BY KEVIN CARNEY
So much for the Dr. McKenna Cup being a planet removed from mother Earth.
Football’s bluebloods have all but finished swatting each other in this season’s Ulster’s subsidiary competition and, already, it’s clear that the cream has risen to the top.
By dint of their handsome 2-12 to 1-4 semi-final win last weekend, Tyrone can now prepare for their eighth McKenna Cup final inside the last ten years.
Meanwhile, holders Derry are now just 70 minutes away from back-to-back titles, having overcome Down by 0-11 to 0-9 in their penultimate round …

By Colm Shalvey
Just nine days remain until Monaghan begin their Allianz National Football League Division Two campaign, with a high-profile trip to Navan first up for the Farney men.
Monaghan manager Eamon McEneaney has been forced to field teams missing some of his regular first-choice players in recent weeks with college commitments the main reason for absentees. McEneaney wasn’t happy at being so short of full-strength throughout January, but it did give him the opportunity to try out more new players in the ongoing quest to build a strong panel.
Monaghan won …

With the 2012 Premier Division season 6 weeks away, Roddy Collins sent out a team of old favourites and newcomers to take on Newry City in the first pre-season game at the Showgrounds. The experimental nature and manager’s instructions to not worry about results and to treat the game as a training session was a factor in the 2-1 defeat.
The back four had a familiar feel with Conor McMahon back from his long layoff due to injury and he was joined by Keith Quinn, Aidan Collins and Alan Byrne …

An excellent attendance participated in Monaghan United’s AGM at the clubhouse on Thursday last. The contributions were very positive and everyone involved in United’s promotion to the Premier Division were complemented on the night. Much of the discussion on the night centered on the incoming season which is due to kick off at Gortakeegan on Friday 2nd March against Dundalk. One of the positives from the meeting was the sense to get involved and assist the club and teams by those in attendance at the meeting.
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
I would like …

By John Graham
In their opening game against Armagh, Down demonstrated their intent for the coming season with a resounding performance and victory and they sent out another message in Clones on Sunday last as they powered to victory over a disappointing if considerably under strength Monaghan side in this largely one-way contest that attracted an attendance of just over 2000 people.
Down laid the foundation for this victory with two scintillating periods either side of half-time, the first that yielded 2-4 in the final 10 minutes of the first half and …

By John Graham
For Monaghan the Dr McKenna Cup game against Doown was a game where nothing went the way they had planned or the way they hoped. Mark Keogh was beaten four times but did well with a couple of other efforts although his positioning was partly responsible for one of the goals.
Dermot Malone was the pick of the Monaghan defence while Carl O’Connell and Ronan McNally tried hard along with Vinny Corey but it was an area that was under severe pressure at times.
Carl O’Connell was particularly unlucky …

By Kevin Carney
Trying to extrapolate championship results this coming summer on the basis of Dr.McKenna Cup results is a fool’s occupation. However the opening round results from this year’s subsidiary provincial competition do, at least, suggest that team-managers have now all got the ‘nothing beats winning’ theory firmly encoded in their brain cells and the vim and vigour shown by their charges last weekend said as much.
On the basis of last Sunday’s results, it appears that the provincial powerbrokers are determined to give the students a right ‘oul lesson.
Competitive victories …

St Mary’s manager Paddy Tally possibly summed it up best when he said that the McKenna Cup particularly in the opening game was about performance more than anything else. His Monaghan counterpart agreed with that and was pleased that his side got off to a winning start this year as opposed to a very disappointing opening in 2011. Carl O’Connell Tyholland, Tommy O’Neill, Ballybay and Ciaran Daly, Donaghmoyne had their first senior inter county outing on Sunday last while James Bellew, Emyvale, Ronan McNally, Tyholland, and David …

There will be added zest to Monaghan United’s first game of the new Airtricity League Premier Division campaign in March following the appointment of Sean McCaffrey as manager of the Mons’ traditional north-east rivals Dundalk.
Monaghan man McCaffrey will take his new side to Gortakeegan to kick off the season following his signing of a one-year deal with the Lillywhites shortly before Christmas.
Former Republic of Ireland senior international supremo Steve Staunton was one of many names being touted as the successor to Ian Foster at the Dundalk …

By JOHN GRAHAM
This Sunday Monaghan will get their competitive season under way when they meet St Mary’s University College from Belfast in the Dr McKenna Cup in Clones at 2pm.
Since the reintroduction of the McKenna Cup in 2003 and the closed period for the training of inter county squads, although in some cases that is honoured more in the breach than in the acceptance, the McKenna Cup has taken on a new importance with counties using the competition to run the rule over prospective players for the upcoming National Football …