Trying to get out of football's skid row

It’s hard to get excited about my home county beating London by 21 points, given that the exiles have been struggling since the Celtic Tiger first roared in the late ‘90s.
However, the result has put Antrim on the verge of promotion to Division 3 of the league for next season and when you have been playing in football’s skid row the the only way is up.
The Saffrons have first to defeat Tipperary on their home patch and the Premier County men will give them a run for the money.
However if Jody Gormley’s side can do the business then even I will be pleased for them as it also guarantees our footballers a place in the All-Ireland qualifiers when we are put out of Ulster.

Sligo heading for the gun room

It looks good for Fermanagh to get out of Division 3 football after defeating Sligo but the Connacht champions could be on their way to Division 4 and the Tommy Murphy Cup if they lose their grip on the Connacht title.
New Sligo boss Tommy Jordan must be worried about the prospects for his side’s season as Connacht’s big two Galway and Mayo have shown some good form this season with Galway in particular looking like they could mount a serious challenge for major honours.
Sligo won last year’s Connacht title during a transition season for their big rivals but always lacked the forward fire power to advance outside the province.
The Yeats County men are still lacking in top class forwards and this year could end up being as tough as last year’s Connacht win was uplifting.

Closing stable door after horse has bolted

The GAA apologised to fans and the two teams affected by yesterday’s postponement of the Dublin Armagh game.
The association claimed the pitch was playable up until a shower fell after noon but that it was then dangerous to the players.
The only good thing about this mess is that there will be no charge for the replay which is being held on Wednesday 9th.
This was a loss for everyone as only 1,500 people made it through the turnstiles yesterday out of a crowd anticipated to be between 8,000 and 9,000 and the association was made a laughing stock of.
I just hope that the association will take action to try to prevent fans and teams travelling when there is a big likelihood of the bad weather which had already forced the Donegal Tyrone game to be put back 24 hours.

McIver must wonder about staying on

I’m not surprised by the disappointment shown by Donegal manager Brian McIver after his side lost their way against Tyrone at Edendork yesterday.
This was a big match for Donegal who have enjoyed a good start to this year’s league campaign.
McIver had a real job on his hands at the start of the season as Donegal failed last year to capitalise on winning their first national title since 1992 when they won the league.
McIver stepped down from the job when they were put out of the All Ireland in frustration at the attitude of some of his players but changed his mind to go for another year.
He must be wondering now did he do the right thing as his team were out fought by Tyrone in the second half of yesterday’s game.
McIver is a proud and passionate man and he couldn’t mask his disappointment yesterday.
This was a great opportunity for Donegal to put one over the Red Hands who are still nowhere near firing on all cylinders and who still have a number of very important players missing or fighting for full fitness.
He didn’t mince words when he said that his side were cleaned out in the middle of the field and this result will do nothing for his side’s self belief that they can win an Ulster title.
Donegal have been under achievers over recent years able to pull off the odd shock but coming up short when they need a big performance most.
I thought earlier in the season when the Tir Chonaill men won two games in a row in tight finishes that maybe they had turned the corner but it’s going to be a long way back from this result.

Galway great to watch but no more easy games

Really enjoyed the Galway Derry game today. Galway are a treat to watch when they are in full flight like they were today playing an open attacking game.
They could have had a half a dozen goals and when Michael Meehan and the great Padraig Joyce get moving they are a joy to behold.
They are both quick, brave and clever and even though Joyce’s powers have been on the wane for a couple of seasons now he is still a cracker.
However, I remain unconvinced that Galway can mount a serious challenge for the All Ireland.
They will go far to find a team who will give them the space which Derry afforded them in the middle of the field or a full back line as inept as Derry’s today.
And even with the Derry side playing so poorly the Oak Leaf men also carved out a few goal chances of their own.
I love the way Galway play but this side for me falls a long way short of the great team which graced the game between 1998 and 2001.
That side could play the expansive attacking game, which became their trademark, because their defence was also mean and physically strong, and their midfield pairing of Kevin Walshe and Sean O Domhnaill were exceptional.
I hope that Galway will go on from here to bring something special to the championship but by then they won’t find anyone gift wrapping the chances like Derry did today.

Monaghan show their credentials

Monaghan showed their championship credentials again yesterday when they defeated Meath by five points and they look well on their way to returning to the top flight.
The return of Vincent Corey to the full forward line to partner Tommy Freeman gives Monaghan another dimension. Corey showed last season he is a good player and not just a big target for long balls. He enhanced that reputation today.
Paul Finlay showed yet again how important he is to the Farney men with a well-taken goal in the first half and but for a couple of late scores by the Royals the score line could have been much worse.
Monaghan are capable of going all the way in Ulster at least this year.
They are hard working and have no obvious weaknesses.
I don’t think they have it on the bench yet and if either of the Freemans or Finlay are hurt then they won’t go all the way.
However, they have been on steady upward curve for the last three years and on current form will fear no one in the country.

First blood to Cork

Cork won their first big psychological battle over another Munster side this season with their one-point win over Waterford on their home patch.
There has been a great rivalry between the two sides in recent years and today’s game was no different even if it lacked the bite of championship.
Both sides will take positives out of the game, for Cork they came back once again to edge the game, not panicking when they slipped behind.
They have a great ability to stay within striking range of teams and are good enough when they get the chances to take them.
Ben O’Connor is still hugely important to the Rebels but all in all they will be happy with their progress to date given their late start to this year’s campaign.
As for Justin McCarthy’s team they have looked better as the league has gone on after a very slow start.
John Mullane has had two games on the trot and given his poor form by his standards of the last two seasons that’s good news for the Decies.
If there is one area of concern it must be the ease with which Cathal Naughton blew away the full back line for the Rebels’ first goal.
Limerick exposed the Decies’ full back line in last year’s All-Ireland semi finals and McCarthy must know that unless he does something to tackle this that the Decies will fall short once again this year.

Johnston – full forward play at its best

Every so often a player has a game, which will live on in the memory.
Cavan’s Seanie Johnston had just one of those games on Saturday night when despite the torrential rain he made it so look so easy as he notched up nine points.
Johnston took his scores off either foot and his handling in spite of the conditions was a joy to watch.
Johnston got out in front all night and the ball invariable stuck when he got there.
A clever two-footed forward is always a handful and Johnston doesn’t hesitate for a second, no matter what side he turns he has the ability to score.
There aren’t enough good forwards in the country.
Seanie Johnston is playing on a poor side yet all season he has shown that he is a force to be reckoned with.
It was nice to see him get some reward on Saturday night for the effort he has put in whether his team are struggling or not.
His determination matches his ability and any young forward could do worse than to try to emulate him.

Can we learn from this redner?

You have to believe that things can only get better in the GAA when we do things like allow thousands of people to travel to a game, and call it off only 40 minutes before the throw-in.
Now it’s not like we didn’t have any notion that the pitch may not have been playable after all Tyrone’s game was called off against Donegal on Saturday and the Cavan Cork match was played in torrential rainfall.
Surely to God we can have a pitch inspection early enough in the day to prevent players and fans wasting time and money travelling to games, which are just not going to happen.
This is the second time this year that the Dubs have had this sort of misfortune.
Many travelled to Cork for the game that never was earlier this season when the Rebels were on strike so they must be well and truly fed up.
We may not have any control over the weather but we do need to put an early warning system in place so that at least something is learned from this embarrassment.

How far can this Kerry side go?

