Gaelic Games

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Fit-again Gareth McKinless is set for his first Derry appearance in 18 months in Wednesday's Dr McKenna Cup section C game against Antrim at Owenbeg (19:30 GMT).

Key defender McKinless, a 2023 All-Star, missed the entire 2025 campaign after suffering a cruciate injury during Ballinderry's run to the All-Ireland Club Intermediate final.

McKinless is named at centre-back by Oak Leaf boss Ciaran Meenagh, who is without two other All-Stars in Brendan Rogers and Shane McGuigan following their exertions in Slaughtneil's run to the All-Ireland Club Hurling semi-final.

Rogers' usual midfield partner Conor Glass is set for his McKenna Cup debut after being named on the bench, with Conor Doherty and Paul Cassidy paired in the middle.

Derry's opening McKenna Cup game against Donegal last weekend was called off because of safety and road travel conditions amid the recent cold snap, with the counties each awarded a point.

New Antrim boss Mark Doran is without several players for the Owenbeg game because of injury and Sigerson Cup involvement, including Peter Healy, who also missed Ballyboden's All-Ireland semi-final loss to Dingle last weekend.

Doran, who took the Antrim job following a stint with Slaughtneil, is already without midfielder Conor Stewart, who has taken time out to go travelling, and the retired Dermot McAleese.

The Saffrons boss does, however, have experienced operators at his disposal with James McAuley, Marc Jordan and Patrick McBride among those starting on Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, Armagh host Down at the Athletic Grounds in section A as Fermanagh take on Cavan in Tempo in section B (both 19:30 GMT).

Derry: Ryan Scullion; Conor McCluskey, Padraig McGrogan, Diarmuid Baker; Shea Downey, Gareth McKinless, Mark Doherty; Conor Doherty, Paul Cassidy; Jack Doherty, Matthew Downey, Ethan Doherty; Niall Toner, Niall Loughlin, Lachlan Murray.

Subs: Shea McGuckin, Sean Kearney, Ryan Mulholland, Conor McAteer, Marty Bradley, Sean Young, Ruairi O Mianain, Conor Glass, Niall O'Donnell, Tommy Rogers.

Antrim: John McNabb; John Morgan, Kevin McCann, James McAuley; Gerard O'Neill, Eoghan McCabe, Marc Jordan; John Carron, Patrick Finnegan; Patrick McBride, Conor Small, Tom McFerran; Pat Shivers, Adam Loughran, Aidan McErlean.

Subs: Declan Heery, Sean O'Neill, Jack Lenehan, Dominic McEnhill, Oisin Doherty, Ruairi Hagan, Tom Shivers, Paul Bradley, Tomas McCann, Kevin Small, Conhuir Johnston.

Armagh: Blaine Hughes; Fionn Downey, Aaron McKay, James Morgan; Ruairi McDonald, Tiernan Kelly, Joe McElroy; Callum O'Neill, Daniel Magee; Padraig O'Keefe, Cian McConville, Sean Conlon; Greg McCabe, Oisin O'Neill, Fergal O'Brien.

Subs: Shea Magill, Ryan Duffy, Callum O'Neill, Conor Magennis, Joe McCann, Sean McCarthy, Gavin Duffy, Aaron O'Neill, Tomas McCormack, Dan McCarthy, Ethan Rafferty.

Down: John O'Hare; Patrick Brooks, Pierce Laverty, Pearse McPolin; Ruairi McCormack, Tom Smyth, Paddy McCarthy; Daniel Guinness, Tom Close; James Guinness, Pat Havern, John McGeough; Seamus Loughran, Eamon Brown, Adam Crimmins.

Fermanagh: Sean McNally; Jack McCann, Shaun McCarron, Oisin Smyth; Fionan O'Brien, Paul Breen, Josh Largo-Ellis; Joe McDade, Stephen McGullion; Brandon Horan, Darragh McGurn, Declan McCusker; Garvan Jones, Cian O'Brien, Gary McKenna.

