antrim vFermanagh, chance for Fermanagh to beat Antrim to avenge this year's defeat. Two evenly matched I would say.
Other side very tough and if Donegal or TYRONE win Ulster next year either will deserve it Anyway great season to Look forward to. Hope BBC will televise all the games.

SamOnErrigal (Donegal) - Posts: 1427 - 09/10/2014 20:56:23    1662121

Ros the last time that happened was 2 years ago and the so called weaker side 'Monaghan' won the ulster championship.?...don't read too much into it....ulster final day, there will be no weak team!!

.tribute (Cavan) - Posts: 360 - 09/10/2014 20:56:26    1662122

legendzxix
County: Kerry
Posts: 3927

1662115
Mickey Harte was calling for a seeding system before based on league places. If this current draw is what the majority want, there can't really be complaints when ye are getting exactly what ye want.

Nobody complained yet on this thread that you started about ulster. Were you expecting a row ;)

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 09/10/2014 21:03:45    1662125

Just making the point. Hardly cause for a row.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7911 - 09/10/2014 22:05:31    1662138

fabio8
County: USA
Posts: 695

1662073
and we had people taking shots at ulster calling it dead before the 4th round qualfiers last year?..strange..looks like it will be the only good provincial championship as you would expect armagh and tyrone to be better but i would also expect donegal and monaghan to go back quite a bit..derry and down who knows really..hopefully galway can make rapid improvements in connacht but i dont see it...dont see anything in leinster to suggest the dubs being challenged and munster will be the same as usual

Why would you expect Monaghan to go back 'quite a bit'? In last two years we have had back to back promotions by winning both leagues, two Ulster Finals with one win, Div 1 football this year, the easier side of the draw for championship. If anything I would expect an improvement this year. Anything less than a provincial final and a quarter final spot would have to be seen as a complete failure at this point.

supermon (Monaghan) - Posts: 1073 - 10/10/2014 08:07:57    1662139

If you focus on the end game it's good draw for Ulster . Increases the chances of being in the hat come August
Though from a personal perspective Tyrone will be doing sprints up the sperrins at the thought of pipping a no Jim Donegal which could mean
A nomadic July for us

ruanua (Donegal) - Posts: 4966 - 10/10/2014 09:25:26    1662187

Having to win 6 matches to get to an all ireland final is hardly all that taxing. It's an advantage to have more games if you ask me.
Donegals route to final this year was ideal preparation. At least 3 weeks between each game.

25 May - Derry
22 June - Antrim
20 July - Monaghan
9 Aug - Armagh
31 Aug - Dub
21 Sep Kerry

pdempsey (Mayo) - Posts: 1313 - 10/10/2014 09:39:40    1662194

09/10/2014 20:17:03
fabio8
County: USA
Posts: 695

and we had people taking shots at ulster calling it dead before the 4th round qualfiers last year?..strange..looks like it will be the only good provincial championship as you would expect armagh and tyrone to be better but i would also expect donegal and monaghan to go back quite a bit..derry and down who knows really..hopefully galway can make rapid improvements in connacht but i dont see it...dont see anything in leinster to suggest the dubs being challenged and munster will be the same as usual

I think this is the second time(at least) you've said this about Monaghan, I'd love to know your reasoning behind it? Supermons post sums up our progress in the last two years, I don't see the evidence that Monaghan will regress badly this year. Yes, we exited the championship in a bad loss, but at the end of the day through league and championship this year we only lost to 2 of the top 4 teams in Donegal and Dublin.

Also with Donegal, yes Jim may be gone which is a big loss, but the team have hardly forgot how to play. It's an very experienced bunch there and they'll still be favourites to emerge from that side. It is a rotten draw though in fairness.

patk (Monaghan) - Posts: 936 - 10/10/2014 09:45:07    1662198

I've made that point before as well. Winning Ulster with a game every three weeks is ideal.

legendzxix (Kerry) - Posts: 7911 - 10/10/2014 10:03:35    1662211

patk i just feel considering they are a very small county that have been doing a brilliant job punching above their weight that the side of the last 2 years is their peak really and i can only see them going down from here with tyrone and certainly armagh i would expect to be on the up..all guess work and hunches of course but just the way i think..hope im wrong as love to see county like monaghan continue to improve..still think both will be good sides just not as good as before

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 10/10/2014 10:18:19    1662228

Fabio, we won our first Ulster minor in ages last year, so we have promising players coming through from that, the forwards in particular. Several other young lads have been brought through in the last 2-3 years. With the exception of Dessie Mone(who is 30 but plays like he's 25), I'd say our best players are in the 21-27 age range, with the contribution of older players like Finlay and Clerkin greatly reduced over the last 2 years. I see where you're coming from regarding us being a small county, we're always going to be up against it with our pick, but I'm talking about the present time and I don't see any big drop off in quality coming soon. I'm not talking about winning AIs here, that's simply a big ask for a small county like us, but we'll certainly be challenging for Ulsters for the next while and hopefully getting to the business end of the championship again.

I can see your point with Armagh improving after this year(though I'd still be confident of Monaghan beating them, and I don't see this Armagh team winning Sam or anything), but over the last year Tyrone have went back if anything. Still a Division 1 side but not the force they once were in Ulster. Now with McGuinness left, Ulster is wide open, which makes our side of the draw favourable compared to the minefield on the other side.

patk (Monaghan) - Posts: 936 - 10/10/2014 10:52:39    1662260

yeah its going to be competitive as always..i agree that armagh probably arent going to become a sam contender but i expect them to be much better than they have been recently..yeah monaghan are going to need to get a good few of that successful minor team over the next few years if they are going to continue to be a good side..sadly its not often certain that that will happen..tyrone very poor year this year and considering the players they have you would have to expect they will certainly be better than last year at the very least..i personally feel armagh would beat monaghan now although be very tight..between those 4 though really for ulster barring down and derry make major improvements...its very tough with smaller counties and being from one myself you really need everything to go right for you during the year and the odd few injuries or lost of form can leave you very depleted..monaghan have been very lucky with this group of players as both under banty and o rourke they have done very well and regularly been a competitive side up their with the big boys at times

fabio8 (USA) - Posts: 2182 - 10/10/2014 11:23:15    1662278

Tribute Donegal were in a handy side last year

ros1 (Roscommon) - Posts: 1211 - 10/10/2014 11:42:59    1662295

Handy route to the final for the Saffrons

Fitzy will be rubbing his hands in anticipation

bumpernut (Antrim) - Posts: 1852 - 10/10/2014 11:53:25    1662308