It looks like Laois are on the way to Division 2 wit only one point from five games after Kerry beat them by four points in Portlaoise.
Once again Bryan Sheehan did the damage for Kerry weighing in with ten points from play and frees.
Sheehan’s form this season provides a real headache for Kerry manager Pat O’Shea who still has Colm Cooper to come back into his attack.
It’s the sort of problem any manager would love to have with Ciaran Donaghy, Cooper, the two O’Sullivans and Eoin Brosnan all at his disposal with players like Paul Galvin and Mike Frank Russell available to the Kerry boss.
I thought that this Kerry bought a couple of cheap All-Irelands in 2004 and 2006 against Mayo.
However, they have become a better side over the last two years.
They have a better panel and more strength in depth and while they have not frightened anyone the way the great Kerry team of the late ‘70s and ‘80s did they are now on the verge of another three in row and who knows what they could do from there.

Weekend's football will tell a tale

Really looking forward to the weekend’s football games in the league.
The big one as far as I’m concerned, is the Division 2 clash of Armagh versus Dublin.
The Dubs have had a good start to the season but they have shown many of the same vulnerabilities that have caused them championships over the last five or six seasons.
They are still playing in patches, hugely impressive when they are in gear, but at times look novice like when they are pinned to their collar.
They are still reliant on Jason Sherlock to give their attack something different and while I think Bernard Brogan was a good addition to the panel last season I have yet to be convinced that the Dubs have what it takes.
Armagh have been in the last chance saloon for so long now it’s hard to remember when they were always the team to beat if you wanted an All-Ireland.
Between 1999 and 2003, apart from Armagh’s glory year of 2002, all the Sam Maguire winners had to overcome the Orchard men on the way to the title.
Things are changing slowly in Armagh, they still have a nucleus of players from the glory years of 2002 and 2003 but the introduction of some of the new Cross contingent and a new manager Peter McDonnell has given fresh hope for a change in fortune.
I think Armagh will remain a tough team to beat this season but I think their progress still sits largely on the health of one of the stars of their breakthrough season Ronan Clarke.
A fit Clarke gives Steven McDonnell so much more space to play in and wins an enormous amount of ball to feed the Killeavey man.
Clarke always weighs in too with a few scores of his own but the chief worry about Clarke has been the fact that he has not been injury free for a full season since 2002.
Armagh still have problems too in the full back line, it is susceptible to pace.
Tomorrow’s game will be a good indicator of where these sides are at in terms of the big challenges for the year ahead.
Two other big games are Tyrone and Donegal and although Tyrone are at home and need the points I think that the Tir Chonaill men are ahead of them at this point of the season.
If Donegal are to show that they really have arrived back on the national scene then they must win.
Mickey Harte at least has the luxury of hoping to show that his side is making progress.
Meath and Monaghan is another big clash with both sides intent on proving that their great seasons last year were no fluke and they will again be in the shake-up in the summer.
Anthony Moyles will be missing for Meath and I think his absence swings things further the Farneymen’s way.
No matter what way the results go I think this weekend will be the first serious test for several of the top sides about who is ready to mount a serious challenge to Kerry’s Kingdom.

Wexford need to get over it

Counties playing in the same leagues as the Cork hurlers and footballers have every reason to feel miffed given that the Rebels should have been thrown out of the competitions rather than simply docked points, which will affect the shape of those competitions, but I think Wexford’s hurlers need to get over it.
They are set to appeal their relegation to Division 2 yet again and for me it all smacks of sour grapes and a complete waste of time.
Wexford played Dublin in the league and only managed a draw and were indeed lucky to salvage a point.
Both they and Dublin were among the three sides who did manage to play Cork, both losing by small margins.
If the Dubs hadn’t played Cork then I believe the Model County would have had a lot of justification for an appeal, as it is I don’t think they have a leg to stand on.
They should get on with the business of preparing for the championship and improving the standard of hurling in the county.
The continued appeal does no one any favours or credit.

Play until you drop Brian

I was glad to read that Birr’s Brian Whelehan said that he won’t rush into a decision to retire.
My advice to Whelehan is to play on as long as he can, why not after all he is still enjoying it and played in another All-Ireland after winning Offaly and Leinster titles again.
He is not the force he once was but after all none of us were when we hit 37. However, the key to his decision must be about his enjoyment of the game, if he still enjoys pulling on the boots he should continue to do so and if he is still good enough to play senior hurling then he should go for it.
I retired from football at 37 to manage my club team, spent two years on the line watching players who couldn’t do the things I could still do before coming back out of retirement at 39 and playing on until I was 44. Then I really was done shipping hits I could see coming and feeling the pains until mid week and to be honest I was playing from memory.
However, despite being involved still with club teams as a mentor, nothing beats the thrill of playing and being able to change the course of a game on the field.
I tell all our older players to enjoy it as long as they can and that if thy have the fitness and desire to compete to continue doing so as there does come a time when you simply can’t do it any more.
I wonder still could I turn out at South Antrim level just for the fun of it! What’s another year as the man said.

Justice must be seen to be done in Freeman case

The Dublin County Board is to be congratulated for taking action unilaterally on the Tommy Freeman head butting incident.
The board has said they have identified the individual involved and that both he and the county board had apologised to Tommy Freeman.
The board has also communicated the name of the individual involved in the incident to the Central Competitions Control Committee and has said that disciplinary action has been taken against him.
I commend the Dublin board for taking action to deal with what was an ugly incident.
It was important for the integrity of county boards all over the country that Dublin acted to deal with the matter immediately.
I hope that the county board will make public the disciplinary action it has taken against the individual concerned so that Gaels all over the country can see clearly that justice has been seen to be done.

Tommy Murphy the Wooden Spoon

It's no surprise at this time of the year that hurling and football managers start to fire the odd broadside at the rule book.
My own county Antrim and Wexford are totally opposed to relegation from hurling's top tier, even though we weren't good enough to compete in it and we knew at the start of the year what the Gods of hurling had lined up for us if we didn't cut the mustard.
Four games into the football league the pressure is now beginning to tell on some of the sides who face relegation from Division 3 and who may in turn face the drop to the Tommy Murphy Cup.
Longford's Luke Dempsey is in exactly that position at the moment and he has come out against the rule that teams who drop from Division 3 will not be allowed to participate in the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Dempsey said that the rule has made Division 3 a dog fight for survival where every game is like a championship match.
I have to say I don't get it. If Dempsey's team is so poor that it will end up in Division 4 they're not likely to break much delph anyway in the All Ireland whether that's in the qualifiers or the provincial championship.
I can understand any team not wanting to play in the Tommy Murphy Cup, I didn't even watch the final when my own county played in it last year because it's for the eight worst teams in the country and I just don't want Antrim to be there.
I'd rather we stopped playing when we go out of Ulster than suffer the indignity of a Tommy Murphy Cup run.
We have to strive to be good enough to play in the All-Ireland series, if we're not then spend the summer developing the game at home than playing for the right to avoid the Wooden spoon.

Merit in Clare proposal?

