Declan Bonner’s Donegal have been handed a home draw in the 2018 Ulster SFC.
Donegal have been drawn to face Cavan in the preliminary round.
The draw, conducted this evening live on RTÉ, has been kind to Donegal, given that they are on the opposite side to Tyrone and Monaghan – who are paired together in a quarter-final.
The winners of the Donegal-Cavan game will face Derry in a quarter-final with a semi-final against Down or Antrim the reward.
The draw also means that there won’t be a renewal of rivalries with Rory Gallagher unless both Donegal and Fermanagh reach the Ulster final.
Gallagher, who stepped down as the Donegal manager after this year’s Championship, has taken over his native Fermanagh, who have been drawn against Armagh.
This evening’s draw, giving Donegal a home game in Ballybofey again, continues a remarkable sequence of home ties.
In the last 20 years, Donegal have played 24 Championship games in Ballybofey.
Donegal have played a home Ulster SFC game in ten of the last 11 years, the exception being in 2014 when they defeated Derry at Celtic Park in a quarter-final.
Donegal reached six consecutive Ulster finals from 2011-2016, winning the Anglo Celt three times (2011, 2012 and 2014).
This year was the first time since 2010 that Donegal didn’t reach the Ulster final.
Their Ulster hopes evaporated following a nine-point loss to Tyrone in a semi-final that finished 1-21 to 1-12, while they bowed out of the All-Ireland SFC following a 4-17 to 0-14 hammering by Galway in a round 4 qualifier at Markievicz Park.
2018 sees the Super Eight series come into being, when the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals will be played off in a new grouped format.
The Ulster and Leinster champions will be in group two, along with the Connacht and Munster runners-up or the teams who beat them in round four of the qualifiers. The Ulster runners-up will be in Group Two alongside the Munster and Connacht champions and the Leinster runners-up.
“Our ambition is to be competitive and we have to aim for the Super Eight,” Bonner said following his appointment.
“The easiest way to get in there is by winning the Ulster Championship. Ulster will be a minefield again. It’s going to be a tough one.”
2018 ULSTER SFC
Preliminary round
Donegal v Cavan
Quarter-finals
Derry v Donegal/Cavan
Fermanagh v Armagh
Tyrone v Monaghan
Down v Antrim
Semi-finals
Fermanagh/Armagh v Tyrone/Monaghan
Down/Antrim v Derry/Donegal/Cavan
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