Dublin vs Galway 31st May

Dublin vs Galway 31^st May

Welcome one and all to the third weekend of the GAA diary and the start of the Leinster Hurling Championship in Croke Park!

Dublin are slight favourites for this one, but the men from west Leinster are unpredictable and many experts are tipping them to edge it.

The usual clichés aside, this is close to a must-win game for both teams – the loser is straight into Round 1 of the qualifiers, which will contain three Munster teams and is a real minefield. Galway tried the qualifier route last year and found their legs blown off, figuratively speaking, in the first week of July, losing out to Tipperary.

Injuries have significantly weakened the Galway starting fifteen, with Conor Cooney, David, Daithí and Niall Burke all missing out.

Dublin have an imposing-looking half forward line of Ryan O'Dwyer, Liam Rushe and Danny Sutcliffe and makeshift Galway centre-back Iarla Tannion will have his hands full.

Can Dublin find the goalscoring touch that has eluded them for the last three years?

Can Galway get enough ball into Joe Canning at full forward?

Can Ryan O'Dwyer avoid getting sent off?

Will the Dublin fans abandon their pints to come in and support their team?

Stay tuned, all will be revealed...

Pre Match Analysis – where is Tomás?

Tomás Mulcahy wrote a strange article during the week in response to the standard of play in the Waterford Limerick game last Sunday, the essence of it being that laptops are taking over hurling.

Perhaps Tomás is the man to travel back in time and assassinate the inventor of the microchip and save us all from the ruination of hurling. He may as well take out the inventor of the hurling helmet as well while he's at it, judging from this quote:

“So what message are we sending out to parents of young kids? Everyone has to wear a helmet now so automatically parents will deem ours a very dangerous game and little Johnny will be sent off to play some other sport. Our loss.”... “I think lads will pull away because you simply can't hurt a player. Just look at American Football where there is no fear because the head is protected when players are jumping into tackles and that.”

(Mulcahy, Tomás 2010)

Somebody give this man a job where he has access to the national airwaves!

Unfortunately, today's panel is the duo of Eddie Brennan and Ger Loughnane, and Tomás is nowhere to be seen.

Rudyard Kipling is referenced heavily in the pre-match chatter, a rather heavy-handed metaphor about the law of the jungle by Michael Lyster is taken on enthusiastically by the analysts -

Ger Loughnane: “The strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack”.

Eddie Brennan, promoting inter-species co-operation: “Talking of the jungle, it's about what types of animals you want in your pack”.

As we approach the 20^th anniversary of the release of Jagged Little Pill, Eddie does Alanis Morrissette proud:

“It's ironic that Galway came so close to winning an All-Ireland in 2013”.

I imagine the following exchange as Eddie and Ger travelled up to Dublin this morning...

Ger: Have you any aul music at all in the car Eddie? I can't be listening to your ráiméis all the way to Dublin.

Eddie: Lookit I suppose in a way there's an Alanis Morissette album there in the glovebox.

Ger: Getting some music on here is vital. The last trip we were on, you talked and talked and talked about the size of Brian Cody's ears. I'll tell you something now – they're not that big.

Eddie: I suppose that's a fair point in terms of the ears, but what stands out to me, seeing them in person is how pink they are. Big pink ears. I suppose the prevailing wisdom is that as lads get older, they stop growing. But as the fella says, the ears never stop growing. So I think what you'll see from Brian in years to come is even bigger ears, if anything, if you like.

Ger: Right, I'm putting on the feckin' CD now and will you please stay quiet. Only that you look like Alan Partridge I'd have no time for you at all.

Pre-match predictions: Ger: Galway

Eddie: Both teams will want to avoid the qualifiers.

Down we go to our commentary team of Marty Morrissey and Dónal O'Grady.

First Half

1 min Cyril Donnellan, being marked by Conal Keaney, fires over a nice point.

3 mins Donnellan breaks free again, and his goal attempt causes a panicky goalmouth scramble, eventually cleared.

6 mins Referee James McGrath seems to be blowing for every third foul here, a lot of holding going on.

Marty Morrissey: “There is a strong crossfield breeze up here on the seventh floor.”