I don't know yet what to make of Clare's suggestion that the All-Ireland football and hurling finals should be completed by the second week of September.
The Clare proposal is based on the idea that bringing the finals forward would give counties two more weeks to complete county championships and make it easier to run our provincial club titles.
Another bonus although it's not factored into Clare's thinking would be that it would give the Ireland team a little more time to prepare for the Aussie Rules series, a few years ago the series almost run up against an All-Ireland football final replay.
I am not a traditionalist on this one and not hung up in any way on the current format but I would have some concern about the knock-on effect bringing the county championships forward could have on the current club competitions.
For some reason we are starved of games in the July and August period in the North as it is and in Antrim it's not because of any great success enjoyed by our county sides.
If the latter stages of the All-Ireland competitions are to become even more condensed into the summer months, would it be more difficult than ever to get club games?
If that was the case it might negate what Clare are trying to do.
Any ideas on this one, I'd be glad to hear?

Shefflin, destroyer in chief

I'm disappointed and I'm sure that all lovers of hurling are that there is no time frame as yet for the return of Henry Shefflin to competitive action.
Henry has spent almost six months so far recovering from cruciate ligament damage in last year's All-Ireland final.
I am a huge admirer of Shefflin's ability, I've never been a big fan of the Cats, although I think they are a wonderful side at present, and I have to admit that Henry has been destroyer in chief of teams I fancied for the All Ireland time and again over the years.
But let's face it love them or loathe them, you'll always pay in to watch a man of Henry's talent.
He has used his stick like a magic wand at times over the years and even the piece of cheek which opened up the Treatymen's defence in last year's final was sheer brilliance and talent.
Hurling's a poorer place without the talent of the game's greats and I hope that it won't be too long until we see Shefflin back out on the pitch making the sliotar talk back to him once again.

Suspensions need to be specific

Definitely on a thread about discipline today.
I would like to see the GAA to specify a number of games for red cards rather than the current system of four weeks or three months or any other period of time.
If a club player is sent off at the end of the season then a four-week ban is meaningless and because our fixture list is such a mess a four-week ban for one player can mean three or even four matches off while in the months of June or July in our county you may miss only one game.
I would also like to see people suspended when they have been hit with a sending off for a double yellow card.
If the rules were specific every player would be treated exactly the same with the same impact for all.
The current set up is not fair and the three-month ban which I saw one club player get for handbags drawn, ne'er a blow was struck despite the intent, should only be reserved for the worst tackles or examples of striking.
We hand out punishments much more severe at times than professional sports and it might serve us better if we looked again at the range of punishments available to the disciplinary committees.

Three wise monkeys no way forward

Nickey Brennan has made some of the right noises about the issue of discipline within the GAA this week when he said that the Association would deal with the alleged head butting of Monaghan's Tommy Freeman as well as the incident in Castlebar.
Brennan said however, that the Dublin county board would not be compelled to name the alleged offender, in that he is playing it by the book.
However, I would like Brennan to go a little bit further and say that he thinks that the Dublin county board have a duty to name the offender if indeed that individual is any way connected to the county's management team.
It's not good enough for Dublin to adopt the stance of the three wise monkeys if indeed one of their management team was in anyway involved in such an incident.
To remain silent on this issue would send out all the wrong signals that thuggish behaviour can be condoned within the GAA.
I hope that the Dublin board do co-operate fully with any inquiry and that if anyone connected to the Dublin set-up is anyway involved in this incident that they will deal with him first in a manner, which leaves Central Council with nothing to do other than rubber stamp their action.

Big Brother the future for the GAA?

I can't say that I would argue with the decision by the Central Competitions Control Committee to fine Mayo €5,000 after missiles were thrown at Kerry footballers during the recent National League game at Castlebar.
Players have a right to play the game safe from any idiot on the sidelines who decides to target someone because they have ability and they were born in another county.
However, I do have a certain amount of sympathy with the Mayo Board which has been ordered to install a CCTV system in the ground.
This will also be an expensive undertaking and if it works anything on the lines of the police CCTV cameras we have installed on most of our interfaces here in Belfast then it won't capture the action when it does kick off.
This ruling will establish a precedent and I believe that within three to four years it will be compulsory for all counties to have a CCTV system in place to stage county games.

Dubs should take lead on Freeman head butting

Ciaran Donaghy was quite rightly punished this week for making a gesture at Mayo fans during the recent National League game.
I have some sympathy for the Kerry full forward as he had been targeted by fans throwing missiles twice during the game, the second occasion when he spurned a last-minute chance to get a point for the Kingdom.
However, players do have a responsibility to maintain their discipline in the face of provocation from the terraces and Donaghy can't complain about the one-match ban.
But it's not just players who have a responsibility when it comes to discipline.
If it's true that a member of the Dublin backroom team head butted Monaghan's Thomas Freeman as he left the field on Sunday then that individual should not be allowed inside a ground again for a long time to come.
No player should be attacked in this fashion and I would hope that the Dublin management or officials will move immediately to hang this individual out to dry if it's true.
There can be no cover up around this as it would condone what is a despicable action and the Dublin County Board should move to tackle this before it even gets to Central Council.

Sambo a realist

Sambo McNaughton is nothing if not practical and realistic.
As his Saffron side are relegated to Division 2 next year he is calling for an intermediate style championship for the second tier of teams in the country such as Antrim, Laois, Offaly and Wexford.
The point McNaughton is making is that the Christy Ring is not suitable for these sides, a point proven when Antrim destroyed a number of sides in the competition a couple of years ago doing absolutely nothing in the process to develop or promote the game in the county or the province.
McNaughton has called for a competition to bridge the gap between the Liam McCarthy and Christy Ring cups with a place on offer in the All-Ireland quarter fnals on offer to the winners.
Short of allowing the Saffrons to compete in Leinster this is at least a more realistic solution for sides who aren't good enough to compete at the top.

Relegation decided in committee

Waterford won't thank the GAA's Central Competitions Control Committee for ordering that Cork and Waterford must play off for second and third place in their group on March 30.
The teams could not be separated on points difference because Cork had only played three games in the group.
The Decies' boss Justin McCarthy had hoped that his injured players who have already played a game more than Cork would have had the extra week's rest before the quarter finals.
Cork will view it as an opportunity to catch up on games lost to the players' strike earlier in the season.
Wexford lost their appeal and will now be relegated to Division 2. This is a fair decision given that both they and Dublin did play against Cork and the Dubs had a better points difference.
It is a disgrace however, that promotion and relegation issues have had to be decided in committee rather than on the field of play and I hope it's not a sign of things to come.

Chickens home to roost

The chickens are already coming home to roost after the GAA's decision to allow Cork to play in this year's league despite not fielding in their first two games.
Wexford are appealing the fact that points were awarded to the two sides who Cork didn't play, Kilkenny and Waterford, both of whom have qualified for the play-offs.
There are hints too that Dublin and Wexford may have to play off for relegation despite the Dubs' better points difference than the Model men.
Then there is confusion about whether the points difference between Cork and Waterford will be a factor in the draw for the league quarter finals.
Some of this stuff is just nonsense but there is no doubt that the awarding of points to Waterford did help the Decies to the finishing line.
All of this could and should have been avoided if the GAA had held the line and banned Cork from taking part in the competition.
This episode will continue to cause bad feeling with the football leagues too very much in the balance.
All eyes will be on the decision coming out of Croke Park this week on all these play-off issues.

