The Ulster Club Championship has wrapped up for another season and the attention swiftly turns to the new inter-county season and pairings for the opening games of the 2023 Dr McKenna Cup are now known.
Tuesday night’s draw at the Glenavon Hotel in Cookstown was seeded in order to avoid as many clashes as possible between teams in the same League divisions.
However, with four teams from Ulster in Division One, as well as Division Three, Group A saw Down drawn against two Division One teams with Conor Laverty’s men facing last year’s winners Monaghan and beaten finalists Donegal in next month’s competition.
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Indeed, all three teams in that group have new management teams in place for next season with Paddy Carr taking over from Declan Bonner in Donegal while Vinny Corey succeeded Seamus McEnaney as Monaghan boss.
Group B sees Sperrin rivals Derry and Tyrone drawn together along with Fermanagh. Rory Gallagher’s Ulster champions defeated the Red Hands by 11 points in a famous win in Healy Park last May, but they’ll be without their Glen contingent for the opening stages of the 2023 campaign.
Watty Graham’s defeated last year’s champions Kilcoo in last Sunday’s Ulster Club Final in the Athletic Grounds and will take on Galway and Connacht champions Moycullen in the All-Ireland semi-final on the weekend of January 7/8.
The final grouping sees Antrim, Armagh and Cavan pitted against each other in what will be an interesting prelude to the Ulster Championship. The Saffrons face the Orchard County in the preliminary round with the winners facing the Breffnimen in the Ulster SFC quarter-final.
The opening round of the Dr McKenna Cup will take place on Wednesday, January 4 with the final scheduled for Saturday, January 21.
Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup Draw
Group A : Monaghan, Down, Donegal
Group B: Tyrone, Fermanagh, Derry
Group C: Armagh, Cavan, Antrim
Bank of Ireland Dr McKenna Cup schedule
Round one: Wednesday, January 4
Section A: Monaghan v Down (Castleblayney, 7.30pm)
Section B: Tyrone v Fermanagh (Healy Park, 7.30pm)
Section C: Armagh v Antrim (Athletic Grounds, 7.30pm)
Round two: Sunday, January, 8
Section A: Down v Donegal (Páirc Esler, 1.30pm)
Section B: Fermanagh v Derry (Brewster Park, 1.30pm)
Section C: Antrim v Cavan (Portglenone, 1.30pm)
Round three: Wednesday, January 11
Section A: Donegal v Monaghan (Ballybofey, 7.30pm)
Section B: Derry v Tyrone (Owenbeg, 7.30pm)
Section C: Cavan v Armagh (Breffni Park, 7.30pm)
Semi-finals: Weekend of January 14/15
Final: Saturday, January 21
Read next:
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Stars of the Ulster Club series who could make a big impact for their counties in 2023
- Armagh suffer blow ahead of the new campaign as goalkeeper departs panel