11 mins Long-range point from Donnellan – Galway are working hard and well on top in the initial stages.

15 mins Galway midfielders and half-forwards are not in any way inclined to let the ball inside to Joe Canning at the edge of the square, opting for pot-shots from range. Dónal O'Grady's annoyance is palpable.

17 mins Mark Schutte for Dublin is showing well for the ball and his direct style is causing problems for Johnny Coen.

I find myself nodding along with most of what O'Grady has to say in co-commentary. His pragmatic, tough-love style is strangely entertaining. He dislikes, above all else, wasted possession, and there is plenty of that going on here.

19 mins Marty's voice breaks into a pre-pubescent squeal as Galway midfielder Joseph Cooney breaks onto a loose ball, carries it forward, and fires to the net. Well taken goal.

Score: Galway 1-06 Dublin 0-04

21 mins Schutte's ball-winning is keeping Dublin in the game. He scores again from a great crossfield pass from Ryan O'Dwyer.

Dublin are finding space now in the middle third and have rattled off the last three points since the Galway goal. An excellent response.

O'Dwyer is playing slightly deeper than usual and doing a creditable impression of a poor man's Patrick Bonnar Maher.

Score: Galway 1-06 Dublin 0-07

30 mins Johnny Coen is yellow carded – Chutte is giving him a proper roasting..

32 mins Twice in the space of five minutes, Dublin full back Peter Kelly has lost possession in front of his own goal, a cardinal sin for a defender. Both times they have been lucky to get the ball clear.

34 mins Mark Schutte again! What a performance. Shortens the grip in traffic and flicks the ball over the bar.

35 mins Bad wide from Canning – he's really struggling to get into the game.

Half time score: Galway 1-09 Dublin 0-11

A strange half – Galway were well on top and Cyril Donnellan was threatening to run riot until Cooney's goal woke Dublin up. There have been sporadic bursts of the sort of intensity you expect from championship hurling along with some really poor, lacklustre passages of play.

Mark Schutte has been outstanding for Dublin, while at the other end, Joe Canning has done very little. Galway should surely be trying to feed him the ball more regularly rather than shooting from distance.

Ger Loughnane: “A slow boiler of a game”.

Eddie Brennan: “I'd go as far as to say the Galway forwards needs to squeeze up on the Dublin backs and stop them coming out with the ball”.

Second Half

37 mins Poor Marty is really struggling to differentiate between players wearing the same colour helmets. The sooner Tomás Mulcahy completes his mission the better.

39 mins Fine point by Danny Sutcliffe for Dublin.

42 mins Six points from frees now for Dublin , David Treacy is unerring.

Score: Galway 1-9 Dublin 0-14

48 mins Ryan O'Dwyer is winning a lot of possession around the middle and causing problems for Galway.

54 mins Joe Canning gets his first score from play from a decent low delivery.

Score: Galway 1-12 Dublin 0-17

57 mins Canning has given up playing full forward and started to drift out the field. Galway have no full forward line and it's hurting them.

60 mins It was only a matter of time...Ryan O'Dwyer is yellow-carded for a dangerous tackle on Iarla Tannion, arriving late and catching Tannion in the head. If only helmets weren't compulsory, that might never have happened...

O'Dwyer's Tazmanian devil style of tackling is always bordering on reckless and it wouldn't surprise me if he is substituted shortly.

63 mins The game is there for the taking for both teams but neither seem to want it. Galway have hit thirteen wides, many of them from poor positions.

67 mins The last few minutes of play mean that I must downgrade this game from 'average' to 'poor'. Really aimless stuff from both sides.

68 mins David Treacy misses a scorable free which would have put Dublin two ahead.

69 mins Point for Galway! Aidan Harte with a good score to level the game.

70+ mins Referee James McGrath blows the full time whistle even though most of the two minutes of additional time were taken up with substitutions – I don't think the ball was actually in play for any of it. The sooner the timekeeping mess is sorted out the better.

Final Score:

Galway 1-17 Dublin 0-20

I don't quite know how Galway managed to get a draw out of this game. Most of the standout players were on the Dublin side – Ryan O'Dwyer, Mark Schutte, David Treacy.

