The inter-county season only wrapped up last weekend, but Antrim have wasted little time in getting their club Championship campaign underway.
The opening rounds of the Northern Switchgear Senior Football Championship are scheduled for Sunday evening.
All games will now have a 6pm throw-in to avoid a clash with the Antrim Ladies All-Ireland JFC final against Fermanagh at Croke Park (11.45am).
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The pick of the first round games sees defending champions Creggan begin their title defence at home to Lámh Dhearg in Group One.
Gerald McNulty’s men were impressive winners of the Padraig McNamee Cup last term, beating the-then champions Cargin in the semi-final before defeating Aghagallon in the county final.
Kickham’s were beaten by Armagh champions Clann Éireann after extra-time in the Ulster Club Championship and they’ve continued their fine form in this season by winning the Division One title earlier this month.
McNulty will be without the services of former Antrim defender Ricky Johnston for the early stages of the Championship campaign while last year’s captain Conor McCann departed for Australia after the 2021 season finished.
Jamie McCann, Ruairi McCann and Kevin Small were all excellent last season while former Antrim minor star Liam Quinn has finally returned to fitness after a few injury-plagued seasons.
Lámh Dhearg were beaten by Portglenone in the quarter-finals last season with Deaglan Bunting taking the reins from Máirtín Lynch for this year.
The Red Hands, as ever, are backboned by a host of current and former Antrim stars, namely Paddy Cunningham, Ryan and Conor Murrray, Marc Jordan and Kevin Quinn and they’ll be hoping to cause a minor upset at Creggan on Sunday.
With only two teams progressing from each group, teams can ill-afford a slow start with St John’s hosting St Gall’s at Corrigan Park in the other Group One fixture.
The Milltown men found themselves on the wrong side of the Division One split earlier in the season, but can never be discounted in the Championship.
Sean Burns took over from Pádraig Ó Muirigh for this season with St Gall’s in something of a transition following the retirement of a host of former Championship-winning players.
Aaron Douglas and Pete McKeever are in charge of St John’s for 2022 and they’ll also have ambitions of reaching the knockout stages of the Championship.
In Group Two, Kelly Park plays host to an intriguing battle between Portglenone and St Brigid’s.
Casement’s have been knocking on the door in recent campaigns, but have lost three successive semi-finals to Lámh Dhearg (2019 after two replays), 2020 (Creggan) and 2021 (Aghagallon).
Portglenone native John McKeever is back with his home club this season and he has enlisted the help of Tyrone legend Peter Canavan after the pair helped Holy Trinity Cookstown reach their first MacRory Cup final earlier this year.
Former Antrim stars Niall McKeever and Niall Delargy remain key players for Portglenone while St Brigid’s will also have to keep a close eye on current county star Dermot McAleese.
The south Belfast men retained the services of Donegal native Anthony McGrath for this year and the return to form of Patrick Finnegan has been a huge boost for the Malone men in 2022.
The other tie in Group Two is a local derby between Moneyglass and Ahoghill. St Ergnat’s endured a Championship season to forget last year on their return to the senior ranks.
They were held scoreless against Cargin last season, but clinched the Division Two title earlier this year.
Ahoghill didn’t make the knock-out stages last season, but the Clooney men are never to be underestimated in either code at this time of the year.
In Group Three, the sole fixture sees last year’s beaten finalists Aghagallon host Gort na Móna.
St Mary’s have endured some disappointing league results this year and will need to defeat Ballymena in a relegation play-off later in the season to retain their top flight status.
Gort na Móna are already down and the Turf Lodge men will be hoping for an upturn in fortune in their Championship campaign with last year’s Intermediate winners Tír na nÓg also in Group Three.
Former county kingpins Cargin will be keen to make a strong start to their Championship journey when they welcome Naomh Éanna to Toome.
Former Derry star Damien Cassidy resigned after Cargin’s four-in-a-row bid was ended by Creggan, but highly-respected coach Ronan Devlin stepped up to the manager's job.
Cargin retained the bulk of their experienced players and there is a talented batch of former minor stars coming through the ranks to ensure Devlin’s men will be involved at the business end of the season.
The Hightown men, meanwhile, are led by Omagh native Carl McCabe for another season and they’ll be keen to get beyond the last eight.
Themselves and Rossa will be determined to ensure that Cargin don’t have it all their own way in a tricky-looking Group Four.
Northern Switchgear Antrim Senior Football Championship
Group One
Creggan v Lámh Dhearg
St John's v St Gall's
Group Two
Moneyglass v Ahoghill
Portglenone v St Brigid's
Group Three
Aghagallon v Gort na Móna
Group Four
Cargin v Naomh Éanna
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