Monday Reaction: What the managers said

The first inter-county GAA weekend of the year is over, with action in the McKenna Cup, O'Byrne Cup, McGrath Cup and FBD League on Sunday.

Here's what some of the respective managers had to say after their sides' opening games in the competitions.

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ULSTER: POWER NI DR MCKENNA CUP

Tyrone and Donegal have enjoyed a fierce rivalry in recent seasons, and although yesterday's game in Ballybofey probably won't live too long in the memory, Tyrone boss Mickey Harte was happy with his side's 0-13 to 1-7 win over the 2012 All-Ireland champions.

"We could not be but happy," Harte said. "I know people will say it is only January and it is only the McKenna Cup, but I would rather be winning no matter what time of the year it is. We probably did not expect to win but as the game progressed our players saw that we had a chance of winning and they seized the chance."

Donegal manager Jim McGuinness reflected on his side's fitness levels after the game, and was simply glad to get the first game of the year in. "We fatigued badly towards the end but we've a bit of work done there in the last three or four weeks so it was a chance to get some game time," he said.

In the other game in Section A, Armagh opened up with a 1-17 to 0-15 win over Queens but manager Paul Grimley was far from satisfied afterwards.

"We have to take into account that Queens were seriously under-strength," he said. "Also we created four clear first-half goal chances and fluffed them all. While there were encouraging aspects of this display, we still have much work to do."

Derry defeated Monaghan in the only game in Section B, while in Section C, Cavan recorded an impressive 3-12 to 0-12 win over Antrim.

Breffni boss Terry Hyland was typically understated after the game, but was satisfied to get the victory in Creggan.

"It was nice to get a win. Conditions weren't very favourable to good football," Hyland said afterwards. "But it was a workmanlike performance. The team that made the least mistakes was probably going to win it today and we talked about that at half-time and it worked well for us in the second half."

In the other Section C game, Down defeated UUJ on a 1-15 to 0-7 scoreline. Down manager James McCartan was happy with the win but admitted afterwards he was still getting used to the black card.

"You nearly need to have all your subs with their tracksuit bottoms off and ready to go because you don't know what players are going to be black-carded," he said.

CONNACHT: FBD INSURANCE LEAGUE

There were three games in the FBD League on Sunday, and Roscommon manager John Evans was reasonably happy with his side's 1-14 apiece draw with IT Sligo.

"Overall, I was delighted with the standard of football. Good venue, good football, two good teams," he said.

In Tuam, Galway recorded a solid 3-10 to 0-8 opening round win over Sligo, and manager Alan Mulholland was particularly impressed by the display of former Kildare player James Kavanagh, who played his first competitive game for the Tribesmen.

"It was a day for people to show the correct attitude. The weather was bad, the underfoot conditions were very soft and James has brought that attitude to the panel in the last few weeks since we've gone back training," he said.

In the other game in the competition, Leitrim recorded a three-point win over GMIT but new manager Seán Hagan wasn't getting carried away afterwards.

"GMIT have probably done heavier training than us and our fitness let us down a little bit in the second half but that's what we're going to work on in the month of January," he said. "We've lots of work to do on the training field but it's our first outing so we're all happy enough."

LEINSTER: BORD NA MÓNA O'BYRNE CUP

Dublin manager Jim Gavin declared himself reasonably happy with his side's narrow O'Byrne Cup defeat of Westmeath at Cusack Park, Mullingar.

The Dubs started with just two of the team that won the All-Ireland title last year (Stephen Cluxton and match winner Ciarán Kilkenny) and Gavin used the game to have a look at several fringe players.

"It's a pre-season tournament and it's there to try players out and to give them an opportunity to stake a claim for a squad place during the Allianz National League," said Gavin.

"We took the same approach last year and we got a good few players from it. We're only back eight days and had a lot of technical errors in handling and kickpassing, shooting, but that's to be expected. We got nine scores from play out of the 12, which wasn't a bad return."

Paul Bealin, the new Westmeath manager and a former team-mate of Gavin's, wasn't overly concerned with the defeat - Westmeath led with 10 minutes to go but were pegged back late in the game - insisting that he was happy with the attitude and performance of his new charges.

"For me, it was about the performance and if we can perform against a Dublin squad and give ourselves a chance to win the game and keep the score tight as much as we possibly can, then so be it," said Bealin.

Kildare's new manager Jason Ryan got his reign off to a solid start with a big win over Athlone IT, but the Waterford native and former Wexford manager stressed that he was more concerned with looking at new players rather than securing results at this early stage of the season.

"We've a lot of players we're trying to get a look at," said Ryan. "Whether you win by a lot, it's just guys getting balls in their hands. You can play as many friendlies and as many games amongst yourselves as you want but playing a competitive game at whatever stage of a season is great."

MUNSTER: MCGRATH CUP

Cork began life under new manager Brian Cuthbert with a comprehensive 34-point win over LIT at the Mallow GAA Complex. With just under half his squad unavailable for the game, Bishopstown man Cuthbert said it was difficult to read too much into a game which saw his side lead by 1-15 to 0-0 at half-time.

"You couldn't say we learned a whole pile," said Cuthbert. "We're together a while but until the matches start you can't put a shape on what you're trying to do. Some things we did today, particularly in the first half, were good, some weren't but that's the nature of the beast.

"We had 21 players today, but we're minus 20 players. There are 14 with the colleges, four injured and two or three away. So we're minus 20 again next week."

Kerry kicked off their 2014 campaign with a 0-17 to 0-8 defeat of IT Tralee at the John Mitchels GAA Grounds in Tralee, but manager Éamonn Fitzmaurice was far from happy with his players' performance in the first half.

"We were sloppy and made a lot of strange decisions. It took us until five minutes into the second half to really get going," said Fitzmaurice.

"We played well for a 15 to 20 minute period in the second half and that was good to see, as we were playing into tough conditions. The lads seemed to click and get some chemistry going."

Fitzmaurice singled out Barry John Keane (0-4), who replaced Stephen O'Brien (black card) in the 24th minute, for particular praise, noting that the Kerins O'Rahillys man was anxious to make a big impact early on this season having failed to make the cut for last year's championship squad.

"Barry John was with us this time last year but he just didn't make the cut for championship. He played a lot of good football during the summer, at home and in America. Sometimes when you are away from the panel for a while and you return, you can get that competitive edge. Barry John was anxious to prove a point today and when he came on, he did very well."

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