Devenney: Ulster Championship way ahead of the pack

Brendan Devenney predicts that his native Donegal will win their fourth Ulster SFC title of the decade

With the throw-in for the Ulster Championship just over a week away, we ask former Donegal footballer Brendan Devenney what he thinks lies in wait over the coming weeks…

What do you expect to happen in this year’s Ulster Championship?

There are eight Ulster teams in the top two divisions and Antrim won Division Four. I know Armagh were relegated but when you think about Ulster really is the footballing province where there’s a proper competition, the rest of them are a joke.

If anything Ulster is getting tighter, particularly with the resurgence of Fermanagh and, also, with how Cavan have progressed. It’s going to add up to a very fascinating couple of months.

Which games will you most be looking forward to?

Looking at the competitiveness of the Ulster Championship, they are all very special. The interest is so vast that a paper like Gaelic Life wouldn’t work in any other province.

That massive interest drives on through the clubs and then onto the counties, and it’s there to see in every Ulster game. If I was to pick one I would go for Tyrone and Derry. I’m really looking forward to it. We have something special here in Ulster and this is always a special match.

Which team will win and who will be their star man?

To call Ulster is a lottery and there’s no way anyone could seriously predict it. Donegal were hot and cold in the League, Monaghan are Monaghan, you keep waiting for them to take that giant leap forward, particularly at Croke Park. In Ulster though, they are a match for anybody. It’s probably still going to be one of those three.

Tyrone when they get to Croke Park are probably the best equipped of the Ulster sides because of their pace and that hunger they have. In Ulster though they have had their issues with Donegal.

If they met in Croke Park I would expect Tyrone to win but in Ulster I would maybe think that Donegal would win, so I’ll go with Donegal to win Ulster. Neil Gallgher is still so important for them, he’s their ball winner in the middle.

Which player could make a real breakthrough?

He’s not really young but I expect Eoin Donnelly from Fermanagh to have a big Championship. The performance he gave in the McKenna Cup against Donegal, I was left thinking Jesus if we could buy one player for Donegal it would be him.

What could be a possible contentious issue for this year’s Ulster Championship?

We’ve had all the stuff about black cards and the interpretations that go along with it, and I just hope the referring isn’t an issue and it doesn’t come down to it.

I think the black cards hurt the smaller teams more than the bigger teams. It would be a bigger blow for, say, Fermanagh to lose Sean Quigley than it would be for a top team who have players with a hair’s breadth between them in terms of quality.