Sean Cavanagh has barely had time to regain his breath following Tyrone’s victory over Kerry in the All Ireland final and yet already he finds himself strongly focussing on next year’s Championship series.

Cavanagh, man of the match in the final and since named captain of the Ireland team for the International Rules series, is quick to admit that Tyrone’s match against Armagh in the opening round of the Ulster Championship next year will be a gigantic battle.

“I know that Armagh were hurt when they lost to Wexford this year. Even though they won the Ulster title, they felt they under-performed in the All Ireland series and we know that for us to be going in against them in our opening match is just as hard as it could possibly get,” said Cavanagh who was in Ashbourne last night where Ireland manager Sean Boylan was conducting a squad training session.

And confronting Armagh will have added significance for Moy clubman Cavanagh.

His fiancée is Dr Fionnuala Vernon, who is sister of Armagh player Charlie Vernon who made a big impact with the orchard county this year.

“I played with Ronan Clarke, of course, in the St Patrick’s College Armagh side a number of years ago so I have plenty of links with the county but I’ll be doing my best to get Tyrone through to the next round of the championship all the same,” smiles accountant Sean. And even before the province’s ‘Big Two’ lock horns, Down and Fermanagh will renew rivalry in a preliminary round tie that is laced with intrigue.

The teams met during the recent National League and Fermanagh triumphed by reaching Division Two while Down must remain for another term at least in Division Three.

But Mourne boss Ross Carr believes his side can improve further next year while Erne supremo Malachy O’Rourke is anxious to see his team go one better than they did this year when they lost to Armagh after an Ulster final replay.

“That defeat was especially hard for us to take after we had done so well up until then. But it’s a whole new ball game now. Obviously the Championship holds the spotlight but a lot of water must flow under the bridge before we get that far. We will take things as they come,” says O’Rourke who will be in his second season in charge having revitalised Fermanagh’s fortunes this year.

Interestingly, neither Antrim nor Donegal who are due to meet in an Ulster quarter-final have yet appointed new mangers. But now that the championship itinerary has been mapped out, this could help to expedite a decision in each county.