Subs: Jack Kelly, Luke Flanagan, Shane McGullion, Jack Largo-Ellis, Ciaran Corrigan, Aogan Kelm, Lughaidh Donnelly, Garvin Quigley, Justin McDade, Keelan Fitzpatrick, Conor Love, Conor O'Hanlon, Diarmuid Owens, Oisin Swift, Oisin Kelm.

Cavan: Liam Brady; Jason McLoughlin, Paddy Meade, Ben McGahan; Oisin Brady, Conor Brady, Tristan Noack Hofmann; Ciaran Brady, Ryan Donohoe; Tiarnan Madden, Gearoid McKiernan, Peter Corrigan; Cormac O'Reilly, Caoimhan McGovern, Paddy Lynch.

Subs: Gary O'Rourke,. Eoin Clarke, Ciaran Brady, Colm O'Reilly, Ryan Tobin, Cian Shekleton, Ben Tully, Ryan Brady, Gerard Smith.

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Tyrone stalwart Mattie Donnelly admits it was "tough" to commit to county duties for 2026 after overcoming serious injuries in recent years.

Two-time All-Star Donnelly returned to inter-county action on Friday, scoring a goal in the Red Hands' opening Dr McKenna Cup win over Armagh at the Athletic Grounds.

The 35-year-old Trillick club-man made his Tyrone debut in 2010, and while his 2008 All-Ireland minor winning team-mate Peter Harte has stepped away from the panel, Donnelly has decided to embark on another season.

"Aye, it was [tough]," the 2021 All-Ireland winner told BBC Sport NI.

"You're always sort of on one-year contracts at this stage of the game. It was tough.

"Training's been tough, but I've enjoyed it, it's been energising with the new boys and the younger boys in, seeing them coming through and starting their journey, that's been exciting as well."

Tyrone pumped some new blood into their panel for Friday's 2-13 to 0-17 win over the Orchardmen, with Oisin O'Kane, Peter McCaughey, Conor O'Neill and Oisin Gormley all making their senior county debuts.

And Donnelly says he hopes the team can utilise the next generation throughout 2026 as O'Rourke's side attempt to build on last year's run to the All-Ireland semi-finals.

"There's definitely a good pipeline in Tyrone," added Donnelly.

"The country's well aware of that and that's what we need. We need that injection of quality footballers and quality people, it's exciting for Tyrone, it's a big step-up but the boys are well equipped to make that step-up.

"There's no denying, I'm the oldest now. It takes all sorts. Anything I can add to it, I'm willing to do so. We're trying to add all we can to the betterment of the Tyrone, that's what I'm trying to do week by week."

Odhran Crumley
BBC Sport NI Journalist

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Donegal and Derry's Dr McKenna Cup clash will not be rescheduled with both counties instead awarded one point each.

The meeting of the Ulster heavyweights was to take place at O'Donnell Park in Letterkenny on Sunday, but fell victim to the recent cold snap.

Despite officials deeming the pitch playable, the decision to call the game off was based on safety and road travel conditions.

With no weather forecast improvement due over the next 24 hours, it was not deemed practical to rearrange the game.

The impact of the adverse weather did not stop there.

Offaly and Antrim's Walsh Cup match was due to be played at O'Connor Park in Glenisk but, after heavy snowfall, the game was called off due to a frozen playing surface.

After Sunday's cancellation, Ciaran Meenagh's Derry will now get their Dr McKenna Cup campaign underway on Wednesday night when they welcome Antrim to Owenbeg.

Jim McGuinness' Donegal side will take to the field for first time since July's All-Ireland final defeat by Kerry, when they travel to face Antrim on Sunday, 11 January.

Venue change for Armagh-Down

Armagh's Dr McKenna Cup clash with neighbours Down on Wednesday night, will now take place at the Athletic Grounds.

The game was originally scheduled to take place at Pairc Esler, before the decision was made to move the game to another Mourne venue at Burren GAC, but a second venue change now sees the game moved to the home of Armagh football, although still with a 19:30 GMT throw-in.

