It promises to be hectic 24 hours for Kieran Donnelly as he seeks to guide county and college teams to victory starting with Omagh CBS tonight.
They take on St Mary’s Magherafelt in the first MacRory Cup semi-final at the Athletic Grounds (throw-in 7.30pm) with another Tyrone versus Derry clash on Sunday at Ardboe as Holy Trinity Cookstown face St Pat’s Maghera (1pm) in the second semi-final.
Tonight’s game in Armagh will also split the McElholm family from Loughmacrory in Co Tyrone with dad John as part of the St Mary’s management team along with Ronan Devlin and Kevin Brady while son Eoin will form part of the Omagh attack.
On Saturday, Donnelly will then try and steer Fermanagh to victory in their Division Three opener against Antrim in Brewster Park.
While it is set to be a taxing weekend for Donnelly, he wouldn’t have it any other way. He knows both games will present their own challenges.
With Omagh this evening, they’ll face a Magherafelt side who scored an impressive 2-18 to 0-9 win over St Pat’s Dungannon in the last round.
In contrast, Omagh needed extra-time at The Dub before seeing off St Colman's Newry 1-16 to 1-9.
“MacRory Cup football, just like county, is a great level to work with because you are working with 35 committed players,” said Donnelly.
“Especially in a football-mad school like ours, you always get a good bunch.
“We are coming up against a very good St Mary’s Magherafelt team, who have a couple of Derry players in their ranks.
“We know they put up a massive score against Dungannon, so we are going to have to be very defensively aware to curtail them.
“We are looking forward to it after coming through a really tough test against St Colman’s.
“Hopefully coming through extra-time will stand us in good stead coming into Friday night.”
On Saturday evening, the Ernemen welcome Antrim to Brewster Park for an Ulster derby to open Division Three.
Both counties will be hoping to make a winning start with the Saffrons gaining promotion from Division Four with a play-off win over Waterford.
Fermanagh were beaten by Offaly in their Division Three semi-final and Donnelly is braced for a tough battle against Enda McGinley’s men.
“Antrim and Fermanagh have always been in similar situations and, moving through the grades, it has always been competitive between us,” said Donnelly.
“There is a healthy respect between the counties as well. Antrim are in a really good place at the minute and they are on a high after coming up from Division Four.
“They’ve a good management structure in place and they are moving well. They’ll be very little between us and we are preparing for that sort of game. We are expecting a really tough battle on Saturday night.”
Donnelly, who succeeded Ryan McMenamin as Fermanagh boss when the former Tyrone star stepped down at the end of last season, paid tribute to Eoin Donnelly, who announced his inter-county retirement last week.
“Eoin (Donnelly) was unique as he never came through St Michael’s,” added the Fermanagh boss.
“So many players develop through the St Michael’s MacRory Cup team then progress to the county.
“Eoin didn’t and he was a late developer, but he proved to be one of our best players over the last 10 years. He was very talented, fully committed and he is going to be a big loss.”
Donnelly also confirmed that Declan McCusker would captain the Erne County for the forthcoming campaign.
“Declan (McCusker) has been a great servant for us and was one of our key players when I was last involved with Peter Canavan a few years back,” said Donnelly.
“He has been one of our most consistent performers and that’s what you are looking. He always sets a good example on and off the pitch. There were a few contenders, but Decky stood out as a natural leader.”
