New Cavan manager Mattie McGleenan.
The meeting of Tyrone and Cavan tops the bill in the opening round of the McKenna Cup.
It’s Mattie McGleenan’s first competitive match as Cavan manager and he couldn’t have asked for a tougher one than facing his native county.
Tyrone have won the last five McKenna Cups in a row and will be a formidable obstacle, but McGleenan is keen that his team builds up as much early-season momentum as possible ahead of their Division 1 Allianz League campaign.
“I would argue that the McKenna Cup is very important to Cavan this year with Dublin our first game at home in the league," said McGleenan.
"We are going to see very quickly in the McKenna Cup what the level is and where we have to go.”
Tyrone will be without a long list of players who will instead play for their universities in the competition. The likes of Ronan McNamee, Mark Bradley, Rory Brennan, and Frank Burns are among 11 Red Hand players included in the University of Ulster Jordanstown team for the competition.
Despite that talent-drain, Mickey Harte is determined that the Red Hand County do all they can to win a six McKenna Cup in a row.
“We want to retain it and our ambition is to play three competitive matches and then be in contention for a fourth and fifth. If we don't do get those extra games, then we'll be disappointed,” said Harte.
“The draw is quite a tasty one, what with going to Cavan, playing University of Ulster and Donegal, no matter if they do or don't field their full team. To get out of that group is going to be a challenge and we'll do our very best.”
Donegal begin their McKenna Cup campaign with a match against that star-studded UUJ team, and have decided to field an U-21 selection because so many of their players are college-tied.
Armagh will bring a lot of momentum into the competition after their impressive O’Fiaich Cup Final win over Tyrone in December. They’ll fancy their chances of getting a win on Sunday against a Derry team without their Slaughtneil contingent and a host of other players who have opted out for the 2017 campaign.
The clash of Monaghan and Fermanagh at Clones should be a competitive affair. Monaghan will be keen to put their best foot forward after their disappointing exit from the 2016 All-Ireland Championship, while Fermanagh are determined to flex their muscle in 2017.
Team manager Pete McGrath is adamant they can win the Ulster title this year, so the McKenna Cup represents a good opportunity to lay down a marker or two.
The other two McKenna Cup first-round matches see Down play Queens and Antrim play St. Mary’s.
McKenna Cup Round 1
Sunday January 8
Down v Queens, Downpatrick, 2pm
Derry v Armagh, Owenbeg, 2pm
Antrim v St Mary's, Glenavy, 2pm
Monaghan v Fermanagh, Clones, 2pm
Cavan v Tyrone, Breffni Park, 2pm
Donegal v UUJ, MacCumhaill Park, 2pm
