Down, down, deeper and down

Let's hear it for the latest entrants to the qualifier waiting room: those vanquished Mourne mountain chaps. Down's inability to live with a resurgent Monaghan yesterday tips them into the same holding pen that we've been languishing in for three weeks now, one that's beginning to fill up nicely at this stage. We already know nine of the sixteen counties that'll be in the hata on June 24th (I'm assuming the draw will take place then, as we should, barring any more drawn games, know all sixteen by then) and the other seven should be revealed over the coming two weekends.

Need a quick recap? Okay, apart from us there's Longford, Westmeath, Kildare, Limerick, Armagh, Fermanagh, Cavan and the aforementioned Down. The losers of Meath and Dublin (that's the Dubs, mark my words) are set to join the party next weekend along with whoever comes off second best in the face-off between Donegal and Tyrone (the still-full ER situation in Tyrone has to mean that Donegal have a real chance in this one) and the losers of Sligo v Roscommon (which could be a close one, but you'd have to go for the Rossies to win it) and Wexford v Louth (probably the latter). The following weekend, the qualifier draw should be completed with the addition of the losers in the Galway v Leitrim, Louth or Wexford v Laois and Derry v Monaghan provincial semis. (Assuming Offaly lose to Meath or Dublin in the Leinster semi, they drop straight into the Tommy Murphy. If they win, there's a problem as it would mean there were 17 counties in the hat but let's ignore that for the discussion here). I'd reckon that Leitrim, Wexford and, probably, Derry will be the ones to slip up at this point.

Down's fate yesterday illustrates nicely the daftness of the current championship structure. They played Cavan twice before losing to Monaghan yesterday but they're now back at the same point as Cavan are. It gets even better: had they won yesterday and then went on to lose to Derry in the provincial semi, they'd have been tipped back into the same draw with two counties they'd already beaten in the Ulster championship. They could have saved themselves a lot of trouble by just losing to Cavan at the first time of asking (way back on May 13th) and putting their feet up for a few weeks.

Checking out the options

Fresh from his electoral success, The Deputy and his selectors have, according to Mike Finnerty in the Mayo News, been taking time out to watch a number of club matches where, it is hoped, they might unearth some fresh talent. In no particular order, names such as Louisburgh’s Jarlath O’Malley, Charlestown’s Tom Parson, Davitts’ Ronan McNamara, Tomas Griffin and Ciaran Griffith from Claremorris and Ballaghaderreen duo Barry Kelly and David Kilcullen are all mentioned as having come to the attention of Johnno and the lads.

That’s half a team and it would make you wonder what the plan is – if there is one at this juncture – for the first round of the qualifiers in four weeks time. “We’re not as bad as we looked in Salthill” was our mantra (well, it was mine in any case) in the days immediately after the May 20th meltdown and the feeling was that, after the predictable howls for a total clearout had died down, what we’d see the next day would be some limited changes to the team that lined out in Salthill.

I still think that this is the most likely option. Pat Harte is suspended so that’s one for starters and I can’t see James Nallen lining out either. Peadar Gardiner will be a lucky man to keep his place but such was the comprehensive way that Galway ripped us apart that you could say the same about virtually the entire backline.

Clearly, Johnno and the boys need to sort out the spine of the team first, something they had seemed to have done early in the league but, by the time we got to Salthill, it was as if players were simply being tossed unceremoniously into key positions. In retrospect, it had all the appearance of a chronic failure to put together our best possible starting fifteen. Fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

For the next day, we need to decide who is best equipped to fill the key positions of full-back, centre-back and midfield and then work out from there. How about David Brady at full-back, Trevor Howley (as Sean Rice suggests, also mentioning David Kilcullen and Sean Ryder as options) at centre-back, with David Heaney and Barry Moran at midfield? Then with Kenneth O’Malley in goal, Liam O’Malley and Keith Higgins in the corners and Enda Devenney and, maybe, Aidan Higgins on the wings, that’s half a team.

It’s difficult to know what to say about the forwards. We’re obviously over-reliant on Conor Mort for scores and with Dillon in such a poor vein of form, this reliance is greater than ever. When Dillon is on form – as he was the first day against Laois last year and again against the Dubs – he’s just superb but when he’s not, he’s barely worth his place. Maybe a spell on the bench is what he needs.

I think Mac will start the next day, as, of course, will Conor, Andy Moran and, most likely, Trevor Mort. We may as well pick Mac on the forty because that’s where he’ll play anyway. That leaves two places to fill. Have we better options at this point in time than Dillon and Ger Brady, who, despite not performing well in Salthill are both battle-hardened and experienced campaigners? I’m not sure we have.

