Oisín McConville: Ulster set for the year of the forward

In the league we saw some matches involving Ulster teams produce huge scores. Monaghan's Conor McCarthy ran amok against Donegal in Ballybofey, scoring a hat-trick of goals in the first half. Picture: INPHO/Tommy Dickson

We’ve always heard Ulster is the most competitive championship and this year’s is potentially the most competitive in years.

Armagh and Tyrone had a duopoly for years and then the Anglo-Celt was shared between Donegal, Monaghan, and Tyrone before Cavan gatecrashed the party last year. This year, for me, there are four serious contenders — Donegal, Tyrone, Monaghan, and Armagh — and a livewire outsider in Derry.

Overall, using the old school report style, the Ulster teams had satisfactory league campaigns, with the exception of Cavan, who will be wondering how they ended up in Division 4. But in many ways that’s the beauty of it. In the other three provinces, if a Division 1 team is taking on a Division 4 team the scoreline would be akin to a phone number with so many digits. Not Ulster.

Although I don’t see Cavan retaining their Ulster crown, if they were to beat Tyrone in Omagh in the quarter-final it wouldn’t be an unbelievable shock. Mickey Graham is tactically aware and even last year, when they fell to Division 3, they looked a different animal in the championship.

Armagh are ready for the top table and seeing they’ve not contested an Ulster final since 2008, reaching that stage again would be real progress. They performed well — against Tyrone, where they missed a penalty, and Donegal, only to run out of bodies late on — in the league and consolidated a place in Division 1 by overcoming Roscommon. All in all, they were competitive and showed they are deserving to be at that level.

It’s difficult to laud your own nephews. Oisín and Rían O’Neill, with Stefan Campbell and Ruairi Grugan, have added physicality and because of that Armagh aren’t as easy to play these days. Antrim got as much as they could out of their campaign to date. They’ll give Armagh a game, but I can’t see them pulling off a result.

Donegal have picked up some of those traits of old, where they just look so open and that is bound to be a worry for them. I’ll harp back to the Monaghan match in Ballybofey, where Conor McCarthy ran amok, scoring a hat-trick of goals in the first half before Conor McManus grabbed a fourth and they had enough goal chances to double the tally of four they managed.

That type of defending would never have happened under previous regimes in Donegal and under the previous system. Michael Murphy hasn’t played since that 1-20 to 4-11 draw and his fitness is key. In some ways it might be an advantage to them in the long run to see how life will be without their captain but in the short-term his availability is paramount if they are to be successful. The importance of the Murphy equation will grow the further into Ulster we go and at this stage, full-forward is the place he needs to be.

For me, they still have the best panel in the province, options off the bench, and young talent, so therefore have the capabilities to beat anyone on their day. They need to make the next step, though. In the last three years they’ve fallen just short when it came to it — the Tyrone game in the Super 8s was there for them in 2018, before they got blitzed late on.

A year later they went to Castlebar and kicked 16 wides against Mayo before getting scalped by Cavan in the Ulster final last year. I can’t see Declan Bonner’s team having much trouble against Down in the preliminary round, but may be susceptible against Derry in the quarter-final.

Down aren’t in a good place. They were off the pace against Meath and though better against Laois, it’s difficult to see them catch Donegal, with or without Murphy.

Derry seem to have sorted out what’s going on behind the curtain and what’s going on in front of it. When you look at what Rory Gallagher has achieved on the sidelines, it’s easy to go with the notion he’s just a defensively-minded coach — that’s just bad publicity that stuck. He played a big part in Donegal successes and made Fermanagh compete.

The problem with his Fermanagh team was they lacked the forwards and that’s certainly not the case in Derry. They have very good footballers, always did — Conor Glass, Niall Loughlin, Chrissy McKaigue, Brendan Rogers, and in Shane McGuigan, they have a star that their supporters can latch onto, like they did with a Paddy Bradley or a Conleith Gilligan.

I attended a ‘Friends of Derry GAA’ event some time ago and what struck me was everyone was together and working as to how they could push things on. They are going in the right direction.

Tyrone will be reeling from their Division 1 semi-final hammering in Killarney. Kerry were awesome up front, helped by a level of stupidity from Tyrone, who continually tried to put the ball in high to Mark Bradley and Darren McCurry. The management team of Brian Dooher and Feargal Logan must learn to eradicate things like that.

It’s no secret they’re trying to change things and everything could swing on whether they get Cathal McShane back in. He provides a focal point, he’s a ball-winner, and can kick frees all day from the left. If he’s there to be called upon, Tyrone can win Ulster.

Monaghan are an enigma. Against Galway in the relegation play-off, they were outplayed for long spells, but they scraped the result with McManus reliable as ever and Jack McCarron back from injury. If he can get motoring, they could play a big part. Fermanagh flattered to deceive in the league and appear devoid of confidence. Monaghan owe them one too from 2018.

Maybe the lockdown did something to people. In the league we saw some matches involving Ulster teams produce huge scores. Things may be tighter in championship. All in all, though, the defences might ultimately struggle against a better standard of forward, and that’s no harm.

Teams will have learned from last year’s knockout. Monaghan, for example, won’t try sit on a lead again. If you have a chance to win a game, then you give it a lash.

I’ll go for semi-finals of Donegal v Tyrone and Armagh v Monaghan, with Tyrone to beat Armagh in the final. So much depends on McShane. No Ulster team has won the All-Ireland in nine years and I can’t see one winning it this year, or perhaps in the next five. Maybe that’s why there’s a renewed appreciation for the Ulster Championship, so let’s and enjoy it for what it is.