IT'S a busy weekend for the Down hurlers as they get both their Kehoe Cup and Conor McGurk Cup campaigns under way.
Ronan Sheehan’s side face Queen’s in the latter competition on Monday evening, but first up is tomorrow’s Kehoe Cup clash with Meath.
The Royals enjoyed a four-point opening day wIn over Wicklow to sit top of the table along with Kildare, who hammered Carlow.
Podge O’Hanrahan was their main scoring threat as he claimed 0-13 in their 0-18 to 1-11, the majority of scoring coming from placed-ball efforts.
It’s the first of four outings for the Ardsmen, who face playing four weekends in-a-row in the competition.
Sheehan is likely to pick a stronger team when they travel to Meath tomorrow and then give youth a chance against the students on Monday evening.
Donegal start their 2023 season this afternoon as they host Monaghan in the quarter-final of the McGurk Cup. The Tír Chonaill men reached the decider of the pre-season competition last year but lost out to Down by a point.
They carried that form into the League as they reached the semi-final of Division 2B, but once again lost out by a single point to Sligo.
Promotion will be on their do-to list this season, and manager Mickey McCann will hope to unearth some fresh faces during the McGurk Cup.
Donegal will be without Setanta’s Ulster Championship-winning sharpshooter Davin Flynn as he is reportedly out for the season. The Ulster Club junior champions are well represented on McCann’s panel, however, with the likes of Oisin Marley, Steven McBride and Declan Coulter all involved.
Monaghan will hope to build on the progress made in 2022 when they finished in fourth position of Division 3A, just outside the play-off places.
The winner of this clash will face either Antrim or Armagh – who face off on Monday night – in the semi-finals.
Fermanagh are back in action this afternoon on the back of their huge 2-17 to 0-11 win over Cavan last Tuesday. The Ernemen face Ulster University and will hope for a more competitive contest than the one provided by the Breffni Blues.
A Jimmy Tormey goal was the crucial score in the opening half as it gave Fermanagh a 1-8 to 0-10 lead at the break.
With the wind at the backs, the Erne county drove on in the second half, restricting Cavan to a single point while going on to rattle the net twice themselves.
Three-pointers from Danny Teague and Luca McCusker put the result beyond doubt and saw Joe Baldwin’s side safely through to the next round.
