Micko still box office

You just have to take your hat to Micko following Wicklow's success today against Kildare.
And the win was well deserved, they played the Lilywhites off the park for large parts of the game, spurned an almost cerrtain goal chance early in the second half yet still went on to win in some style.
There have been critics of O'Dwyer's training methods over the years but his results are undeniable and one thing I will say about his teams they play good open football based around good movement, passing and the basic skills.
I was surprised by how poor Kildare were on the day.
They did miss chances which on another day might have lifted the team but Kildare looked like a team which had completely lost its way playing without confidence or any sort of self belief.
Their forwards are poor and it seemed that everyone was waiting on a moment's inspiration from John Doyle.
Wicklow on the other hand fought for everything.
They got back in numbers to defend when it was needed denying Kildare any space to operate in and when they moved forward there always seemed to be someone getting into space or making runs.
Kieran McGeeney has an uphill task to turn this round by the qualifiers.
Some of the Under 21s played well but he must be worried about the way Killian Brennan and Dermot Early looked pedestrian at times as they were completely out fought at mid field.
Kildare completely lacked the type of commitment and battle of their manager and I'm sure that McGeeney is hurting tonight at the ease with with his players seemed to collapse.
O'Dwyer now comes up against another side he managed in Leinster but Laois should be a different proposition to the poor Kildare he faced today but his presence will ensure an interest in a game which in another year wouldn't stir the heart.
He is still box office!

League does matter now

Love the way that people are saying this week that league form doesn't matter.
Of course it is losers in the league who are protesting that league form doesn't mean anything.
Players and mentors from Antrim, Wicklow and Roscommon have all said in the last 24 hours that the league is meaningless.
I beg to differ and so do the statistics in recent years.
There was indeed a time when the league was no guarantee of success at inter county championship level, back in the day when at least three rounds of the hurling and football championship started pre Christmas right after the All-Ireland series was over.
However, since the league has been played off in the same calendar year as the championship it has increasingly become a barometer of the form of the top sides when the championship starts.
The league semi finalists are increasingly to be found in the latter stages of the championship.
Already in this decade Kerry sides and Tyrone won league titles before going on to All-Ireland success and even this year can anyone deny that Kerry and Derry will be in the final shake up and can anyone even conceive that a winner of the Liam McCarthy won't come out of this year's hurling semi finalists of Kilkenny, Cork, Galway and Tipperary?
As for Antrim, they might just manage to beat Cavan but that's as good as it will get and even then I can't see them beat the Breffni men.
Roscommon? Forget it they are as bad as their relegation suggested.
Wicklow, only the Micko factor and the fact that Kildare are struggling suggests that they are in with a chance of even one victory.
These days if you can't cut it in the league then you are going nowhere.

Sheer love of the games shines through

One of the things that I love about our association is people's sheer passion for the games and their commitment to getting out a team out.
My club have played every game away from home since 1971 but it has always been one of our proud boasts that no matter how good or bad we were during that period of time that we never failed to field, even in the darkest days of the conflict, and for Northern gaels living in North Belfast there were plenty of those.
I can't help therefore but admire the optimism of Wicklow minor hurling manager Martin Barnes who has taken over the team after the resignation of the previous manager and his team three weeks ago.
Barnes could only round up 13 players for last weekend's minor hurling championship game with Westmeath and had to hoist a white flag when they were 9-22 to no score down at half time.
Despite this Barnes said he will field this week when his team travel to take on Meath.
Where would you get it?
Hammered into the ground, two players short, and without a full side training but determined to get a side together to represent his county at a sport where there is more chance of hell freezing over than winning a game never mind an All Ireland.
You can talk about paying people all the money in the planet, but it's only a sheer love for the game, which could drive anyone like Martin Barnes to scrape a team together to play for their county.
Fair play to him and all the young lads involved, they are a credit to themselves and the association.