Ulster SFC: Donegal and Down face long road to final, champs Cavan get tough draw

Although Cavan and Donegal have claimed the Anglo-Celt Cup from the preliminary round in recent years (2020 and ‘18), the gauntlet is made tougher by the knock-out nature of the championship

Cavan players celebrate beating Donegal in the 2020 Ulster SFC final. Picture: INPHO/Morgan Treacy

Donegal and Down have been given the onerous task of having to win four games to claim this year’s Ulster senior football championship.

As they hadn’t been drawn in the preliminary round in the previous two years, Declan Bonner and Paddy Tally’s sides were among five who could have been pulled out of the bowl to play at the first stage of the provincial competition - Antrim, Armagh and Fermanagh were the other three.