Punishment doesn't fit the crime

One thing I would like to see changed in our games are the punishments handed out based on red cards.
At the moment a player faces an automatic ban for a straight red which usually is reserved by referees to be fair for players committing bad fouls or for striking.
However, the fact that someone receiving two yellows faces no other punishment other than missing the remainder of the game they are playing in doesn't stack up.
To use the example of the two Dublin players given their marching orders on Sunday Mark Vaughn to me deserved a straight red for his hit on Damian Freeman as elbowing a man in the face who is on a run always risks inflicting serious injury.
As it was Vaughn got a second yellow and although his sending off could have sank his team it is for me a case where the punishment won't fit the crime.
In the second instance Bryan Cullen literally wrestled an opponent to the ground in the dying moments of the game, and he was sent off for a second bookable offence, his only punishment missing around three minutes of that game.
Cullen stopped a Monaghan attack in full flight by his foul and under the current rules he did what any player would have done.
We were all brought up with the advice ringing in our ears to foul the man out the field and before the cards we were all aware that we could be booked every week as long as we weren't sent off.
The introduction of the yellow card hasn't changed this as there is currently no penalty points system based around yellows and you can collect them like stamps and not pay the price.
Maybe we should have a system like in soccer where points accumulate with the cards until you reach suspension.
Our punishments at times for amateur players are too rigid given that three months for example can end a season but if we are to crack down on cynical fouls like that of Bryan Cullen's this week then we need to have a real penalty for this type of transgression.

Sherlock gives master class

There is an old saying that there is no substitute for class and there was no better example of that than Jason's Sherlock's contribution to Dublin's fightback yesterday in the National League football game with Monaghan.
Monaghan had gone into a five-point lead early into the second half and the Dubs lost their free taker Mark Vaughn, sent off for a stupid and unnecessary foul.
Sherlock then gave a master class in full forward play.
He found space and gave a wonderful pass into the path of Paul Flynn who finished off a great move with a terrific shot to the corner and he then gifted Bernard Brogan with what should have been the clinching goal.
Brogan unfortunately tried to be too clever and gave the ball away attempting a difficult pass when a straight forward shot on goal was on.
Sherlock is almost always conceding height and weight advantage to defenders but his intelligence, quick thinking and movement are a joy to watch and this man continues to float like a butterfly and sting like a bee.

Dubs' wait to go on

Paul Caffrey's Dublin continue to be an enigma after blowing a four-point lead with a stiff breeze at their back yesterday at Parnell Park.
Granted the Dubs had been playing with 14 men for most of the second half after Mark Vaughn was rightfully sent off for an awful foul on Damian Freeman.
However, the Dubs lifted their game, played a couple of great long balls into the Monaghan defence opening them right up and stormed back to go four ahead with ten minutes left.
But how often have we seen this particular Dublin team fade when it looked like the job was done and yesterday once again they allowed Monaghan to draw level.
Caffrey's side have been knocking on the door for a few seasons but have always lacked a little class and know how and have had a tendency to fade late in big games.
This has already cost them at least a place in an All-Ireland final, I don't believe they were good enough to win one, but Caffrey needs to address this if they are to progress from being hard to beat to winners.
I can't see this side going all the way this year and by the time September comes around the Dubs' wait for an All-Ireland title will go on for another year.

Farneymen right on track

Monaghan will gain much out of their second half fight back against Dublin yesterday at Parnell Park.
The Farneymen impressed last year with their never say die attitude and they almost shaded Kerry in the All-Ireland quarter finals.
They are under pressure to show they are not a one season wonder and their performances to date in the National League have confirmed they are genuine contenders in Ulster and beyond.
Early in the second half of yesterday's game they looked to have the match under control however a great spell by then 14-man Dublin playing with the breeze left them four down with less than ten minutes left.
The fact that the Ulstermen picked themselves up off the floor to level says a lot about their self belief.
Paul Finley and Tommy Freeman again were ice cool when the pressure was on and if Monaghan can stay injury free they will take some beating in the championship.

All downhill for the Saffrons

Antrim's hurlers have had a decent season so far despite being relegated from the top flight but it's all downhill from here on in.
The Saffrons won't have a competitive match now until the middle of June when they contest the Ulster final, which with respect to the other northern counties will not be much of a test.
Meanwhile the country's top sides have the later stages of the League to contest, which allows the top sides to rev up their engine for the provincial championships and the Liam McCarthy Cup.
While Antrim's hurlers are playing challenge games the country's finest will finish off the league before facing off in Leinster and Munster, serious fare unlike our provincial championship.
By the time Antrim re-enter serious competition again the rest of the country will have moved on massively in terms of fitness and sharpness.
And under the proposals of the Hurling Development Committee it can get only get worse as instead of the round robin games Antrim 'enjoyed' last season they will be condemned to the second rate Christy Ring Cup competition.
Tomas Mulcahy made the point that for the sake of hurling we should not be relegating teams out of the top competitions but instead encouraging them and promoting the game wherever hurling is played.
He's right and anyone who wants hurling to have a long-term future outside of the traditional counties must reject the attempt to condemn the likes of Antrim and Laois to second-class status.

Closing the gap despite lashing

Antrim's Terence McNaughton said before yesterday's game with Kilkenny that Antrim are closing the gap on the country's top sides.
That might seem foolish given that Antrim were then beaten by 20 points by the country's top team who were also missing several first team regulars.
However, I believe that McNaughton is right and that the Northern county have made progress this year despite thrashings by Waterford, Cork and Kilkenny in successive weeks.
Yesterday Antrim were level with the Cats at half time only for Kilkeny to draw away in the second half like they have done so often over the last five seasons against better sides than Antrim.
Last week there was only a point between Antrim and Cork at the break before the Rebels too pulled away.
Antrim will reflect on this year's league and Walsh Cup with a feeling that but for a poor display at Parnell Park against Dublin at the start of this year's campaign they may well have stayed up.
As it is Division 2 hurling beckons for next season and this will make it more difficult to build on the progress of this young side.

If it's not broke don't fix it

It could only happen in the GAA. The Hurling Development Committee recommends that Galway go into the Leinster Championhsip and a member of their hurling board rejects it accusing the association of trying to breath some life into the Leinster championship, which of course they are.
Leinster has been a bore for years now, the Cats’ camogs are better than some of the sides currently in the shake-up.
Kilkenny manager Brian Cody wants Galway, he wants at least one competitive match a season before he takes on Munster.
Galway don’t play any competitive hurling between the end of the National League and the All-Ireland round robin and while they are obviously convinced it’s good enough for them, I believe the lack of tough games have come against them in the white heat of champioship where they have melted late in several big games.
Antrim on the other hand are desperate to play in Leinster to give a young side a chance to experience some hard championship battles in a province where they're capable of beating any team outside of the Cats.
However, the powers that be are intent on banishing Antrim to the nether world of the Christy Ring Cup.
My view of the Christy Ring Cup is that it’s a nice name for a competition, and that’s about the height of it.
I challenge anyone to name all the winners of the Christy Ring to date, and it ain’t many, and how many years it has been played. Precisely!
Antrim may as well be asked to compete with shinty’s finest across the pond for all playing in the Christy Ring will do to bring on hurling in the North.
The proposal too to cut the League’s first division to eight teams will also make it so much harder for Offaly, Dublin, Antrim and Laois to stay at the races in their bid to compete with the country’s best.
Limerick manager Richie Bennis came out in support of keeping the current format with only one side facing the drop in a season but unlike the Cork hurlers and footballers Antrim and the others don’t count for much at headquarters.
And to compound the nonsense, the Munster Championship is the only competition in the country that ain’t broke but the HDC intend to fix it.
They now want the only truly competitive championship in senior hurling to be run on a round robin basis
It’s a pity that the HDC has had to involve itself in another exercise of mental gymnastics to come up with a way to avoid dealing with the obvious, an open draw in the hurling championship!