Joe Canning didn't look sharp and Galway made little attempt to feed him the ball. Having said that, Galway had several goal chances that they didn't capitalise on, and the loss of Peter Kelly to injury is a significant one.

Dublin may be demoralised to have been dominant in so many key areas and still not come out on top. As well as that, Canning missed two relatively straightforward frees, and the Galway backs fouled far too frequently.

Anybody's game in the replay, let's hope it's a better match.

Slán.

Limerick vs Clare  24^th May

Welcome one and all to the first game of the Munster Hurling Championship from Semple Stadium in Thurles, and we have an intriguing game in prospect. Both teams have had disappointing National League campaigns and will be eager to make a big impression here.

In last year's championship, Limerick were relatively successful – a big win over Tipperary early on, beaten by Cork in a closely contested Munster Final, and losing out to Kilkenny in a riveting All-Ireland semi-final in atrocious conditions largely through the brilliance of Richie Hogan. The wet day suited Limerick, but it suited Kilkenny more.

Clare, on the other hand, had a year to forget, losing out to Wexford after extra time in a replayed game, having been reduced to thirteen men, but in reality, it was Wexford's wayward shooting in both games that kept the Banner men in it.

Still, Shane O'Donnell's back has finally recovered after eighteen months in the saddle following his hattrick in the 2013 final, and Tony Kelly seems to be recovering his player of the year form after a poor campaign last year.

Much has been made of problems in the camp, defections to the footballers and harsh punishment rituals, but their build up to this game has been decidedly low-key, leading everyone to wonder if Davy is waiting in the long grass with a helium balloon and tinfoil hat, to pop out at the end of the game and say “I told ye all, so I did”.

Pre-match Analysis

Davy's demeanour in the pregame interview is that of a lad hanging around outside a chip shop at half past two looking for a fight. At any moment I expect him to come out with “What did you just say” and square up to Claire McNamara. In the end Claire backs down and confrontation is avoided.

The panel today: Liam Sheedy, Cyril Farrell and newcomer Henry Shefflin, whose pink tie it must be said is clashing violently with his ginger hair. An early statement of intent from the Kilkenny man.

Lots of borderline nonsense from Cyril Farrell early doors but he does speak at an incredible rate so I suppose it's to be expected:

“Limerick play on the cuff a bit more than Clare”

“Shane Dowling is already the future of Limerick hurling”

You get the gist.

Henry wades into the action with “Tony Kelly is 23 now and coming into his prime as a hurler”.

(Kelly turned 21 in December).

Sheedy: “If Clare give away frees, Shane Dowling will persevere every chance.”

One final remark from Cyril before we go down pitchside: “Shane O'Donnell will be twisting and turning like a hare being hounded by a hound.”

Down we go to Ger Canning and Michael Duignan as the game is about to start – thankfully today we have no opera singers dragging the arse out of the National Anthem and the crowd is fired up.

Here we go!

First Half

Immediately it's noticeable that there are a lot of bodies around the middle third. Shane O'Donnell seems to be operating as a one man full forward line, and Shane Dowling similarly at the other end.

Limerick are going direct early - a long high ball into Dowling, who makes a great catch and is fouled.

Dowling goes for goal from the free, it's saved and the rebound falls to a Limerick forward who is immediately fouled in front of goal.

Clare's defending last year was panicky and indisciplined, and early signs here are for more of the same.

5 mins Shane O'Donnell is being double marked and does well to win a free which is converted by Colin Ryan.

The early exchanges are frantic within the congested midfield area. O'Donnell is being forced to drift out towards the sideline to look for possession.

11 mins Debutant Cian Lynch fires over a lovely score after a jinking run. No sign of nerves as he ran at the Clare defence.

12 mins Another silly free conceded by Clare

Score Limerick 0-6 Clare 0-3

Cian Lynch breaks out some fancy flicks and seems right at home in this game. Picks off another good point.

20 mins Limerick are well on top here, but there is an awful lot of aimless hurling by both teams.

26 mins Davy gets his first talking-to from the referee. We can see him gesticulating wildly but RTE disappointingly have placed the sideline mic out of range of his high-pitched ranting.

31 mins Duignan: “This is brutal stuff”.

35 mins The number of silly frees conceded by Clare is staggering.