The conclusion, I think, is that we’ll see more of the same the next day. Indeed, Johnno is likely to keep faith with this group of players for as long as our interest remains alive in the championship. With the first two qualifier rounds taking place on successive Saturdays, we could see our championship season end on July 7th or July 14th or (less likely in my opinion) we could see our Summer reignited by a couple of compelling performances. If it’s the latter, then it’s a case of hold onto your hats and enjoy the ride. If it’s the former, however, then it really will be the end of the line for many of the current starting lineup and we’re likely to see a much-changed Mayo emerge in 2008.

Jacks can relax: the replay's going to be on the box

RTE this evening headed off a possible human rights incident in the capital when they announced that they had reached agreement with the GAA to broadcast the Dublin-Meath replay live on Sunday week. For the first time ever, ever, ever, RTE will transmit live championship matches simultaneously, with the already scheduled double-bill of Donegal v Tyrone in football and Cork v Waterford in hurling going out on RTE 2 while the Dublin-Meath rematch is shown on RTE 1, with a 4.15 pm throw-in. Messrs Brolly and O'Rourke should be available for a bit of overtime - the Dubs-Meath game is on at the same time as the hurling so they'll be able to critique the Croker action in their usual inimitable way - but RTE will, no doubt, be frantically attempting to clone Michael Lyster for the occasion. (Hint: use a cardboard cutout and a ventriloquist. Nobody will notice the difference, honest.)

We can all prepare, I suppose, for a tsunami of hype leading up to June 17th, the crescendo now significantly amplified by the fact that the match will be shown live on de telly. In fairness to RTE, they're simply going where the punters want to be: the drawn game last Sunday was watched by a huge audience and the replay is likely to attract a similar level of interest. But it's not quite the World Cup final, lads, so take it easy on the superlatives, okay?

Meanwhile, like Pooh Bear with his arse stuck in Rabbit's hole (no, not THAT hole!), we continue to wait . . . and wait . . . and wait. Only four weeks and a bit to go now compadres, not that long in the scheme of things. Why, there are many things one could do in that time. One could, for example, sit an entire Leaving Cert. Or, if one were Paris Hilton (which, one hastens to clarify, one is most definitely not) one could serve a prison sentence and still have a week and a bit left over to sort out tickets and whatnot for round one of the qualifiers. Yes, it is beginning to drag, isn't it? Oh well, it could be worse - at least Prison Break is back on RTE 2.

Shock! Horror! Dubs-Meath replay unlikely to be shown live on de telly

As everyone knows, when the Dubs take the field in the championship, it is - as the weekend just gone provided but the latest example - to a backdrop of oodles of newsprint and general media hooplah. And, of course, live coverage on de telly as well, for all those adoring fans who failed in their quest to secure a ticket to join their blue-clad brethren on The Hill (and, of course, for the rest of us boggers too, if only to show us what a joyous spectacle a Dubs-dominated Croker is. That's until the ball gets thrown in, when that dominance tends to die a prompt death).

However, it would appear that the world as we know it is about to come to an end, if this RTE report proves to be correct. Because the Dublin-Meath replay is being played on Sunday week, it will clash with two other high-profile matches (Donegal v Tyrone in football, Cork v Waterford in hurling) that are already scheduled to be broadcast live. Live streaming over the Web with full deferred coverage would appear to be as good as it's going to get for the Croker action. Unless, of course, they switch the game to the Saturday.

Yesterday's action

There was little else to do yesterday, with the rain pissing down incessantly, but to watch all the action on the Sunday Game Live. Well, that was after the ritual slaughter down in Dungarvan was over: watching that one would have smacked a little too much as voyeurism, I think. 2-9 to 0-1 at half-time kinda told you that it was all over and at least Kerry did have the decency to let up in the second half. They now face Cork – what a novel pairing that makes – in the Munster final but I think they’ll have their work cut out to regain the Munster title for the zillionth time.

The main action of the day was, of course, in Croker, a rain-sodden Corker at that, for the meeting of Dublin and Meath. (Louth finally saw off Wicklow in the curtain raiser but, like my comments here, that one was relegated to parenthetical mention what with the main event that was to follow). It was an okay match too and while the draw elicited the usual guff about “a fair result”, there was little fair about it from a Meath perspective. They had a perfectly good goal by Graham Geraghty disallowed after twenty minutes, while a screamingly obvious square ball effort from Alan Brogan just prior to the break was let stand. (What is it with the square ball rule? That’s two high-profile goals in as many weeks that should have been disallowed for square ball infringements but which were judged to be okay.)

Despite the six-point deficit they suffered in the first half due to dodgy refereeing, Meath still clung on and deservedly got the draw. They could even have nicked it but that would have been too much for the GAA’s bean counters, not to mention the salivating media, who now get to dine out on acres of 1991 All Over Again bullshit. (By the way, speaking of the fans with typewriters, Tom Humphries has four separate articles in today’s Irish Times about yesterday’s match – is that some kind of record, I wonder? National newspaper, my arse).

