The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

DERRY’S defeat to Galway brought the curtain down on Ulster’s interest in the inter-county season. Shaun Casey takes a look into all nine counties…

Antrim

The Good

Antrim would have been pleased with their League progress after earning promotion to Division Three last season, as they finished mid-table. With two games remaining this year, Antrim were still in the hunt for a promotion spot but ended up losing out to Louth (League champions) and Westmeath.

The Bad

The loss of Enda McGinley as manager could be massive for Antrim as McGinley certainly brought the Saffrons on. He achieved promotion last year after a few near misses in recent times. Even in defeat to Armagh in the 2021 Ulster Championship, McGinley’s men came away with a lot of credit, but it was the opposite this season. Andy McEntee has now been taked as the man to bring the Saffrons forward.

The Ugly

With the advantage of ‘Corrigan Park or nowhere’, a lot of people felt Antrim could spring a surprise when they invited Cavan to Belfast for the opening round of the championship. But the Breffni Blues sailed through untouched, and Antrim’s misery continued when Leitrim defeated them in the first round of the Tailteann Cup.

Armagh

The Good

Getting back to Croke Park was huge for Armagh, especially getting a win under their belts in the capital against Dublin in the opening round of the league. Their clash with Galway was a classic and playing in Croke Park really suits Armagh’s style of play, so the Orchard County will hope for more big days out on Jones’ Road in the near future.

The Bad

It has to be the Ulster Championship. After their successful league campaign, a lot was expected of Kieran McGeeney’s men in the lead up to their journey to Ballybofey. But like has happened all too often, Armagh flattered to deceive in the Ulster Championship. They barely laid a glove on Donegal and crashed out at the first hurdle once again.

The Ugly

2022 will go down as a positive season for Armagh, but there were dark points as well. Three times this year the Orchardmen were involved in brawls, against Tyrone and Donegal in the league and most memorably at full time in their quarter-final with Galway. Discipline seems to be an issue and something Armagh must address going forward.

Cavan

The Good

A Division Two standard team plying their trade in the basement division, getting promotion this year was essential for Cavan. They did it without much fuss, winning seven of their eight games, including the league final against Tipperary in Croke Park. Back-to-back promotions will be the target for next season.

The Bad

Cavan were favourites to win the Tailteann Cup mostly due to their impressive display against Donegal in the Ulster semi-final. On reflection, Mickey Graham will feel that was one that got away for his men and two sloppy goals against Westmeath proved costly in the end in a game that they were well in.

The Ugly

The Tailteann Cup was a promising experience for Mickey Graham’s men, but they wanted to win it. They were the favourites before a ball was kicked and played out an entertaining showpiece against Westmeath. Cavan aren’t in the business of morale victories however and they will be disappointed they didn’t land another piece of silverware.

Derry

The Good

Obviously winning the Ulster Championship was massive for Derry as they ended a 24-year wait to do so. And they did it the hard way beating the three dominant teams in Tyrone, Monaghan and Donegal along the way. They went on to hammer Clare and reach their first All-Ireland semi-final for the first time since 2004.

The Bad

Reflecting on a brilliant year, failure to earn promotion to the top tier is probably one of the regrets. It was always going to come down to a three-way battle with, Galway and Roscommon and the fact that the Oak Leaf County failed to beat either of the Connacht sides meant they’ll stay in Division Two for another year.

The Ugly

The system Rory Gallagher implemented all season worked wonders until they came up against a side at a similar level in Croke Park in Galway. A final tally of 1-6 won’t win any games at the business end of the Championship and Gallagher will look to tweak his attacking structure in the off season.

Donegal

The Good

It was a disappointing year for Donegal, but one highlight was surely their victory over Armagh in the opening round of the Championship. After everything that happened in the League clash and with Armagh getting their suspensions cleared prior to the game, it was a sweet victory for Declan Bonner and his men.

The Bad

While the highlight was overcoming Armagh, it was Kieran McGeeney who had the last laugh. Donegal imploded when the sides met in the Qualifiers. The Tir Chonaill men held an early four-point lead and looked to be in control but a poor kick-out from Shaun Patton that resulted in a black card for the ’keeper and a penalty turned the game on its head and ended Donegal’s season.

