Eamonn Fitzmaurice
FROM Division 1 to Division 4, every inter-county manager will look to take the positives out of their Allianz Football League campaigns.
A team in the final will adopt the stance that the extra game is fantastic with a chance of silverware. A team that maintained their status in their division will be content and will point to the fact that they now have an opportunity to do a pre-championship block of work that will sustain their summer run. It is trickier to put a positive spin on the team that has been relegated. That manager will possibly point out there would have been no danger of relegation if their April form had been replicated earlier in the campaign. The glass half full mentality has to be adopted as there is little point facing into the Championship with a demoralised squad. Of course, for the truly desperate there is always the last refuge of ‘tis only the league.’
Cork and Dublin will face off Easter Sunday in the Division 1 final, a very interesting game for a variety of reasons. Dublin came closest to derailing Cork last summer and will look to add to their round two victory. Pat Gilroy will be the more anxious of the two managers for a win. A national title in his third season marks progress, reinforces his vision and reassures his players the Gilroy way is the right way. Player confidence and know how increases from closing the deal. While he won’t admit it publicly, it would also add to his own self-belief, which is a vital ingredient of any successful manager. A defeat in a League final could be very harmful to Dublin. Some of the old doubts could return. They have been on an upward curve since the “startled earwigs” of 2009 and a loss now could have a bigger than expected impact.
Conor Counihan will be happy to have another big game in Croke Park to look forward to. Colm O’Neill is a loss to them as he gives them a physical presence in the full forward line they otherwise lack. It is interesting to note that Counihan has been consistently playing Michael Shields at No 4. He must see Shields as the best option to neutralise Colm Cooper come the summer time and is conditioning the St Finbarr’s man to that corner and for that role. I am not sure he will be 100% happy with Cork’s form line at the moment. Yes they are winning games but there is something unconvincing about their performances. Cork learned the importance last year of maintaining an upward graph throughout the year and avoiding a plateau as happened in previous years. They now know the importance of timing their run. Possibly conscious of this, they may be holding a bit back and hope to kick on come late July early August.
Kerry? Jack O’Connor will be quietly pleased with their league campaign. They won five games, losing two to the eventual finalists, and each by a point. They have the best defensive record in the league. He has blooded a couple of defenders, in particular Shane Enright who was again very impressive on Down’s Martin Clarke last Sunday. The Eoin Brosnan experiment has been a massive success and up front the old reliables continue to perform and are being ably assisted by a resurgent Darran O’Sullivan, Bryan Sheehan and Kieran O’Leary. The only blot on the copybook is David Moran’s injury. A couple of days hard work in Portugal over Easter and they are just where they want to be facing into the championship.
Galway and Monaghan were relegated. Monaghan will feel unlucky to go down by virtue of the fact they were relegated because they lost a game by a point to Armagh in February. However I recall last year in Killarney after we beat them in the final league game they were also waiting for results elsewhere and stayed up on points difference. That form of Russian roulette usually catches up. While Galway had a very bad start to the league Tomás O Flathartha will be pleased with the fight they have shown in the last three games. Padraig Joyce’s return has been central to this renaissance. I would worry for a team that relies so heavily on a 34-year-old. Yes, Michael Meehan is still to return but one more forward won’t make their summer.
Division 2 was seriously competitive. The most striking thing has to be the contrasting fortunes of the new managers. The McNulty effect in Laois and Jim McGuiness’ impact on Donegal have propelled their counties to a league final. Again silverware for either rookie bainisteoir would be a major pre-Championship boost. At the other end of the spectrum Seamus McEnaney required a Houdini act on the last day to maintain Division 2 status. Meath in Division 3 would have been unthinkable and for Banty, untenable. It was also interesting to note Mickey Harte’s fury with referee Derek Fahy at the end of the drawn encounter at Pairc Táilteann. He was evidently very anxious to get one more pre-Championship game. Tyrone don’t do challenges and he knows his team are going in the right direction. Big time. Watch them come summer time despite Harte’s current beál bocht.
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/ATC1iWlebFQ/post.aspx
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