2014 Ulster Senior Football Championship

The 2014 Ulster Senior Football Championship was the 126th[1] installment of the annual Ulster Senior Football Championship held under the auspices of Ulster GAA. It was one of the four provincial competitions of the 2014 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship. Monaghan entered the competition as defending Ulster champions. They were dethroned by Donegal in the final.

2014 Ulster SFC
Tournament details
Year2014
Winners
ChampionsDonegal (8th win)
ManagerJim McGuinness
CaptainMichael Murphy
Runners-up
Runners-upMonaghan
ManagerMalachy O'Rourke
CaptainConor McManus
Championship venues
Celtic Park in the City of Derry
Healy Park in Omagh
St Tiernach's Park in Clones
Brewster Park in Enniskillen
and others elsewhere...

The draw was made on 3 October 2013.[2] Under new GAA rules, to allow counties to more easily predict the dates of their qualifier matches, the two sides of the draw were named as either A or B. Antrim, Derry, Donegal and Fermanagh were named on the A side of the draw, while Armagh, Cavan, Down, Monaghan and Tyrone's draw was named as the B side.

The opening game of the Ulster Championship was played on 18 May 2014, with Tyrone playing Down at Healy Park. The game ended level and the teams faced each other again the following week, with Tyrone advancing to the quarter-finals. In the first of the quarter-finals on 25 May 2014, Derry were beaten by Donegal, the Oak Leaf county losing by a goal in their home ground of Celtic Park. In the second quarter-final, which took place on 1 June 2014, Antrim narrowly beat Fermanagh, seeing the Saffrons through to their first Ulster semi-final since 2009.

A mass player brawl before kick-off marred the quarter-final meeting of Armagh and Cavan at the Athletic Grounds on 8 June 2014, with Cavan's star player Martin Dunne unable to play and his team losing by a goal and three points.[3] Dunne sustained a broken hand and was seen watching the game with his arm in a sling.[4] Reigning Ulster champions Monaghan overcame Tyrone by a single point on 15 June 2014, to earn the chance to face Armagh.

In the first semi-final on 22 June 2014, Antrim were beaten comfortably by Donegal with the total difference between the teams at full-time being 13 points. The second semi-final was much closer, the match between Armagh and Monaghan on 28 June 2014 ending level. In the replay on 6 July 2014, Monaghan were five-point victors, setting up a final against Donegal, a replay of the previous year's final.

The final took place on 20 July 2014. Having led 0-06 to 0-04 at half-time, Donegal won the match by three point on 0-15 to 1-09 scoreline, avenging the previous year's defeat to Monaghan in the final.[5][6]

Teams

The Ulster championship is contested by the nine old counties in the Irish province of Ulster. Ulster comprises the six counties of Northern Ireland as well as Cavan, Donegal and Monaghan in the Republic of Ireland.

Team Colours Sponsor Manager Captain Most recent success
All-Ireland Provincial
Antrim Saffron and white Creagh Concrete Liam Bradley Aodhán Gallagher
1951
Armagh Orange and white Rainbow Communications Paul Grimley Ciaran McKeever
2002
2008
Cavan Royal blue and white Kingspan Group Terry Hyland Alan Clarke
1952
1997
Derry Red and white Specialist Joinery Group Brian McIver Mark Lynch
1993
1998
Donegal Gold and green Donegal Creameries Jim McGuinness Michael Murphy
2012
2012
Down Red and black Canal Court Hotel James McCartan Mark Poland
1994
1994
Fermanagh Green and white Tracey Concrete Peter McGrath Eoin Donnelly
Monaghan White and blue Investec Malachy O'Rourke Conor McManus
2013
Tyrone White and Red Hunky Dorys Mickey Harte Seán Cavanagh
2008
2010

Bracket
Preliminary Round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Ulster final
Tyrone
(R)		 2-11
3-11		  
Down
(R)		 3-08
0-12		     Tyrone 0-14  
        Monaghan 1-12  
          Monaghan
(R)		 0-14
1-18		  
          Armagh
(R)		 0-14
1-13		  
        Armagh 1-12  
        Cavan 0-09  
          Monaghan 1-09
          Donegal 0-15
        Fermanagh 3-13  
        Antrim 2-18  
          Antrim 0-12  
          Donegal 3-16  
        Derry 0-11      
        Donegal 1-11      
     