Geraghty right for once

Love him or hate him you can’t ignore Meath’s Graham Geraghty.
Never far away from controversy throughout his long career Geraghty has been one of the most gifted players of his generation.
Last season even in the twilight of his career his quick thinking, courage and sheer will to win set him apart once again on a Meath team which surprised everyone by its good run in the All-Ireland qualifying series.
Geraghty, never one for avoiding a fight, has entered into the controversy around the Cork players strike of the early season.
He accused them of holding the GAA to ransom and felt that the Rebels should have been thrown out of the League after not fulfilling their first two fixtures.
I have always been a great admirer of Geraghty the footballer though I rarely agreed with him on anything else.
For once I find myself in agreement with the Meath star as I don’t think headquarters would have given any other county, outside of possibly Dublin or Kerry the latitude the Rebels got this year.

Champs waste no time

You have to give it to Portumna for not letting the grass grow under their feet.
No sooner have they won their second All Ireland in two seasons than they have appointed a new manager.
Jimmy Heverin had said that Monday’s All-Ireland triumph would be his last game in charge after being at the helm for three years.
So rather than beating around the bush the club appointed one of the selectors and a member of Heverin’s back room team Johnny Kelly to guide the club in defence of their county title.
Ten out of ten to the All-Ireland champs, wasting no time and appointing from inside their team.
In Heverin he has a hard act to follow but so had Bob Paisley when he took over from the great Bill Shankley at Liverpool only to take the Merseysiders to new heights.

Team robbed of greatness by injury

Mickey Harte must wonder at times what he did in another life to deserve the run of injuries his Tyrone side have suffered over the past three seasons.
He has already lost the service of the best full forward in the country with the retirement at just 27 from inter-county football of Stephen O’Neill after a string of injuries.
His side has also played without the services more or less of the two Brians McGuigan and Dooher since the 2005 winning All-Ireland side and at times he has lost Philly Jordan, Sean Cavanagh, Joe McMahon, Enda McGinley and even Ryan McMenamin.
It seems that every time someone returns Tyrone are imediately hit with another blow and less than a week after Brian McGuigan played his first ten minutes for the county in two years Owen Mulligan has been ruled out for the rest of the National Football League with a hamstring injury.
Mulligan has struggled since the loss of O’Neill who took so much pressure off him after the retirement of Peter Canavan but more than anyone he missed the ammunition supplied by McGuigan.
Mulligan is a confidence player and on his day he is deadly. His goal against Dublin which set off his season in 2005 is one of the best solo goals ever scored at Croke Park.
Tyrone have been less than convincing to date this season. They need all their top players fit and firing on all cylinders if they are to take on the best.
Harte’s team has been dogged by injury, they looked on the verge of greatness in 2005but they may never now realise their potential and despite two All-Ireland wins will feel like Armagh before them that they have underachieved.

No way up for Wexford

You have to wonder what's happening in Wexford hurling at the moment. I mentioned lately that 22 young players had refused to answer the call to the county panel in the last year and it doesn't get any better for manager John Meyler with the news that Declan Ruth has retired from inter county hurling aged just 31.
The commitments on top players does make it increasingly difficult to continue at the top in your 30s.
There is no immediate prospect either of Wexford mounting a serious challenge in this year's competition or for years to come given their performances to date.
But with Ruth, one of the best centre halfs of the modern era retiring following Mitch Jordan and Rory McCarthy as yet still uncommitted to the cause Wexford can only continue their slide out of serious contention.
With the withdrawals of these old hands and the refusal of young people to come forward is there something seriously wrong at the heart of the Wexford panel or is it simply a case that the easy victories run up by Kilkenny in recent seasons over the Model County has caused a collective towel to be thrown in?

Harte at his lark

They don't come much smarter than Mickey Harte. The old fox is already at the mind games around Brian McGuigan asking the Tyrone public to give him a chance to get him back to full fitness.
The Ardboe man played ten minutes on Saturday against Laois but Harte is trying to dampen down the expectations around McGuigan who has been out two years with a leg break and a serious eye injury.
Of course Harte is right to protect his player but he knows as well as the rest of us that Brian McGuigan is more important to the Tyrone forward line than any other player in the squad.
A fit McGuigan transforms them from also rans into potential All-Ireland champions.
Harte knows that but wants his team to slip quietly back into the reckoning. Whatever way it goes I hope McGuigan can once again entertain us in the way that only a great player can, they are few and far between.

Refereeing poor but Vincent's still good value

Wasn't surprised to read that Nemo Rangers' manager Ephie Fitzgerald was none too pleased with referee Joe McQuillan after yesterday's one-point defeat at the hands of St Vincent's.
The football final was a great game and I've thought about it and discussed it a lot since yesterday.
I think on reflection the Dubliners deserved to edge it, firstly because of their huge work rate, and secondly when they were pinned to their collar in the second half they rose once more to the challenge.
Quinn and Diamond were absolutely brilliant at this period of the game and they fought for those inches which helped win the late disputed frees.
Nemo were also architects of their own defeat missing a couple of what should have been handy points and committing the mortal sin of dropping high balls short and into the hands of the keeper.
I do have some sympathy for Fitzgerald about the refereeing however and even in the first period I thought that Vincent's seemed to be getting the rub of the green when it came to tight decisions.
Sometimes, it doesn't matter but after a one-point game Nemo will have a sour taste for some time to come.

Grants scheme backing a step forward

The GAA's Central Council has backed the Irish government grants scheme which will now be debated at Congress on April 11 and 12.
Personally I am delighted that the grants scheme will now go to the floor of Congress with the Central Council's support.
The scheme will cover 'additional expenses' incurred by our top players in preparation for the All-Ireland championships and the Tommy Murphy and Christy Ring Cups.
We are not exactly talking about princely sums with the maximum a GAA player can get under the scheme only 2,500 euros.
The grants scheme is a commonsense method of compensating our top players for the effort they put into training to play at the highest level, and the sums involved will not cover many of them for the work lost during the punishing training schedules demanded of them.
The GPA has welcomed the decision and reiterated its commitment "to the maintenance of the GAA’s amateur status and acknowledges that the schemes do not undermine that status".
I don't really care about the amateur status of the association as the GAA has been run as a professional organisation for many years now but I believe this solution goes some way to meeting players' demands for a reward for their sacrifices without compromising the whole structure of the association.
I hope the delegates will think this through and vote with their heads rather than their hearts come April.

Vincents edge out Nemo in great contest

St Vincent's won a great football final after a tremendous fight back by Nemo Rangers in the second half.
Nemo started the half six down thanks to a great spell of dominance by St Vincent's in the first half including a great goal by Dermot Connolly.
Vincent's dominated the first half mid field battle but they looked very edgy as Nemo ate their lead back to a single point.
The ref won't be on Nemo's Christmas card list after this one but Vincent's probably just about deserved their victory storming back when they looked down and out.
It was a great contest throughout and the Leesiders will regret a couple of missed frees at vital times in the game.
All in all the game was a great advert for football played in front of a crowd of more than 30,000.
This win could be the boost that Dublin football needs as the county team launches yet another assault on this year's championship.