The Ugly

Playing ugly is fine, as long as you’re winning. The Ulster final between Derry and Donegal will live long in the memory for the Oakleafers, but for most neutral viewers it was outstandingly poor. The fact that Donegal had the ball when the game was level with only seconds remaining and decided to play keep ball and go to extra-time instead of going for a winner epitomised the sort of game it was.

UGLY… It was a dismal year for Down as they failed to pick up a single competitive win

Down

The Good

It’s hard to pick out any positives for Down in a year when they failed to pick up a single victory. If you’re being extremely optimistic, there was a spell before and after half time against Monaghan where Down suggested they could compete, but the two goals masked the quality between the teams for a brief period and in the end, it was all one-way traffic and the result was never really in doubt.

The Bad

Down had an incredibly difficult start to the league campaign when they faced the two favourites for promotion in Derry and Galway in the opening two rounds. They picked up a draw against Meath and it proved to be their only point of the entire campaign. The Mourne men will ply their trade in Division Three next season and massive strides will need to be made.

The Ugly

Players leaving, and drink bans being broken before the Tailteann Cup, things got fairly ugly for Down after a training weekend away in Dublin. James McCartan reportedly stepped down from his management position but was coaxed back into the job. It will be interesting to see in the next few weeks and months if McCartan remains in the post or if Down begin their search for a new manager all over again.

Fermanagh

The Good

Fermanagh would have been massively encouraged by their performance against Tyrone in the preliminary round of the Ulster Championship. They didn’t get the win and Tyrone’s displays for the remainder of the season could perhaps take away from how close the Ernemen ran them. Despite the good showing, Fermanagh didn’t push on in the Tailteann Cup.

The Bad

The cards were stacked against Fermanagh this year in terms of championship draws. They faced the All-Ireland champions Tyrone first in Ulster and the regional based draws in the Tailteann Cup saw them come up against Cavan, the huge favourites to win the competition. Kieran Donnelly’s side did get over Longford by three but were nine points behind when the final whistle blew against Cavan.

The Ugly

Fermanagh had an outside chance of promotion, but still a chance, when they travelled to Westmeath for the second last league game. It ended all square, but replays showed Sean Quigley nailed a point that wasn’t given and if the white flag had of been raised, Fermanagh would have had a bit more to fight for on the final day.

Monaghan

The Good

Jack McCarron’s nerves of steel that sunk Dublin to Division Two was one of the highlights of a dramatic final day of League action. McCarron came to the rescue once again to save Monaghan’s bacon with a last-minute winning score, just has he had done 12 months previous against Galway.

The Bad

The Monaghan management came in for a lot of criticism for the naïve way they set up against Derry and yet they were still in the game for long periods. Seamus McEnaney has since stepped down and the Farney County are on the look out for a new man to come in and lead the team.

The Ugly

‘Banty’ was convinced that referee Barry Cassidy made the wrong decision when he waved away calls for a penalty as Monaghan crashed out of the Sam Maguire race against Mayo. McEnaney said after the game “I’m 20 years managing teams and 15 years managing Monaghan, off and on, and never in my lifetime did I complain about a referee. But today was disgraceful.”

Tyrone

The Good

It took Tyrone a while to find their feet in the League, but they showed they had enough quality in the ranks to survive the drop. They handed Kerry their one and only defeat of the season (so far) away from home in the final round to finish above Monaghan, Dublin and Kildare and earn the right to compete in Division One again next season.

The Bad

With the number of players that left the panel following last year’s All-Ireland success, it was always going to be a tough year for Tyrone. They were outplayed in the Athletic Grounds by Armagh but if they had a bit more quality coming in off the bench, they could have got something out of the game.

The Ugly

Tyrone struggle with defeating an All-Ireland title but their lost to Derry in the first round of the Ulster Championship was perhaps their worse title defence of all four. They never reached the pitch of the game, and the second half was largely a foregone conclusion for Derry and one that would have cut the Red Hand support deep.