There were 7,180 spectators in attendance for Armagh's opening Dr McKenna Cup fixture at the same venue where Kieran McGeeney's side lost out narrowly to Tyrone on Friday night.

David Mohan
BBC Sport NI journalist at Breffni Park

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Scotstown manager David McCague hailed his side's "massive effort" in their All-Ireland club football semi-final loss to St Brigid's and feels there are "lots of positives" to take into 2026.

The Ulster champions played their part in an intriguing battle against the Roscommon side, but could not make the most of their chances when seeking to hunt down the Connacht champions in the closing stages.

Trailing by four at the break, Scotstown had work to do in the second period and they seemed to get a head of steam in the final quarter, but a combination of wides and some fine saves prevented them from closing the gap.

Instead, it was Anthony Cunningham's side who advance into their second All-Ireland final in three years, but McCague was fulsome in his praise of his own team.

"The challenge was laid down at half-time to work our way back into the game and I thought we did that," the Scotstown boss told BBC Sport NI.

"We upped the rate of dispossessions we made and that led to chances but we just left too many of the chances behind and, at this level, that's the disappointing thing.

"Fellas didn't miss them on purpose and they took them on in that moment they thought was right. I trust them and back them 100 percent.

"We got the break of the ball in previous games to get us over the line but we just didn't get that today. It would have helped us to get close to St Brigid's and put a bit of pressure on them, but they are a fantastic team who will give the All-Ireland Club Championship final a serious rattle."

'We'll start building again in a few weeks'

While Scotstown are laden with household names in Monaghan and Ulster football, it took 36 years to return to this point after some near misses on the provincial stage in recent years.

Although they are backboned by inter-county stalwarts including Rory Beggan, Darren Hughes and Jack McCarron, McCague insists the future is bright despite their loss with a number of fresh faces bolstering their squad this year.

Ultimately, it was a disappointing day at Breffni Park for the Monaghan men, but McCague hopes their appearance in the All-Ireland series will give them an added hunger to go further next season.

"We'd be disappointed it took us 36 years to get back to this stage of the competition," he added.

"We got a taste of it this year and we're disappointed we haven't managed to win our semi-final, but we will start to look ahead to next year in a few weeks and start building again.

"Max Maguire, Tommy Mallen, Donnchadh Connolly to name three [of the younger crop who made an impact] - Sean Og McElwain missed out through injury - but there is so much to build on."

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Sunday's Dr McKenna Cup game between Donegal and Derry and the Walsh Cup match between Offaly and Antrim have been postponed due to the icy weather conditions.

In Letterkenny, despite the pitch being deemed as playable, the decision to postpone the match between Donegal and Derry was taken based on the current road conditions.

Offaly and Antrim's Walsh Cup match was due to be played at O'Connor Park in Glenisk but, after heavy snowfall, the game was called off due to a frozen playing surface.

Sunday's All-Ireland Club Football Championship semi-final between St Brigid's and Scotstown is still set to go ahead as planned.

A yellow weather warning for snow and ice is in place in Northern Ireland until noon on Monday with a snow and ice warning for Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, Louth and the province of Connacht in the Republic of Ireland.

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Cavan manager Dermot McCabe says his side "didn't convert well" during their 0-16 to 0-13 defeat against Monaghan at Breffni Park in their opening Dr McKenna Cup game.

During a tight encounter, Cavan's Ryan Donohue, Paddy Lynch and Darragh Lovett scored to level the game heading into three minutes of additional time.

However, David Garland, Michael Bannigan and Eddie Walsh converted injury-time points to secure the victory for Monaghan against their Ulster rivals.

"We put the pressure on kick-outs and we didn't convert enough to get the win in the end," McCabe told BBC Sport NI.

"We had opportunities and I do think at times we didn't convert well. We had five drop shots which is a lot and you get punished.

"Monaghan are a strong Division One team and we have to tidy up on those things."

Cavan will look to register their first victory of the campaign when they go to Fermanagh on Wednesday, 7 January.