Whelehan's frustration at the end of the road

Brian Whelehan cut a sorry figure as he trudged off red carded in the dying seconds of today's All-Ireland club championship final with his team trailing at the time by nine points.
His sending off came down to a moment's madness, the sort all older players are prone to as the physical prowess fades.
Portumna had just reeled in Birr's great start to the final to beat the former champions comprehensively by ten points.
Birr's defeat and Whelehan's sending off is the last hurrah from what has been a great club team who won four All-Ireland club titles over eleven years and whose finest backboned the great Offaly side of the 1990s.
The county team's wonderful era of dominance in Leinster during the '80s and for much of the '90s is now just a fading memory and the defeat of Birr's ageing warriors led by Whelehan will signal the end of an era which saw three Offaly clubs contest club finals.
The hope has to be that the success of St Rynagh's, Seir Kieran and Birr has established a tradition which will be taken up by younger players but for the forseeable future the Faithful must wait.

Big clash a damp squib

The much-awaited game between Kilkenny and Waterford turned into something of a damp squib as the Cats absolutely trounced the Decies.
Waterford boss Justin McCarthy will be a worried man after this contest.
Ok the sending off of the Decies' captain Michael Walsh for a second bookable offence just before half time did help swing the game decisively in the Cats' favour but already the Noresiders were showing signs that they were going to run away with the game.
What has to be particularly worrying for McCarthy was the performance of Ken McGrath who just returned to the side last week.
The veteran who has at times epitomised the heart beat of this side was made to look almost pedestrian and in the physical challenges which he normally excels in he was swatted like a fly.
John Mullane continues to look only a shadow of the player he threatened to be three to four seasons ago.
Cats' boss Brian Cody has an entirely different problem.
His All-Ireland champions look to be so far ahead of the posse that he will find it difficult to get them the type of tough game which steels a team for the white heat of championship.
The Leinster Championship looks no less predictable than any other year since their present era of dominance of the province began in 1997 and on the evidence of the league to date there doesn't seem to be anyone capable of stopping the Cats lifting a hurling double.
Cody therefore will have a big task on his hands keeping his charges sharp and focussed on the three in a row.

Inconsistent refereeing robs Tipp

Clare and Tipp played out a good game in this weekend's National Hurling League's fixture in Ennis but Clare must feel that if they could unearth even one goalscorer that they could be in business.
Clare had at least two good goal chances which might have swung the game their way and although full forward Fergal Lynch gave the Tipperary defence all they wanted he's not a natural goal scorer.
Lynch did score one great point near the end of the game to bring the sides level but a little consistency in the refereeing could have seen him walk after lashing out and hitting a defender earlier in the second half.
Lynch was shown a yellow card but on another day would have walked.
Tipp can feel a little aggrieved that the Clare man went on to play a key role in robbing them of the two points.

Hurling will be left behind in professional era

One of the striking things about Casement Park for the Antrim v Cork game was the paucity of the crowd.
This should be a cause of concern to the hurling authorities but it won't.
After all we had one of the top two hurling teams in the country at Casement today, a Cork side coming down with All-Ireland medals and whose short passing and possession game have changed the face of hurling in this Millennium.
Despite what should have been a very attractive billing for the fans I'd reckon only a thousand or so turned up.
A larger crowd had turned out for a Division Four football match the previous night.
This statistic points up yet again the greater popularity of the big ball game despite the high standard of hurling at the top level of the game.
Hurling has become all too predictable with not enough counties in with a realistic chance of success in the major competitions.
It's hard to see anyone out of the top three win this year's or any year's Liam McCarthy.
Only Waterford are a good outside bet at best and if the game is to prosper then a lot of work is needed in the second tier of hurling counties, Clare, Limerick, Wexford, Galway, Antrim and Offaly, never mind in the minor counties.
Hurling is a great product, but it is not getting the promotion it needs and deserves.
Ongoing failure to do so will eventually mean that in the professional era we are entering into that it will get further let behind by the appeal of football to the crowds and the TV.

Change needed if Antrim to close the gap

Antrim's hurlers ended up on the wrong end of a 17-point beating at Casement Park today as Cork turned up the heat in the second half.
The Saffrons battled gamely and wind assisted in the first half went in at the break only one point down.
They registered only another three points in the second half however, and Cork racked up a goal and 16 points to run away with the game.
For me the North/South gap was most clear in the sharpness of the first touch and Cork's ability in particular to hold the sliotar whether a clean catch in the air or in picking up short passes from a colleague.
Antrim's inability to match Cork in this department condemned the Saffrons to a series of turnovers or scrappy possession and allowed Cork to notch up a series of scores.
Despite the scoreline Antrim have come on but it is vital that this young Antrim side continue to play against the country's top teams.
Their Division One survival is now totally precarious with only two points from this year's league but the Glensmen are also hampered by what happens in the weeks after the end of the league.
While all the top sides, apart from Galway, now move into provincial championships where they will have to step up a gear as fitness and pitches improve, Antrim can only look forward to taking on Down, Derry and London in the Ulster Championship.
This does nothing to improve the standard of hurling in Antrim as no disrespect to the other sides but they have dramatically fallen off the pace.
The only way forward for Antrim at this time is to play in Leinster where they are on a par with Laois, Offaly, Dublin and even Wexford with only the Cats lording it over the chasing pack.
These sides at least have a chance to make the breakthrough but with Antrim condemned to the Ulster championship they are wasting time playing second rate opposition in preparation for the latter stages of the Liam McCarthy.
It is no way to close the gap!

Derry and Donegal triumph

Derry outclassed Kieran McGeeney's Kildare tonight to go to the top of Division 1 in the National Football League.
The Oak Leaf men won by eleven points 1-16 to 0-8 with nine points coming from Paddy Bradley.
Mark Lynch got the victors' goal before half time as Derry continue their recent run of good form.
The dependence on Bradley however, is glaring and he can expect more of the double cover several sides employed against him last season as apart from Enda Muldoon there is no other potent forward in the Northerners' line up.
Donegal edged out Galway to win by the minimum 1-12 to 1-11 for the third time in this year's league.
Galway had come in to the game on the back of a strong performance against Tyrone but they couldn't finish Donegal off after a strong start.

Magician returns for Tyrone

Saturday night's games were good for the top Ulster sides with Derry, Tyrone and Donegal all winning in Division One.
Tyrone got their first win of the season edging out Laois by two points at Healy Park.
However, the big story of the night was the return of Brian McGuigan to inter-county action as a second half substitute.
McGuigan is a magician and his return to the Red Hands' ranks in 2005 coincided with Tyrone's surge to that year's All-Ireland title.
Mickey Harte will need more than McGuigan's return before his team can be real contenders for this year's competition but his side won't win it without the Ardboe man.
McGuigan lights up any ground he plays in and football is the winner with the Wee Man's return no matter how his county goes.

Do the Decies have the stomach

Sunday will be the first of the big clashes in hurling this season when last year's All-Ireland champions Kilkenny take on National League champions Waterford.
The Decies had been fancied to reach last year's All-Ireland final against the Cats after a scintillating season where the goals of their top marksman Dan Shanahan lit up the season.
Those dreams died in a tired performance against a fresh and battle hardened Limerick in the All-Ireland semi finals and all eyes will be on Justin McCarthy's side to see how much that defeat has taken out of them.
Waterford have been knocking on the door of All-Ireland success since they signalled their return to the national stage when they pushed All-Ireland champions Clare to a replay in the Munster hurling final in 1998.
However, despite winning three Munster titles in this decade last year's National League remains their only national title and there will always be a feeling that this team has underachieved unless they lift the Liam McCarthy.
However, some of the team's best players are now on the wrong side of 30 and for the likes of Tony Browne and Ken McGrath this year may be their last hurrah.
The Cats are strong favourites to take the points in their own back yard but the big question remains does McCarthy's side still have the stomach to be a contender for national honours.