A bit of pushing and shoving near the sideline turns nasty and Pat O'Donnell catches Donal O'Grady with a solid belt on the chin with the hurley. A red card and rightly so, right on the stroke of halftime.

A terrible first half, full of aimless solo running, short passing, bad wides and poor use of possession. One man double marked in each full forward line and twenty two fellas swinging out of eachother in the middle third.

Limerick have missed three scoreable frees and should be further ahead. Clare's lack of discipline is something that obviously hasn't been addressed – I make that four red cards in their last three championship outings, and the fouls being committed by their backs are silly and obvious.

The only real highlights have been the performances of Shane O'Donnell and Cian Lynch, but all in all a dreary first thirty five minutes.

Half Time Analysis

Michael Lyster lifts up the RTE studio rug and tries to sweep the first half neatly under it, with:

“I suppose this is what happens when so much is depending on a match”

Come off it Michael – a lot depends on every championship match. This is what happens when two managers send their teams out to play in a negative fashion, that's obvious to everyone watching.

A first on an RTE hurling panel as all three experts are openly critical of the standard of play. (To be fair, Tomás Mulcahy is as láthair. An rud is annamh is iontach.)

Here's hoping for a better second half.

Second Half

37 mins Great start by Clare, two quick points to level the score at ten apiece.

Dónal O'Donovan is in real trouble trying to contain Cian Lynch's trickery.

Ger Canning had a quiet first half by his standards, not bothering to inform us about the number of championship matches various players have played, but he is beginning to spout some good gibberish now, early in the second half, as Shane Dowling stands over a free:

“Shane Dowling reporting for duty, and as usual he's absolutely commendable.”

He then gets in a bizarre reference to the movie Kramer vs Kramer as Clare win a sideline ball. I am struggling to see the connection.

40 mins Brilliant score by John Conlon from near the sideline. Slightly more orthodox set up by Clare in the second half, pushing more men forward.

The needle on Ger's ráméis-ometer is stuck firmly in the red now as a Limerick player accidentally drops his hurley chasing after the ball:

“It's like the egg and spoon race where you lose the egg, this time he lost the spoon however.”

Duignan correctly observes that the game is much livelier now, to which Canning excitedly proclaims: “It's like we're living in a different country Michael!”

46 mins Great solo run and score by Tom Condon for Limerick.

Score: Limerick 0-13 Clare 0-12

48 mins Clare substitute Aaron Cunningham bursts through and fires just over the bar, could have easily been a goal.

Clare's needless fouling shows no sign of letting up, and Dowling is punishing them remorselessly – one beauty from eighty five metres. He has now scored ten points from frees.

51 mins Goal for Limerick! Graham Mulcahy strikes to the net after a fumble by the Clare keeper.

Things looking bad for Clare now.

52 mins Wait a second! Brilliant individual goal by Aaron Cunningham, bursting past three defenders and finishing off the stick to the bottom corner. The game is coming to life.

54 mins Tony Kelly fires over from an impossible angle and Clare are right back in the game.

Score Limerick 1-16 Clare 1-14

55 mins It's all happening now – Red card for Limerick's Seanie Tobin who has been on the field less than ten seconds - this must be some kind of record. Possibly a little harsh but he did dig the hurley into the ribs of his man. No need to wash that jersey.

An attempt at a short sideline cut goes badly wrong for Clare leading Ger to observe:

“They've perfected that over the last number of years”.

61 mins Eleven points from frees now for Limerick.

63 mins Goal for Clare! Aaron Cunningham again, running straight at the Limerick defense and once again strikes the ball straight off the stick – fantastic goal. Why wasn't he starting?

65 mins Shane O'Donnell ties up the game with his first score. He has been nothing short of heroic for Clare today.

67 mins A massive point by John Fitzgibbon puts Limerick a point ahead.

70 mins Game over, a one point win for Limerick.

An excellent and exciting second half, lit up by the brilliant goals of Aaron Cunningham, but Clare's indiscipline ultimately cost them.

Cian Lynch excelled for Limerick in his championship debut and looks to have real star potential. All in all, Limerick won the game without being massively impressive and owe a lot to the freetaking of Shane Dowling. They don't seem to carry a great goal threat but are dogged and tough around the middle in what is a fairly defensive-minded setup.

