Tyrone Masters commence their All-Ireland title defence

By Niall Gartland

THE Tyrone Masters commence their defence of the Dr Mick Loftus Cup this Saturday against Donegal – though retaining their All-Ireland title will be easier said than done due to the loss of a number of leading protagonists from previous years.

Joint-manager Eugene Bradley has stepped aside after 30 years of unbroken service to Tyrone Masters, a period in which he helped lead the team to four All-Ireland titles (2015, 2021, 2022 and 2023).

His son Eoin, who recently captained Ireland’s International Rules team, has dropped out of the squad, while it’s understood that Tyrone icon Stephen O’Neill has also withdrawn due to other commitments, including his role as part of the Cavan senior intercounty backroom team.

Another former Tyrone star, Sean Cavanagh, isn’t presently part of the set-up after making a number of appearances in last year’s campaign, while Ciaran Gourley is sidelined with injury at the moment.

The management team of Joe, Damian and Kieran Leonard have, however, enlisted a number of new recruits to the over-40s set-up, including Proinsias O’Kane (Trillick), Mark Donnelly (Carrickmore) Martin Taggart (Drumragh), Ryan Quinn (Ardboe) and Leo Meenan (Loughmacrory).

Their ultimate ambition this season will be to become the first ever team in Masters History to win four All-Ireland titles in-a-row, but they have a demanding run of fixtures in the group stages.

They get their campaign underway with four away games in-a-row, starting against Donegal this Saturday (Letterkenny, 2pm).

In their third game, they take on Derry, who won last year’s All-Ireland title at Shield level, and in their fourth they take on a Dublin side that have enlisted four-time All-Star Bernard Brogan to the ranks.

The Masters tournament has gone from strength-to-strength in recent years and Ulster interest will be even higher this year with Monaghan signing up, meaning that Fermanagh are the only county in the province not competing.

Tyrone begin with a short trip to Donegal in what could be a tough opening encounter.

Francis Martin held Tir Chonaill trials back in February and he also has Eddie Crawford of Glenswilly with him on the line.

The Donegal men will be hoping to go a bit better than last year when they lost out to London in the Shield semi-final.

Monaghan’s return after an eight-year sabbatical is a positive step and they have pulled players from across the county for the visit of Antrim this weekend, who are managed by Frank Delargy.

Armagh, meanwhile, are under the guidance of Paul Cullen, Seamy Mullen and Pearse Donnelly as they welcome Derry to Pearse Og Park intent on improving on last year’s Spirit Cup final loss to Limerick.

Enda O’Hagan, Jude Donnelly, Honda Mullan and Simon Doherty are over the visiting Oakleafers and will have some real talent to call on.

Cavan hosted some of the Ireland and Australia Masters series in Denn, so enthusiasm should be high when they travel to Westmeath while Down make the short trip to face Louth with the two sides drawing in a challenge game last month.