Contrasting strengths adds to the intrigue

THE GAA Ulster senior football championship starts with an intriguing match that is almost a mixed grade affair between Down’s suspect defence and Fermanagh’s struggling attack at one end whereas, at the other, the home side’s effective and tight defence, albeit short its linchpin Ryan McCloskey who starts on the bench after taking the national league off, face a dangerous set of forwards.

With the counties passing each other in the lift shaft between Divisions Two and Three, Ross Carr’s team could be said to have the advantage that Fermanagh exploited well last year.

Although the performance in the Division Three final was alarmingly poor, Down were missing the under-21s – preparing for the All-Ireland final – most significantly Paul McComiskey and Benny Coulter. And Ross Carr was not prioritising the match once promotion had been achieved.

Malachy O’Rourke faces into his difficult second year after coming so close to landing an Ulster title last July and getting psychological traction isn’t going to be easy especially against a county, which, for all its inconsistencies, can hit championship rhythm at any stage, as Tyrone discovered 12 months ago.

FERMANAGH: C Breen; P Sherry, S Lyons, H Brady; D Kelly, S McDermott, T McElroy; M McGrath (capt), J Sherry; R Keenan, C McElroy, M Little; D Keenan, R Carson, E Maguire.

DOWN: B McVeigh; L Howard, K McKernan, D Rafferty; A Carr, C Garvey, D Rooney; D Gordon, A Rogers; B McArdle, J Boyle, S Kearney; D Hughes, R Murtagh, P McCumiskey.

Referee: J Bannon (Longford).

In the last episode:Have met a couple of times in recent years with seven players getting red cards. In the 2005 qualifiers, Down had an easy win in an infamous qualifier in which five players (two from Fermanagh and three from Down) were sent off in Newry.

Their most recent Ulster SFC meeting was two years previously when the sides had a man each sent off. Down eased to victory, helped by Fermanagh’s failure to score in the last 20 minutes.

You bet: Fermanagh are available at 7/5, the draw is 7/1 and Down are favourites at 4/5.

On your marks: Fermanagh made the most out of what they had last year, but the difficulty in taking scores was a crippling inhibition. In the ultimate defeat by Kildare in the final qualifier round, Malachy O'Rourke's team managed eight wides in the first 11 minutes.

Debutant Darryl Keenan will be entrusted with the frees, another area in which the team has had problems.

Gaining ground: Brewster Park is named after the late Michael Brewster, father of former county players Paul and Tom.

Just the ticket: There are no plans to sell tickets on the day, so enquiries should be through the clubs and county boards: stand tickets (€26/£21), family tickets (accompanied by adults) children €5/£4). Terrace (€16/£14). OAPs (€16/£13).

Crystal gazing: Last year Fermanagh had the momentum of promotion to Division Two for the visit of Monaghan and made it count. This time around, with key players unavailable, they slipped down a division whereas Down passed them going up. For all the home side's structure and work-rate, Down have the better forwards and that can swing it.