TYRONE FACING A LONG SEASON

Tyrone Derry Cavan Monaghan

Down Armagh

Fermanagh Donegal

Tyr/der Antrim Cav/mon Dwn/arm Fer/don Tyr/der/ant Louth Wexford

Wicklow Kildare

Meath Offaly TYRONE face a long route back to the All-ireland final after they were drawn in the Ulster SFC preliminary round last night against neighbours Derry.

The Oak Leafers may be more concerned given Tyrone haven’t lost a

SFC game to their old foes since

2006. But it means that

Mickey Harte’s side must play a minimum of eight games to reach a second successive All-ireland final.

They’re also on the same side of the Ulster draw as holders Donegal, who open in a repeat of this year’s provincial final against Fermanagh at Brewster Park.

“It’s only a couple of month since we beat Fermanagh in an Ulster final,” said Donegal boss Declan Bonner (above).

“It’s a difficult side of the draw with Tyrone there also. The one thing you want in a draw is a home venue and unfortunately we didn’t get one.”

Galway and Mayo have been placed on a

Connacht final collision course. Provincial Louth/wex Dublin

Wick/kil Longford

Meath/off Carlow

Westmeath Laois champions Galway having beaten their arch rivals in each of the last three seasons including this year’s quarter-final.

Ace Leitrim forward Emlyn Mulligan sounded a pessimistic note after being paired with neighbours Roscommon.

“I’m deflated now to be honest,” he said. “This is the fourth year in a row now we’ve come up against each other and unfortunately for ourselves we’ve come out of the wrong side of it.

“It’ll be a tough ask for us, even after that it’s Mayo in a semi-final, it’s nearly impossible to be honest.”

Meanwhile, All-ireland champions Dublin’s likely procession to a ninth successive Leinster title will start with a quarterfinal tie against either Louth or Wexford.

Speculation will surround the venue though the Leinster Council insists that only O’connor Park, O’moore Park, Nowlan Park and Wexford Park can host the champions away from HQ. Lth/wx/dub Wic/kil/lon Mth/off/car West/laois

NEW Offaly senior football manager John Maughan has confirmed his selectors and backroom team for the 2019 campaign.Kevin Guing (Edenderry) and Gerry O’malley (Ferbane) will be the Mayo native’s selectors, while Mark Fee from Dublin will be the football coach and former Cavan defender Dermot Sheridan will oversee strength and conditioning.When asked last night what tempted him back into county management after a 10-year hiatus, Maighan (left) said: “I have the energy for it.“It tickled my fancy right now and family-wise, my kids are kind of scattered and yeah, just a fear of sitting in front to the TV every evening – it frightened me!” BACK IN BLUE? Daly guided Dubs to League and Leinster titles during his six years in charge up to 2014