Graham Geraghty, the country’s unlikeliest political candidate (did the Blueshirts not recall his politically incorrect comments Down Under when they put him on the ticket in Meath East?), could find himself sitting out the replay in two weeks time as the cameras caught him twice landing sly punches on opponents when officialdom wasn’t watching. He got booked for a separate open-fisted belt later on but if a trial-by-video is instigated, he’s likely to find himself on the sidelines for a while.

Geraghty would be a big loss, no doubt, because when he’s not being a gouger, he’s a wily, talented performer, one who caused plenty of problems for the Dublin backs yesterday. However, Meath will have Brian Farrell back the next day and Cian Ward - who rescued the draw for Meath yesterday with a humdinger of a sideline kick - is almost sure to start as well, so Geraghty or no Geraghty, the Dubs will have their work cut out to live with the New Model Meath in two weeks time. This new Meath have a nice balance to them, with plenty of talented young lads suppemented by a few old hard chaws like Geraghty, Nigel Crawford and Darren Fay. If these guys build up a bit of momentum in the championship, they could take some stopping.

I thought the Dubs were disappointing enough overall. They opened well but, as has happened with them umpteen times in the past, they quickly ran out of steam and it was only the excellence of Conal Keaney’s point-taking and the munificence of the referee that kept them in the hunt. Some things about Dublin baffle me. What other county, for example, would persist with a place kicker as execrable as Mossy Quinn? For every rare one that he lands, he misses buckets and when he’s off target, it can be by yards. Barney Rock he sure ain’t.

Meath by five in the replay. And then we’ll draw the Dubs in the qualifiers.

It's raining, it's pouring

I had forgotten about the weather forecast when I penned the previous post last night. With several inches of rain having fallen in the meantime and - with just under two hours to throw-in between Dublin and Meath - the rain still cascading down (though only on the east coast), the notion of "fair weather supporter" is set to be tested soon, as all those boys in blue contemplate the reality of a rain-soaked afternoon on the Hill. One can imagine the scene in Meagher's and elsewhere in the locality starting to unfold shortly, with calls of tew more pointsa shtout dere Mick loika gud man repeatedly filling the smoke-free air as the clocks tick remorselessly on towards 4pm. What odds now on a delayed throw-in?

To Hell or to Connacht

Another weekend of championship action and this time it’s happening everywhere except Connacht. It’s better that way, I suppose, as it saves us having to watch the latest bloody instalment of the slow march towards what is now the inevitable Herrin’ Choker v Sheep Stealer Connacht final. All in good time we’ll have that one to savour.

The first bit of the weekend's action took place this evening in Tullamore with the meeting of Laois and Longford in the Leinster championship, a match that was carried live on RTE. It was a good contest too, with underdogs Longford giving Laois a right good scare before the Moore county men started to let rip in the rain-filled second half. A succession of good points from play killed off Longford's challenge and so Luke Dempsey's lads now join ourselves and the rest of the poor sods in the qualifiers.

Tomorrow, meanwhile, there’s championship action to enjoy from Ulster, Munster and Leinster. Down south, Waterford will get to have their annihilation at the hands of defending All-Ireland champions Kerry shown live across the country. Well, we had that honour in 2004 and again in 2006 so it’s good to see the experience being shared around a bit. Away from the cameras, meanwhile, Cork are certain to follow up the hammering they gave Limerick with an equally severe dose of the same for Tipperary. Cork for Sam: you heard it here first.

Up in Ulster, Derry (still minus Paddy Bradley, though he’s no longer suspended) should get past Antrim without too much bother. Indeed, with Bradley back in their ranks and a nice easy draw, Derry look a good bet to reach the Ulster final this time out.

All eyes, however, will be on Croker tomorrow for the first full house of the Summer, where Wicklow square up to Louth for the third Sunday running and where, a little later, de Dubs take on old rivals Meath. It’s hard to know how the curtain raiser will go: Micko does certainly seem to have worked some magic on Wicklow but it’s got to end somewhere and it could do so tomorrow.

The only certainty is that it’ll all be over before most of the 60,000 fair weather Dubs supporters have started to make their way towards HQ. But will the throw-in take place promptly at 4pm as the GAA insist it will? We shall see.

As regards the action, de Dubs start the campaign convinced, of course, that this year they’re going to win the All-Ireland. Once again, their arrival onto the championship stage has been accompanied by acres of newsprint, details of or links to which I’ll not bore you with, dear reader, as you’ll undoubtedly have waded through them already.

Meath, meanwhile, take the field with their first serious team since 2001 and, with that slightly unexpected win over Kildare a few weeks back already under their belts, Colm Coyle’s charges won’t be lacking in confidence, especially when they see all that blue all around them when they run out onto the pitch. However, de Dubs (even with the Pillock, God love him, calling the shots) should prevail, not least because Meath’s best forward, Brian Farrell, is suspended due to the straight red he picked up the last day. Which is all for the best, because the GAA needs the Dubs . . . that’s the line isn’t it? And despite this need, last year we only went and did this to them – how could we?