McKenna set for February finish

DR McKENNA CUP NEWS:THE RESCHEDULED Dr McKenna Cup in Ulster will spill over into next month at least, as the Ulster Council attempts to respond to the fixture difficulties of the last few weeks.

The widespread availability of floodlit grounds facilitated a weather-disrupted competition to conclude on time 12 months ago.

“We got it done before the league started, yeah,” said Ulster Council secretary Danny Murphy yesterday. “That was avoided because of the floodlights at various grounds.

“We nearly finished in January this year but the tragic circumstances in Tyrone (the death on honeymoon in Mauritius of Michaela McAreavey, Tyrone manager Mickey Harte’s daughter) and the bad weather meant that we just hadn’t enough dates.

“But the McKenna Cup is played out over 21 matches and we’ll have 19 of them played by next Saturday week, the 29th. Of the remaining two matches, one semi-final will be played on February 12th and the remaining fixture, the final, will have to wait until we get the go-ahead from the CCCC.”

The second semi-final is being played on the first weekend of the National Hurling League but there is no certainty when the final can be staged.

“It might be on a non-football weekend in the league or if you have two neighbouring counties in the final, it might be possible to play it midweek under lights but until we know the finalists we can’t even speculate on a date.”

Murphy said there was never any question of abandoning the competition despite the difficulties. “Definitely not. We’ve had to go into February before and still finished the competition and we will again so we’ll certainly find a date for it.”

Revised fixtures

Dr McKenna Cup 2011 (Extra-time to be played if needed in semi-finals and final).

Saturday – Section A:UUJ v Fermanagh, Brewster Park, 7pm; Section B: QUB v Cavan, Breffni Park, 7pm; Section C: St Mary's v Down, Páirc Esler, 7pm.

Sunday – Section A:Tyrone v Donegal, Healy Park, 2pm; Section B: Derry v Monaghan, Celtic Park, 2pm; Section C: Armagh v Antrim, Athletic Grounds, 2pm.

Wednesday – Section A: Fermanagh v Tyrone, Brewster Park, 7.30pm; Section B: Monaghan v Cavan, Inniskeen, 7.30pm; Section C: Armagh v St Mary's, Athletic Grounds, 7.30pm.

Saturday, January 29th – Section A: UUJ v Tyrone, Healy Park, 7pm; Donegal v Fermanagh, MacCumhaill Park, 7pm; Semi-final (1): Winner of Section C v Winner of Section B, 7.30pm.

Saturday, February 12th – Semi-final (2): Winner of Section A v 4th-placed team, 7pm.

Final:TBC.