Clare can take heart from aspects of their second half performance and look forward to the return of Conor McGrath from injury. Their lack of discipline, however, is alarming, considering it was the main cause of their downfall last year and doesn't seem to have been addressed.

Post Match Analysis

A disputed point by Dowling is shown on a slow motion replay which to my eyes doesn't lend any more clarity to the situation. Michael seems convinced it was over the bar and helpfully adds:

“It might have been an important score if it hadn't gone between the posts, but it did.”

We've all been waiting with a sense of guilty pleasure for Davy's postmatch interview – he chased referee Colm Lyons down the tunnel after the game, and I don't think it was a handshake he was looking for...

And here he is!

This is classic sulking Davy – eyes rooted to the floor, paranoid, vague suggestions of conspiracy theories, so so proud of each and every one of those lads inside in that dressing room so he is, not being drawn into criticising officials, no way you're not drawing him into that, 100% convinced that they didn't deserve to lose that match.

If he actually believes what he's saying, little wonder that Clare's defending hasn't improved. It's all the referee's fault and they have nothing to improve upon in terms of their tackling. Don't ever change Davy.

That's all for now folks, tune in next Sunday for Dublin vs Galway in the Leinster Hurling Championship.

Slán.

17/05 – Donegal vs Tyrone

Welcome one and all to the pissing rain and howling wind of Ballybofey, for this the preliminary round of the Ulster Championship, between two teams absolutely sick of playing eachother.

Will any sense of adventure be smothered by two wet blankets, or will a game of football break out against all odds? Stay tuned, all will be revealed.

First up, a rather hipster-ish Benny Coulter talks about playing against Donegal and Tyrone. It doesn't sound like he enjoyed it much, noticeably wincing when he has to mention Donegal.

The panel! Joe Brolly, Colm O'Rourke and Pat Spillane. Colm sits in the middle as usual in an attempt to keep the peace.

I'll admit it, I'm not overly optimistic about how these three lads are going to analyse this season's championship. Football has changed, they have not. The game is very tactical now, and people at home want it analysed accordingly. Let's see how it goes...

Colm: 'Donegal beat Dublin last year because the Dublin backs refused to mark their men'.

A gross over-simplification and kind of insulting to Dublin, but I'll allow it.

Pat presents a piece of 'analysis' about overcoming Donegal's defensive system. For evidence, he has a series of clips of scores against Donegal by various teams (mainly Kerry), and simply talks over them, explaining what's happening.

Very poor even by Pat's standards – showing teams kicking scores against Donegal is not analysis – we know they concede scores. What you're supposed to tell us is how a team should attack them with maximum efficiency.

Brolly gives us a decent account of both teams' style of play, and Tyrone's limitations in comparison to Donegal. He knows his stuff when he's not trying to be Eamon Dunphy or make Pat's head explode.

Michael Lyster manfully cuts off a cliché ridden interview with Eamonn Fitzmaurice mid-sentence to tell us that the game is about to start, and introduce our commentary team of Marty Morrissey and Martin Carney. Christ.

I can already sense Marty's moaning vibes about the handpassing, but to be fair, I am rather looking forward to the muddled sentences of Martin Carney, who clearly skipped a semester or two of commentary jargon school, and may have peaked in the All-Ireland final of 2011 with the seldom-used phrase:

“He catched its face”, when referring to a clash between Ger Brennan and Declan O'Sullivan.

As the teams parade around Ballybofey, it's clear that the rumours of a svelte Michael Murphy were greatly exaggerated - he is bursting out of the jersey just as frighteningly as he ever was.

Marty: This venue in Ballybofey is sold out, which means we have a capacity crowd.

Carney: Going out with a blanket defensive system against Donegal is absolute stupidity.

100% incorrect Martin. The ONLY way to play Donegal is to take them on at their own game. Almost common knowledge at this point. It worked for Kerry last year, and when Dublin tried to play an attacking game against them it backfired spectacularly. Really silly statement.

Carney again: A cocktail of factors must gel for Tyrone today.

Boom!

You know, Lloyd, just when I think you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this... and totally redeem yourself!