Fixtures

Preliminary round
Preliminary Round
Tyrone2-11 – 3-08Down
D McCurry (1-02), S Cavanagh (0-05), P Harte (1-00), K Coney (0-03), N Morgan (0-01) Report D O’Hare (1-02), C Maginn (1-00), A Carr (1-00), C Garvey, M Poland, C Laverty, A Rogers, N Madine, B Coulter (0-01 each)
Attendance: 13,222[7]
Preliminary Round Replay
Down0-12 – 3-11Tyrone
D O'Hare (0-06), C Laverty (0-02), D Gordon, C Maginn, B Coulter, C Garvey (0-01 each) Report C McGinley (2-01), P Harte (1-01), N Morgan (0-03), D McCurry (0-02), M Donnelly, R O'Neill, N McKenna, C McAliskey (0-01 each)
Attendance: 18,000
Referee: Cormac Reilly (Meath)

Quarter-finals
Quarter Final
Derry0-11 – 1-11Donegal
M Lynch (0-04), E Bradley (0-03), B Heron (0-02), C McFaul, N Holly (0-01 each) Report L McLoone (1-01), M Murphy (0-04), K Lacey, A Thompson, C Toye, D O'Connor, P McBrearty, M McElhinney (0-01 each)
Attendance: 15,883
Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)
Quarter Final
Fermanagh3-13 – 2-18Antrim
S Quigley (1-06), M O'Brien (1-01), B Owens (1-00), P McCusker (0-03), E Donnelly, A Ward, E Maguire (0-01 each) Report B Neeson (1-06), K Niblock (1-03), T McCann (0-03), P McCann (0-02), M McCann (0-02), R Murray (0-02)
Attendance: 8,256[8]
Referee: C. Branagan (Down)
Quarter Final
Armagh1-12 – 0-09Cavan
J Clarke (0-04), C Rafferty (1-00), A Kernan (0-03), E McVerry, E Rafferty (0-02 each), M Shields (0-01) Report E Keating, G McKiernan, David Givney (0-02 each), F Flanagan , C Mackey, M McKeever (0-01 each)
Referee: Marty Duffy (Sligo)
Quarter Final
Monaghan1-12 – 0-14Tyrone
C McManus (0-06), D Malone (1-00), K Hughes, F Kelly, R Beggan (0-02 each) Report D McCurry (0-04), Mattie Donnelly (0-03), S Cavanagh, N Morgan, C McAliskey (0-02 each), C McGinley (0-01)
Referee: Eddie Kinsella (Laois)

Semi-finals
Semi Final
Donegal3-16 – 0-12Antrim
D O’Connor, L McLoone (1-02 each), D Molloy (1-01), O MacNialais (0-04), M Murphy (0-03), C Toye, C McFadden (0-02 each) Report T McCann, B Neeson (0-03 each), M Sweeney (0-02), C Murray, P McCann, K Niblock, P Cunningham (0-01 each)
Attendance: 11,795
Referee: B Cassidy (Derry)
Semi Final
Armagh0-14 – 0-14Monaghan
S Campbell, J Clarke, T Kernan (0-03 each), M Shields, K Dyas, A Forker, S Forker, R Grugan (0-01 each) Report R Beggan (0-05), K Hughes, C McManus, S Gollogly (0-02 each), D Clerkin, C McGuinness, J McCarron (0-01 each)
Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan)
Semi Final Replay
Monaghan1-18 – 1-13Armagh
C McManus (1-07), P Finlay (0-04), D Hughes, R Beggan (0-02 each), D Clerkin, S Gollogly, D Malone (0-01 each) Report T Kernan (0-07), J Clarke (0-05), A Findon (1-00), E McVerry (0-01)
Referee: M Duffy (Sligo)

Final
Final
Monaghan1-09 – 0-15Donegal
P Finlay (0-04), C McGuinness (1-00), R Beggan (0-02), V Corey, K Hughes, C McManus (0-01 each) Report C McFadden (0-04), P McBrearty , O MacNiallais (0-03 each), M Murphy (0-02), A Thompson, K Lacey, R McHugh (0-01 each)
Referee: M Deegan (Laois)

See also

References
  1. "Summer begins with the Ulster GAA Championships". 1 May 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013. 2013 marks the 125th Anniversary of the Ulster Football Championship and the Ulster Museum in Botanic Gardens was transformed into an exhibition of Ulster's finest memories over those 125 years.
  2. "2014 Football Championship Draw: Dublin face either Laois or Wicklow in Leinster opener". RTÉ Sport. RTÉ. 3 October 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2013.
  3. "Violent scenes prior to Armagh and Cavan clash". RTÉ News. 8 June 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  4. Keys, Colm (10 June 2014). "Fears grow over Cavan star Martin Dunne's injury as GAA set to launch probe into parade melee". Irish Independent. Independent News & Media. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  5. "Donegal beat Monaghan in provincial decider". BBC Sport. 20 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  6. "Donegal emerge on top from trench warfare with Monaghan". Irish Independent. 20 July 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2014.
  7. Crowd
  8. Click here for attendance figure
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