Ballinderry twist in grants debate

Eight members of the Ballinderry club who are on the Derry football panel have added a new twist to the Irish government grants scheme.
The players have pledged to put a portion of the grants, worth between 1,500 and 2,000 euros to their club's players' fund.
This is a great example of so-called 'elite' players using their creativity to ensure that their clubs, which after all nurtured and guided them on their way, stand to reap some reward from their involvement in the county set-up.
It shows clearly that the grants scheme won't cause the sky to fall in on the association if it is accompanied by some common sense.
Most of our top players put a lot into their clubs as well as meeting the huge demands of inter-county competition.
The gesture by the Ballinderry players is a clear demonstration of the commitment of most of our top players to the association as a whole but it should also put into perspective that the sums of money to be received by the players will at best get them a holiday!

Where are the boys of Wexford?

I am shocked that as many as 22 young players were not prepared to join the Wexford hurling panel despite being approached.
It is usually every young player's dream to play for their county and there is no greater honour than to pull on the jersey of a county like Wexford which has a proud hurling tradition.
The Model County is not at the races at the moment and can probably expect no better than another whipping this year at the hands of the Cats but sometimes even a couple of players can add a competitive edge to a squad taking them to bigger and better things.
The Wexford management team around John Meyler have to be really concerned at this reluctance of young men to throw their cards in with the county team.
It doesn't bode well for Wexford that young players are opting not to play for the county and it robs the Leinster championship of any prospect that the Cats' reign will end anytime in the near future.

Aussie Rules not the bogeyman

Former Kerry star Tadgh Kennelly has injected a little bit of a reality check into the debate around GAA players being recruited by the Australian AFL.
Kennelly is one of a very small number of GAA players who are currently playing Aussie Rules and he has made the point that rugby and soccer continue to be the Association's main competitors and of course he's right.
Those who are poached to Aussie Rules will for years to come remain the exception and only a very small number of elite county players have what it takes to compete at the highest levels of the Aussie game.
Rugby and soccer however, continue to compete for the services of our players even at the most junior level of our clubs.
Managers in the lower divisions of our sport often have to compete with soccer and to a lesser extent rugby when there is a clash between the sports at the weekend.
In my home county it is soccer which offers the most competition simply because the soccer leagues run relentlessly week in and week out while our players can wait weeks at a time for games.
This is a far more serious threat to the GAA than losing a couple of county stars a year to the Aussie game will ever be.
As an association we would be much better served ensuring our players have enough games to keep their interest in the GAA than fighting the 'bogeyman' of Aussie Rules.

Pay for play spat a diversion

Enjoyed the little spat between GPA Chief Executive Dessie Farrell and a founder member of the players' body Donal O'Neill.
It seems they disagree over whether the grants for players issue will undermine the amateur status of the GAA.
O'Neill insists that it will while Dessie reckons a recent undertaking from the GPA would ensure that the amateur status of the game will be enhanced.
I agree with O'Neill that pay for play is inevitable but I think that the grants scheme is as good a half way house as we are going to get, paying players depending on the run their county gets in the All Ireland, without it becoming a free for all.
I think the grants scheme is a fair method of compensating players for the effort they put into inter-county football and hurling because the demands are incredible on amateur players.
The whole debate on this issue should not be about the amateur status of the association, that's been a sham for years, it's how we manage the revolution that the grants scheme and increased sponsorship poses for the development of the association as a whole.
Unfortunately it seems likely that we will go on taking this debate into blind alleys for years to come.

McGuigan's return a boost for Tyrone

The best centre half forward in the country played his first game in a year and has served notice that he is on the way back at long last to county football.
Brian McGuigan played in an Ulster League quarter final for his club Ardboe yesterday and after coming on as a sub scored Ardboe's second goal in a game which finished in a draw.
This is great news for Mickey Harte's Tyrone but also for fans of Gaelic football all over the country.
McGuigan has been dogged by injury since 2006 and has played no part in the inter-county championship action since putting in a master class against Kerry in the 2005 final.
McGuigan quite simply is a class act, a player who always seems to have time and space on his hands despite all efforts to shackle him.
His quality has been sadly missed by Tyrone and the Red Hands’ full forward line has been misfiring without the pinpoint accurate passing which McGuigan brings to their game.
The Ardboe man also weighs in with his fair share of scores from out the field taking more than a little pressure off the front three.
Harte intends to include him in his squad for the National League game with Limerick this week and he will be keeping his fingers crossed that McGuigan's return can lift the Red Hands as it did early in 2005 in his return from Australia to further glory in the Sam Maguire.

As you were in hurling

The weekend's National Hurling League gave the first true hint of what's to come in the season ahead and unfortunately it looks like we are in for more of the same and we will have to wait at least another year for a breakthrough team to challenge the old guard.
Antrim were wiped out by Waterford who had Ken McGrath back for the first time this season.
The 19-point winning margin puts into perspective the progress Antrim have made to date this season in the Walsh Cup and in registering a win over Leinster also-rans Wexford a couple of weeks ago.
The Saffrons are still a long way off the pace at the top level. They are a young side with a lot to learn but all too often in the past they have found just how difficult it is to turn potential into success when facing the big guns.
Dublin too fell short of the mark when playing against an out of sorts Cork team who enjoyed their first competitive outing of the season after the players' strike.
Dublin tried hard and huffed and puffed but at this level they still at times needed two touches when the top sides require one.
The Dubs like Antrim are making some progress in the underage grades but success will not come easy and it won't happen this season in senior.
Clare too put up a show in the first half against Limerick but collapsed in the second. Like all Clare sides who have followed the great 1990s team which lifted two All Irelands this one is tough, uncompromising but lacking genuine fire power in the forward line. Gilligan still has too much to do up front with little sign of anyone breaking through to consistently ship some of the load.
Clare will remain competitive and will beat good teams having a bad day at the office but they won't be there at the end of the All Ireland series.
Galway are the periennal 'great white hope' outside the top three but their last All-Ireland win was 20 years ago and they lack the physique to beat the top sides in the latter part of the season.
Wexford are not even at the races and are playing from memory of a once proud hurling county, while Waterford will remain the neutrals' favourite given their pulsating battles with the Cats, the Rebels and Tipp in recent seasons but the worry is that they have missed the boat given that a number of top players have a lot of miles on the clock.
Offaly are gone, Laois never made it and only Limerick look like they can make a challenge this year again.
However the Treatymen will not surprise anyone this season and at times Clare made them look very ordinary.
The Cats are poised once again on the verge of three in a row but both they and Cork have fallen at the last hurdle already in this decade.
Already they are cranking up the gears and with Cork slightly on the slide you have to feel at this stage that the only side who will beat the Cats are the Cats themselves.
The League will hot up even more from now on in as the sides rev up for the championship. Expect the winning margins between the top tier and those struggling to break through to be consistently more than ten points during the run-in, and that in the long run is not good for hurling.

Cork strike again!