McCabe, who was taking charge of his first competitive game as Cavan boss, added that he was content that his side didn't pick up injuries ahead of that match.

"We had six debutants who made the start and three or four more who came on. Everyone has got through it unscathed," McCabe continued.

"We are only together six or seven weeks so, at this point, we are working on fitness and we haven't done a huge amount of tactical stuff.

"We have more game time into some of the guys who are a little bit more experienced and got debutants on the field."

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Clogher moved through to the All-Ireland Club Junior Football Championship final with a 2-13 to 0-9 win over Kiltimagh in Carrick-on-Shannon.

Ciaran Bogue struck a goal in each half to finish as top-scorer with 2-4, while Ryan McCaughey chipped in with five points including four from play as the Ulster champions took over after an even start.

The Tyrone side will now meet Ballymacelligott in the final at Croke Park on Sunday, 11 January [13:30 GMT] with the Kerry side defeating Grangenolvin in the other semi-final.

It was an even start to this semi-final with Clogher goalkeeper Rory McElroy's 45 cancelled out by Oisín Mulderrig.

The sides traded again in an even start before Ryan McCaughey and McElroy opened a two-point gap for the Tyrone men.

That margin remained in the 23rd minute when Bogue burst through to finish low to the net and after Thomas Keegan hit back with a free for the Mayo men, points from Bogue and Vincent Lowry helped Clogher into a 1-7 to 0-4 advantage at the break.

A point from Kiltimagh's Conor Mallee shortly after the restart hinted at a rally from the Connacht champions, but Ryan McCaughey and Bogue reasserted Clogher's dominance.

Paul Kelly's two-pointer rallied Kiltimagh briefly, but the game was put to bed with 10 minutes to play as Bogue cracked home his second goal with Clogher finishing with a flourish as McCaughey and Conor Shields added scores to seal their side's passage into the final.

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All-Ireland winner Niall Grimley has confirmed he has stepped away from the Armagh panel, but has not ruled out a return to inter-county action in the future.

Grimley was a key member of Armagh's Sam Maguire-winning side in 2024, earning an All-Star nomination after starting and scoring a point in the final victory over Galway.

The 31-year-old, who helped Madden win their first Armagh title in October, spoke about his decision to step back from county duty on an Armagh GAA, external podcast.

"I met the boss man (Kieran McGeeney) a couple of months ago and made the very tough decision to step away," he said.

"It's not a decision that I have taken lightly, a lot of thought has went into it.

"Obviously, I have two kids at the minute, Olivia is coming three [years old] and Kaden's only coming three months, so it's just very busy."

Grimley, who made his senior Armagh debut in 2016, was coy on potentially returning to the Orchard fold in the future.

"I'm just taking time to step away, it could be for three months, could go back next October and give it another rattle, might never go back," he added.

"I know the lads [have been] unbelievable, they're only going one direction. It's been a decision I've had to make for myself. I've been on the road 10 years, the past couple of years haven't been easy with injury.

"I've two kids now, a lot going on, tough, tough decision. I'd do anything for the Armagh lads, some of them are the best friends in the world, Joe McElroy is as close to me as my brothers.

"It was a tough decision, but it is a decision that I am happy with and one that is right for me and my family right now."

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Former Republic of Ireland international Eunan O'Kane has been appointed manager of Derry GAA club Banagher ahead of the 2026 season.

O'Kane, 35, was previously involved with Banagher during Paul Bradley's time in charge and was also part of the coaching set-up of the Moneyglass side that reached this month's All-Ireland Ladies Club final alongside his father Charlie and Maxi Curran.

A Banagher native, O'Kane represented Northern Ireland at underage level before switching to the Republic of Ireland.

He earned seven caps for the Republic of Ireland but narrowly missed out on selection for Euro 2016.

O'Kane played in the Premier League for Bournemouth, while he also had spells with Torquay, Leeds and Luton before injury issues forced his retirement in 2021.

Banagher have never won a senior Derry title and were knocked out of the 2025 championship by Glen.