OK, National Anthem over, let's go!

2 mins Two excellent early scores for Donegal, one a beauty by Paddy McBrearty.

3 mins Time for my opening tirade on the subject of the black card. A clothesline tackle by Tyrone's Martin O'Reilly brings a halt to a Donegal attack.

A perfect example of what the black card was introduced for. A cynical, reckless challenge, pulling the player to the ground, no attempt to play the ball. Black card, end of story. Referee Joe McQuillan shows a yellow. Total cop-out.

Why have the rule in the first place if it's not going to be implemented? When the card came in first, referees were applying it correctly, and the result was higher scoring and more free-flowing games. Then at some point during the Kerry-Mayo saga in last year's championship, it seems like an edict came from above and the card was effectively ditched. Either enforce the rule or get rid of it, one or the other. What is the point of a rule book full of rules that everybody ignores? (to be continued...)

4 mins Donegal are patient in their build up play, but at the same time always on the lookout for an inside forward finding a bit of space.

5 mins An absolutely blatant push in the back goes unpunished by McQuillan. It's hard enough for forwards without the ref chipping in.

9 mins Goal for Tyrone! Darren McCurry beautifully set up by Peter Harte, and he slots it calmly home. Donegal caught napping at the back. Pat is probably hopping around the studio shouting “SEE, SEE I TOLD YE”.

Score Donegal 0-04 Tyrone 1-00

Carney: Tyrone haven't scored a goal against Donegal in god knows when.

Almost Martin, almost.

Blatant push-in-the-back count: 3.

19 mins Peter Harte is having a fine game and sets up a good Tyrone score with a nice piece of skill.

Blatant push-in-the-back count: 4

Tyrone could do with a free-taker, they have missed two handy ones with the wind behind them.

27 mins He's not a real man, he's just a Toye!

(I shout this whenever Christy Toye gets a score. Some might say it's strange, I say eccentric)

Classic Donegal counter-attack, the kind a junior footballer such as myself would need a respirator after. Donegal players are very strong in possession, never turning the ball over in the tackle. Take note butter-fingered Cork men.

31-33 mins Threes quick scores for Tyrone on the foot of a period of midfield dominance. Well in the game now.

35 mins Goal for Donegal! A right kick in the rollers just before half time. Fantastic initial save from McBrearty, but midfielder McIlhenny is on hand to soccer it home, a fly-kick to the back of the net as a man from the 1950s might say. Tidy finish.

36 mins Colm McFadden hit a beauty with the outside of the boot to really rub it in.

Haltime score: Donegal 1-08 Tyrone 1-06

Disastrous finish to the half from Tyrone, playing with a strong breeze they really needed to go in ahead. An air of inevitability about this one now. Not many teams survive Donegal's second half meat grinder once that handle starts turning.

It was an exellent and absorbing half of football – you can see that Tyrone have potential but Donegal are that little bit further down the line with their attacking play.

Tyrone can infuriate at times – kicking almost all their frees backwards without seeing if anything is on up front, running headlong into tackles, handpassing sideways. Every now and then, Donegal play lovely 30 yard kick passes into a tiny pocket of space in front of goal, almost always resulting in a score. This is never even an option for Tyrone, their play is too predictable and one-dimensional.

Wait a minute! Ugly scenes as the players are leaving the pitch – some pushing and shoving. One Tyrone player looks to have been on the receiving end of as many as two shoves. A man carrying a cooler box almost lost his footing. I demand outrage!

Marty: The Enniskillen Pipe Band are playing away in the background while this row goes on, making it quite farcical.

Haltime Analysis

The 'ugly scenes' are replayed unnecessarily a few times. Talk about the game for the love of god, it was actually quite good!

Eventually they get back to talking about the match.

Pat: The unusual thing about that score is that McFadden is actually left-footed but kicked it over the bar with his right foot.

Pat then pats himself on the back about the Tyrone goal and links it to his piece of pre-game analysis. Brolly laughs blatantly in his face.

This halftime is all Pat's, and he finishes off with this beauty:

'It's a very difficult wind to play with, it's probably playing a lot into the corners.'

Kinda like an old crappy pool table where all the balls get stuck to the cushions I assume he means.

