The North-Armagh derby of Tir na nOg and Wolfe Tones kick starts the Intermediate Championship and both sides will be hopeful of making it through to the next round.
Tir na nOg and Wolfe Tones swapped places last year in the league. Tones earned promotion to Division 2A while the Portadown men suffered relegation.
The pair will face off in the league next season. Tir na nOg have bounced straight back up to the top tier of Intermediate football.
The momentum gathered off the back of that successful league campaign will fill Jim McCooe’s men full of confidence.
Youth talent
The emergence of some young talent in the form of Michael Burnett, Zion McKernan and Oisin Conaty has been a superb addition.
Throw into the mix the experience of Damian McDonald, Jordan McCooe and Paul Carvill and Tir na nOg are finely balanced.
Wolfe Tones have their own bunch of gifted youngsters coming through. Both Niall Crilly and Niall Dummigan are former county minors.
Joint captain Jamie Haughey is a huge addition to Peter Nugent’s team in the half back line having returned from injury.
Jonathan McCarron is the anchor at the back. Up front, Paudie Judge adds that bit of star quality to the attacking unit.
The sides last met in the championship back in 2019. A goal from dangerman Judge handed the Derrymacash men the victory.
Playing at the higher grade will have provided Tones with a better standard of football throughout the year and they had some big highs.
They were never in threat of relegation and beat the likes of Shane O’Neill’s and St Peter’s during the year.
It’s set up for a ding-dong tussle. Neither team will want to leave Davitt Park with regrets of an opportunity missed.
The teams certainly appear to be evenly matched and this one could require extra time to decide a winner.