Well, they're nothing if not consistent in Cork.
Just weeks after the county's senior hurler and footballers withdrew their services from the county scene until they got the football manager sacked, Cork's schoolchildren won't be taking part in the half-time exhibition games this year in protest against a change in format.
Croke Park had decided to do away with 15-a-side games during the mini games in favour of the nine or ten player format being encouraged by the association across the board at the younger levels.
This shift was too much for the body responsible for primary school games in the Rebel County, Sciath na Scoil Corcaigh, and so in true Leeside tradition they are not for playing.
They shouldn't worry though, given how the authorities 'cracked' down on the county's seniors, Croke Park will probably give them a medal the size of a bin lid in recognition of their contribution to the GAA.

Whelan, the Great Pretender

Ciaran Whelan returned to the Dublin football team for last week's clash with Cavan but already there is speculation that this will be his last year in the county colours.
Some regard the Raheny clubman as one of the great midfielders but I find him an enigma.
He has given us some memorable moments and at times his high fielding has been a joy to watch.
However, I have rarely seen Whelan perform consistently over the hour and he has had a tendency to have a great half or burst into big games in flashes.
Whelan has also been increasingly tetchy on the field as his physical powers have waned and on occasions if he had not been wearing the colours of the Dubs, which seem to be an aid when referees are handing out the cards, he may have found himself seeing red much more often.
Whelan can still do a job for the Dubs but I can't see him putting in 70 minute shifts this season and instead I believe Paul Caffrey will use him as an impact sub or tell him to get out on the field and run until he drops.
Whelan still doesn't have a coveted All-Ireland medal, hasn't even played in an All-Ireland final, and if he is to join the pantheon of Dublin greats he will have to win the big one this year.

Antrim angry at double standards

Antrim are finding out the hard way once again what it's like to be treated as a minor county when it comes to playing against teams at the top table of hurling.
The Saffrons are angry that the GAA won't bring their fixture against Waterford in Dungarvan forward ninety minutes.
A couple of weeks ago Antrim accommodated Wexford hurlers by bringing the time forward to allow the Model County men more time to get home at a decent hour.
Antrim asked the GAA's CCCC to return the favour this week but have been stone walled.
Waterford to their credit had no problem about a switch in the time but for some reason the CCCC have taken a stand on this one.
It does smack of one rule for one and another for others. Cork should not be even competing in this year's league competition after failing to field in the first two games of the competition but somehow I can't see Cork having a problem if they asked for a change of time.
A bit of commonsense should have prevailed here as the game doesn't have any impact on TV schedules but when you're regarded as a minnow then it's easy to rule against you.

Sam not for Ulster this year

Ulster's mixed bag in this year's National Football League continues with Donegal and Derry dropping points at the weekend against Kildare and Kerry respectively.
Both sides have looked good so far this season but they simply do not have enough top-class attackers to win the biggest games later in the year.
Paddy Bradley continues to star for Derry and the Oak Leaf side will hope that Enda Muldoon improves with games but despite the individual brilliance of this pair Derry simply don't have anyone else who will trouble top defences.
Armagh struggled much in this vein when their side of 1999/2000 depended heavily on McConville and Marsden.
It wasn't until they were joined by Stephen McDonnell and Ronan Clarke in 2002 that the Orchard men won an All Ireland.
Unless Derry can find even one more attacker who can ship some of the load being carried by Muldoon and Bradley they will come up short once again.
Monaghan are showing signs that their great performance in last year's Ulster championship and All-Ireland quarter finals was no fluke and are going well in Division 2.
They overcame an Armagh side which is showing some signs of recovery after their poorest season last year for a decade.
Monaghan's biggest problem is still a lack of strength in depth and one or two injuries could be enough to prevent them making the breakthrough.
Talking of injuries brings us once again to Tyrone, Mickey Harte must think at this stage 'doesn't it always'.
He has been robbed of the services of some of the best players in the country for almost three years.
Stephen O'Neill has been forced to call it a day, Dooher even if he returns from injury will never be the force again he was in 2003 and '05.
However, the return of Sean Cavanagh and the hope that Brian McGuigan might at last play again will give the Red Hands some hope that they can at least compete this season if not go all the way.
Donegal too lack the knock-out punch needed for the big occasions and while I expect the Ulster sides to be difficult to beat this year I don't see a winner from their ranks on the evidence to date.

Three in a row already on the cards

The new season is only weeks old and already the Kingdom look to be the team to beat, once again!
With a couple of retirements in defence, Dara O Se on the way back and the Gooch taking a break, Declan O'Sullian recovering from injury, Eoin Brosnan on the bench, nothing seems to be too difficult for Pat O'Shea's side.
True Derry pushed the Kingdom all the way and played the whole of the second half against the breeze with only 14 menand yet lost by only a point.
But Kerry always looked like the more fluid team especially after a bright start by the Oak Leaf men.
Ciaran Donaghy looks better with every outing. He is a great out for some route one passing when Kerry find it difficult to work the ball through blanket defences.
Donaghy is clever and brave and is a good all-round footballer and no full back will enjoy marking him.
The O Se brothers, Marc and Tomas are exceptional defenders and launch attackafter attack with their athleticism.
The only points dropped by the Kingdom were at the hands of a last minute goal by Donegal.
It is hard to see who is going to stop them taking three in a row with only a full-strength Tyrone or the energetic Dubs up to the task.
Galway, Mayo, Derry, Meath and maybe Donegal or Monaghan will be there or thereabouts in the latter stages of the All Ireland but none of them will beat the Kingdom unless they have a rare bad day.

Fixture list is madness

My home club Ardoyne Kickhams were given our fixture list for the season and I have to say I wonder at times what's happening at Casement Park.
We have a good run of games from the football leagues start in April and into May.
However, in the next four months during the best weather of the year when the inter-county action is in full swing and interest in Gaelic games peaks we have only five league games.
This at a time when we usually have a full panel available, free from the distractions of soccer, other sports or players home from colleges and universities.
I just don't get this.
Yes we will have at least one championship game as well as the game per month in the league and if we make progress we could have as many as eight games in total over the whole of these summer months.
Like most other clubs outside the top divisions we don't have a lot of players on county duty and our county is not renowned for going all the way in the senior championships so what is the point in training and preparing players for their season when they have only five games for four months.
This is a huge turn-off too for the players, many of whom know they can get a game of soccer week in and week out 30 weeks of the year.
And just to add insult to injury the games resume in earnest in October and November.
Can anyone explain why we seem to want to make it as difficult as possible to prepare and keep teams interested and ensure that our league campaigns finish on the heaviest pitches of the year?

Fitzgerald return good for hurling

One of hurling's great heroes of the last 15 years Davy Fitzgerald returned to inter-county action between the posts for Clare against Kilkenny at the weekend.
The Banner pushed the Cats all the way with a great second half fightback but a late goal from John Power saw the Cats edge the game by two points 2-12 to 3-11.
Last year saw Fitzgerald lose his place on the Banner side for the first time in 13 years.
Davy Fitzgerald is renowned for his intense all-action style and his commitment to training and preparation is legendary and borders on fanatical.
He won two All-Ireland medals during the 1990s when Clare ended an 81-year wait for an All-Ireland title.
Fitzgerald played a key role in those victories, with a great save in the last minute of the 1997 final from Tipp's John Leahy the difference in the two sides at the end of a keenly contested all-Munster All-Ireland final.
Fitzgerald also hit penalties for his side and he scored some absolutely crucial scores for Clare in big games.
It was a shock when the Clare keeper was dropped following a high-profile bust up with former manager Tony Considine last year but new manager Mike McNamara has welcomed him back to the fold and hurling will be richer for the Sixmilebridge player back between the posts.