Joe's jottings

Joe Kernan Championship pundit

The matches in Newry on Saturday and Breffni Park on Sunday showed why the Ulster championship is not only the toughest but the most exciting of the four provinces - 19,000 in Newry, 23,000 supporters in Cavan confirm this.

Derry's Paddy Bradley will be a key player against Fermanagh

Last week's game in Omagh proved tough and exciting but all those who were lucky enough to be in Newry on Saturday were treated to a display of true commitment from both teams, which kept everybody on the edge of their seats to the very end.

Sadly one team had to lose and although Tyrone will be disappointed, they still have the back door route.

While Mickey Harte and his players might be feeling down at the moment, once again they gave everything they had.

Some Tyrone supporters have already started to show their discontent but they are not the ones who have put their lives on hold this last six or so years, made massive sacrifices, trained four nights a week and put their bodies on the line every Sunday.

Tyrone supporters should be thankful for the enjoyment the players and management have given them and so they could boast and brag about the great team they had.

Down, on the other hand, now have fire in their bellies and belief in themselves.

Ross Carr and DJ Kane have had their critics but they have been silenced over the past two weekends.

Interview: Ross Carr

This Down team have great heart and they will now fear nobody as a lesser team would have folded under the Tyrone pressure.

They had to win not once, twice, but three times and Dan Gordon, Benny Coulter, Liam Doyle, Paul Murphy and Aidan Carr all led by example.

Another positive was the refereeing of Pat McEnaney.

Like all people at the top of their profession he has his critics but he is the best in my eyes.

He knows how to handle a physical game, he has the respect of the players, he talks you through a game and he treats players as adults and does not talk down to them like children.

Our game is a physical game, he doesn't like players who give verbals to other players or players who dive. I could only hope that all referees would take a leaf out of his book on these key issues.

When we look at Armagh against Cavan, there was once again a lot of pressure on both teams and a lot of questions being asked.

Could Armagh get back on winning ways after last year's disappointment of losing to Donegal and Derry?

Could Cavan improve enough from the Antrim win and would Seanie Johnston get the room he got against Antrim?

From an Armagh point of view, everybody in Armagh should be happy with the result as Armagh could have won by more.

Now they know they can and will have to improve to get over a very committed Down team next time out.

There is a good balance of youth and experience in this Armagh team.

Congratulations to the supporters of Down, Tyrone, Cavan and Armagh in filling Pairc Esler and Breffni Park

The defence did a good job in holding the Cavan forwards to no goals and few chances while the midfield was excellent and Paul McGrane and Kieran Toner are a perfect partnership.

Up front Steven McDonnell and Ronan Clarke as dual full forwards are the best in the business and Stephen Kernan is now showing his flair and natural ability.

Nobody works harder than Marty O'Rourke from start to finish; this was true again on Sunday as he worked his socks off.

Cavan will be disappointed but Donal Keoghan has his team working and playing for each other.

Sometimes it takes management a couple of years before you get things the way you want it.

This is not the time to drop the heads, Donal is a very committed Cavan man, the secret is to stick together and keep working at it.

Congratulations to the supporters of Down, Tyrone, Cavan and Armagh in filling Pairc Esler and Breffni Park. I thought Armagh would have been out numbered significantly in Cavan but this didn't prove to be the case.

Looking forward to this weekend Derry and Fermanagh, I don't know what the bookies say about this Ulster championship.

Interview: Peter McDonnell

Both teams are coming off the back of good results and Fermanagh will have no fear of Derry.

Derry will depend on three things - keeping a tight defence, good midfield play and Paddy Bradley.

It will be interesting to see if the suspension of Fergal Doherty, a real leader for Derry, affects the team plan.

This is an interesting game which raises a number of questions, can the Fermanagh defence cope with the Bradleys?

Their midfield stopped Monaghan and in Murphy and McGrath they have a strong midfield. Fermanagh's forwards can cause any defence problems on their day.

The Ulster championship is well on its way and with Donegal, Monaghan, Antrim, Cavan and Tyrone all going down the back door route already it is going to be very interesting.