IT hasn’t exactly been great weather this week but club players throughout Donegal will be pleased to see the start of the Club Championship.
Gym sessions in the winter and wet and mucky nights at training as well as different sacrifices throughout the year were all in preparation for the next two months.
It’s an exciting time and clubs throughout the county will be feeling that this could be their year.
There are some tasty games down for decision on Saturday evening.
There’s going to be a focus on Gaoth Dobhair to see how they respond from the disastrous league campaign.
Their team selection was inconsistent but things will surely settle down now.
Gaoth Dobhair were a couple of minutes away from winning the Doctor Maguire last year and there are young players coming through.
St Michael’s won’t fear them and Michael Langan will likely be back this weekend.
But I fancy Gaoth Dobhair to get the win on home turf.
St Eunan’s are also in action on Saturday evening when they take on Aodh Ruadh.
It will be interesting to see how St Eunan’s fare out. Will Shaun Patton be in goal after an injury-hit year with the county?
Kieran Donnelly is in charge now and they are ambitious.
The draw has not been kind to Aodh Ruadh and that might have had an impact on their players.
They have nothing to lose this week but St Eunan’s start as clear favourites.
The big game of the weekend is at Páirc Naomh Columba on Saturday evening as Glenswilly host Termon.
It’s a tasty local derby and I expect a big crowd to attend the match.
Both sides have talented young players and Cian McMenamin is likely to be back in the mix for Termon.
Michael Murphy didn’t feature for Glenswilly at all last season and he was a huge loss.
Michael is fit for action this year and his presence might just sway that game in favour of the men from the Glen.
Naomh Conaill take on Downings and it would be a huge surprise if it’s not a home win.
Naomh Conaill have a lot of men in America and you can’t blame young lads for heading away.
But it does get a bit messy when they aren’t back for the start of the championship and then you have to work out when to bring them back in.
Naomh Conaill will have Ciaran Thompson available again this year and Eunan Doherty is home which is a good boost to their chances.
Looking at Sunday’s fixtures, I think Glenfin against Naomh Columba at Páirc Taobhoige could be a cracker.
It will be a big day for Glen as they return to senior football and they had a strong league.
Glenfin are missing a couple of young guns but they are hard to beat at home.
I’m sure Frank McGlynn will have a plan and I fancy them to come through in this match and I think Glenfin might just edge it.
Dungloe take on Sean MacCumhaills and that has the makings of another good battle.
The talk is that Oisin Gallen has picked up an injury and will miss out.
That will weaken MacCumhaills considerably.
Noel McBride and Adrian Sweeney are now in charge of Dungloe and they had a steady league even if they didn’t perform to their best in the League Final.
They have a consistent feel to their team but I do think they lack a marquee forward.
Rosses Park is not an easy ground to go to and I think Dungloe will take the win in this match.
All eyes will be on the Kilcar team to see if Patrick McBrearty features against Ardara but it sounds like it is unlikely.
Ardara have been making progress and they will fancy their chances.
But with Ryan, Eoin and Mark McHugh back in the mix, Kilcar should still have enough.
Four Masters are heavy favourites to take out Killybegs but it could be tighter than people are saying.
Yes Masters are a coming force but they will be without Seanan Carr, Kevin Muldoon and Turlough Carr while Conor McCahill is said to still be injured.
Killybegs will bring the intensity and they could make things tricky for Masters but they might not have the quality to beat them.
At this stage, it’s difficult to call who will win the championship.
We will need to see who comes back from the States in form, and then it’s who can keep their best players fit.
I still think Naomh Conaill are a serious side and the team that beats them won’t be far away.
I’d have Naomh Conaill as favourites with St Eunan’s and Four Masters closely behind.
After that, I’d be looking at Termon, Glenswilly and Gaoth Dobhair and I’d be surprised if the champions come from outside that six.
Intermediate
If the Senior Championship is hard to call, the Intermediate is even tougher.
It’s a very even competition and a lot of teams will be thinking they are in line to win the silverware.
St Naul’s had a poor year in Division 3 but with their county men back and Stephen McMenamin missing, I think they will see off Red Hughs.
Danny O’Donnell knows Milford very well and he will welcome them to the Banks on Saturday.
Danny is now in charge of Naomh Muire and they found the going tough in Division 1. I wouldn’t be surprised if Milford pulled off a bit of a surprise in this match.
Carndonagh against Buncrana has the makings of a really good Inishowen derby.
The question is will Conor O’Donnell be fit after an injury towards the end of the league?
Buncrana have gradually been getting men back but Carn will be gunning for this one as they return to Intermediate grade and I think they might come out trumps in this tie.
Burt travel to Portsalon to face Fanad and I’d be surprised if there’s a lot between these teams. Burt are hardy and I have a feeling they’ll get the win on Saturday evening.
Bundoran are struggling and with Caolan McColgan expected to be back for Muff, I think Naomh Pádraig will get an opening day win.
Cloughaneely are starting to move forward now again without Jason McGee and they will want to put in a good showing but I think Malin might have too much for them on Sunday.
Looking at it, I would say seven or eight clubs could genuinely win the Intermediate this year. My tip would be for Malin to get over the line after losing the final last year.
The Junior Championship should be more competitive this year now that Carn are gone.
Letterkenny Gaels are the favourites after winning Division 3.
They have a lot of good players but take on Convoy this weekend and that could be a tasty game.
The top four for me would be Gaels, Naomh Brid, Convoy and Naomh Ultan.
Fermanagh
I was pleased to be re-appointed as Fermanagh manager for another year this week.
We completed a good review after the season ended and it’s important to have honest conversations with players and the backroom team.
After a tough start, we really started to get into our flow in the Tailteann Cup and had some good performances.
We reached the semi-final and probably should have got the better of Down.
The boys are all keen to get back at it and now the management will try to identify some young players to come in and help the group.