Tyrone commence McKenna Cup with home tie against Donegal

THE Tyrone footballers will get the new season underway on Sunday, January 7 with a home clash against Donegal at 1pm in the first round of the McKenna Cup.

Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher’s side have been pitted in a tricky looking group and they will face Armagh in their second and final group stage on the evening of Wednesday, January 10 at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds.

If the Red Hands progress, they will play in a semi-final clash on the weekend of January 13/14 while the final has been pencilled in for Saturday, January 20.

Speaking at the official launch of the competition on Tuesday night at the Armagh City Hotel, joint-manager Brian Dooher says he’s looking forward to getting stuck into his fourth season at the helm alongside Feargal Logan.

“I don’t think the group can get much tougher but we’re looking forward to the McKenna Cup and getting started again, we just want to get back at it.

“We’ve been back training in the last number of weeks and we’re building towards the McKenna Cup and through to the league and we’ll see where it takes us.”

Dooher and Logan have been putting a number of new faces through their paces in the pre-season and time will tell whether they can firmly embed themselves in the panel when the competitive action begins.

“There’s stiff competition every year, there’s a few injuries with men coming back in and a few new faces. Hopefully they add a bit of value and a bit of competition and push the thing on.”