Oak Leafers host Donegal in Dr McKenna Cup semi-final

THE return of the Dr McKenna Cup has been marred by bad weather, postponements and rule breaches but the semi finals have been set for Wednesday at 7.30pm (weather permitting).

The Donegal v Derry first round game fell foul of the weather resulting in the teams getting a point each.

Then came the rule breaches by teams who used players who were in University Sigerson Cup squads.

Armagh beat Down but Down were awarded the game due to Kieran McGeeney’s side having students on board. They were Aaron O’Neill and Fergal O’Brien.

Fermanagh beat Cavan but the game was declared void as both used Sigerson Cup players.

On Sunday Tyrone beat Down by 0-18 to 1-11 and they will now travel to Monaghan in the other semi final.

Donegal beat Antrim at Cargin by 1-15 to 0-7. To top the group and get home advantage they would have needed to better Derry’s 17 point win over Antrim.

The two games - Derry v Donegal and Monaghan v Tyrone - are set for a 7.30pm start on Wednesday evening with the Derry game set for Celtic Park.

When Derry won the 2024 edition they beat Donegal in the final by 0-12 to 0-6.

With a number of Ciaran Meenagh’s key men getting a break it is likely that both they and Donegal will go the experimental route.

In the game against Antrim last Wednesday new boys Conor McAteer, Ruairi O’Mianain and Sean Kearney did enough to suggest that they could get a part to play in this game.

Derry manager Ciaran Meenagh is anxious to get as much football as possible before the league starts on Saturday January 24.

Derry and Donegal will be part of a double header at Croke Park that day with Derry meeting Meath in Division Two followed by Dublin v Donegal in Division One.

At the end of the game against Antrim Derry defender Conor McCluskey suffered a serious looking leg injury in a collision with the Antrim goalkeeper so he is unlikely to figure in this game.