A view from the Hill: The magic is back in the inter-county game

By Michael McMullan

THE game is alive again. Donegal or Meath will be the seventh different finalist in five years. They could be the fifth winner as many seasons.

We now have proper discussion over the county scene.

The five years before that, Dublin won all five. Mayo lost three of the deciders. Kerry and Tyrone the others.

The blue wave was impressive but it was painfully predictable. That’s why last weekend reeled us in.

Kerry had been written off. Armagh were champions. Another portion of Dublin v Tyrone. Donegal’s six days. Monaghan fanaticism.

How far was momentum going to take Galway? Did Meath belong at this level?

That’s why I wanted a ringside seat.

Not all the football we watched was perfect. Does it have to be? For me, it doesn’t. It can’t be.

A low-scoring game will tick the boring or intriguing box, depending on your appreciation for tactics.

A shoot-out will tickle the belly of many. Others will grouch about it being too open.

We have all listened to post-game interviews. The winning camp will always have some level of blemish.

Excellent forward play for a goal is often interpreted as poor defending by others.

Cillian McDaid’s goal on Sunday was a case in point. This week, Robbie Brennan will ask why three defenders in No Man’s Land kept their eyes on Rob Finnerty. Why did a fourth not track McDaid fully?

For me, Finnerty’s fist pass and vision was absolutely brilliant. McDaid didn’t need to break stride. Bang. Back of the net. Game on.

Shane Ryan and Shaun Patton, two of the best ‘keepers in the land, were haunted by short kick-outs. Thankfully for them, Rory Grugan and Mícheál Bannigan’s goals weren’t costly.

Jim Gavin and his Football Review Committee have delivered a version of the game coaches haven’t found a control plug-in for just yet.

The ball is always the boss. It’s just now much harder to predict where it bounces next.

In the world of a neutral fan, this is heaven.

You could sense the nerves among the Donegal fans as they congregated at Castleknock station in the hours before throw-in.

Coming down the road, listening to the Farney Army podcast, three voices said Monaghan would nick it. Maybe even in hooter time. The other, Donegal commentator Paddy McGill, nervously opted for his native home county.

Watching Saturday’s games from the Hill was a different experience. No notepad or pen. A few pints beforehand, an overpriced burger and a ‘keeper’s view of what a kick-out press really looks like.

Monaghan’s incisions were there for all to see. It was impossible to keep eyes on Stephen O’Hanlon. Imagine trying to mark him.

When Patton was blown up for taking too long over a kick-out, the zoomed in camera told a story of a broken man. Monaghan’s three lines of four was spooking the hell out of Donegal.

That’s why I honed in on Jim McGuinness as he trod across to the Cusack Stand tunnel at half-time. Seven points down.

Yes, it was a Monaghan collapse after pegging a sensational 1-15. But Donegal threw the sink at them early in the second half.

Ciarán Moore threw himself at a kick-out he had no right to win. Michael Langan marked his 100th game with the most important of goals.

Ryan McAnespie’s hamstring said ‘no’ at the worst possible time.

There was a row of young Donegal fans, cheering Finnbarr Roarty’s every move. It’s nearly as if he represents them. One their own age.

There was no way back for Monaghan as Shane O’Donnell ran Donegal to victory as the rain began to fall.

Con O’Callaghan was absent from the warm-up. A major blow to the Dublin pocket of fans beside me, quick to point out their attendance at the away games. The Dubs do like to travel. Proper Gaels.

As for some of those filtering in with five minutes to throw in, their language was colourful at best.

Every time a Niall Morgan restart picked Dublin apart, they lamped vitriol in his direction. Nordies. Culchies. Peter Canavan’s lack of hair. David Coldrick’s failure of a fitness test. The Dublin players got a touch too.

“Come on Tie-rone, come on Tie-rone, come on Tie-rone, come on,” could be heard from a pocket of fans energised by what the Red Hands were offering.

Peter Teague’s thumping two-pointer. Kieran McGeary popping up everywhere. Morgan always finding a man. Dublin’s reluctance to shoot. It all pointed to a Tyrone win – Niall Devlin’s salute to his point at 0-14 to 0-11 said as much.

Enter Con and the Dublin fans came back to life. They shaved it back to a point. Had Stephen Cluxton nailed his two-point free, Tyrone could’ve been staring at an unfathomable defeat.

Ciarán Daly kicked a vital point with subs Eoin McElholm and Ruairi Canavan then bolting the door closed.

As the pints began to flow in Meaghers, news filtered through of Dessie Farrell’s resignation. Ger Brennan and Declan Darcy were some of the names mentioned.

There was a glint in the eye of Tyrone fans. They were back. They’d never play as bad again. It’s all about the result.

A passing Dub offers his congratulations. The best team won. Dublin are no longer a force. A Donegal fan pokes his head in. He’ll see them in the final.

Back on the train, another Donegal supporter is handing out slices of a ginormous pizza and telling anyone willing to listen that Meath are going to beat Galway.

Sunday was all about green. Kerry and Meath. The Kingdom, fuelled by a double portion of ‘everybody wrote us off’, tore into Armagh in a relentless 15-minute spell.

It was hard enough for them to win crunch games with the ball. With five possessions, amounting to around a minute, in that wave of Kerry dominance, Armagh were smoked.

The Kerry fans answered David Clifford’s pregame call. They travelled and the players backed it up. Seán O’Shea set the tempo.

It was Meath who left the biggest imprint on the weekend. The train coming in from the Navan Road was a sea of green. New jerseys. Retro numbers. A variety of ages. Fake tan. Sunglasses. And hope.

Jordan Morris was electric. Seán Rafferty’s shoulder charge brought the loudest roar of the weekend. The Hogan Stand roof was well tested.

That’s why football is back. Moments like this and countless blocks we’ve had. That’s what inspires. It doesn’t always have to be perfection but the FRC have given us chaos again.

A scene at Drumcondra station on Sunday night said it all. The stranglers are heading home. One Meath fan, head to toe in gear, is staring into a video call.

“We beat Dublin, Kerry and now Galway in the championship, all in the same year,” he bellows into his phone. “Can you believe that man? Up the f**kin’ Royal.”

Check out Monday’s review show of the All-Ireland quarter-final action. We have interviews with the Tyrone, Armagh and Donegal camps.