Second Half

Blatant push-in-the-back count: 5

The Donegal meat-grinder in full effect, Tyrone struggling to make much headway.

Let's skip ahead a bit...

46 mins Classic Donegal lung-bursting counter-attack finished by Lacey.

1-10 to 1-08.

The camera RTE are using for kickouts has been covered in rain since the start of the game. WILL YE GIVE THE SHAGGIN THING A WIPE?!

48 mins Great save by O'Neill from McBrearty, would have been game over.

50 mins Conor McAlliskey is having a great second half and scores the point of the match.

55 mins Blatant push-in-the-back count: 6

59 mins Another great save from O'Neill from McFadden. Donegal could be out of sight, but Tyrone still hanging in there.

Marty (excitedly): Almost a great catch there by Colm Cavanagh.

64 mins 2^nd yellow for giant Donegal man Neil Gallagher. There is real bad blood between these two teams. I like it!

66 mins Black card for Sean Cavanagh. Why now? Far more innocuous incident that the one in the first half. He had to go though, already on a yellow.

68 mins Micheal Murphy seals the deal with an outrageous 45 from near the sideline. Perfect from the moment it left his boot. I could try that for the rest of my life and not even come close.

70+mins Tyrone throw the kitchen sink at Donegal to get an equalizing goal, but Brian Blessed lookalike Paul Durcan probably eats kitchen sinks for breakfast.

Full time: Donegal 1-13 Tyrone 1-10

Donegal are a well oiled machine at this stage, and once they went in ahead at halftime, you feared the worst for Tyrone. It's a huge boost to them to have Colm McFadden playing well again after close to two years in the doldrums. Paddy McBrearty is a lovely, balanced footballer in the Padraic Joyce mould and was probably wasted last year in the super-sub role. They are rightfully up there at the top table with Dublin and Kerry and nobody will want to play them.

Tyrone are a work-in-progress with some nice young players coming through, but haven't figured out yet how to transition from defence to attack. Far too one-dimensional and lateral and unadventurous. Still, nobody in the second tier of teams would fancy playing them – they are very disciplined in defence and do not cough up scorable frees, and their attacking threat may develop as the summer goes on.

Post Game Analysis

A screaming match erupts between Brolly and Pat! Here we go...

In Joe's defence, Pat's point about Donegal showing signs of wear and tear is absolute nonsense, and then he contradicts himself immediately by agreeing with Colm that you can't judge a team this early in the year. Drivel.

Another argument breaks out as to whether Murphy is the most influential footballer in the country, with Pat maintaining that he didn't play well today.

Spillane's closing comment (roared above Michael Lyster's attempt to wrap things up:

'The attention span of a goldfish is eight seconds, a human is nine' and then points accusingly at Brolly.

Michael Lyster: Gentlemen, it's going to be a loong year.

Closing shot of Brolly and Spillane chewing nettles, with Colm giggling in the middle.

It sure is Michael, it sure is!

... Aaaaand we're back!
After four years of soul-searching in the wilderness of cyberspace, the GAA diary has returned - refreshed, reinvigorated, rehabilitated and generally rarin' to go.

I'd like to welcome back my two loyal readers from the previous incarnation of the blog, we've been through a lot the last four years. Ireland is a different place now - you have to pay twice to flush the jacks, we have bounced back from the depths of economic depression, and soon gay couples will be forced to get married in the spirit of equality.

What does this year's football championship have in store for us?
Can a new team break through to dine at the top table with Dublin, Kerry, Donegal and possibly Mayo?
(Please don't suggest Cork - full disclosure: I'm a Corkman. We'll talk plenty about Cork in due course.)

Will the Ulster Championship bring us the first scoreless draw in living memory?
Can Galway or Roscommon break through in Connaught?
Could the combined 'Rest of Leinster' team keep the ball kicked out to Dublin?
Can Tipperary take a giant step forward in Munster?
Can one of Cork's 12 defenders lay a hand on an opposition forward?

All will be revealed ladies and gents, plus we get to poke fun at the coverage of RTE and Sky along the way...What's not to like?

Tune in each and every Monday morning for the latest reports, and adjust your dumping schedules accordingly.