Shocks of the summer

Donegal 1-21 Down 3-21

What a start to the championship this was. Had the game been in Newry, people may have given Down a chance, but absolutely no one saw them travelling to Letterkenny and beating Donegal on home turf. Conor Laverty’s men did the impossible though, and goals from Daniel Guiness and Miceal Rooney (2) saw them ease to a six-point win. They came crashing back down to earth in the Ulster SFC semi-final six days later however, when they suffered a huge defeat at the hands of neighbours Armagh.

Meath 0-25 Westmeath 4-18

Before a ball was kicked in the championship, the Delaney Cup was Meath’s to lose. After their journey to the All-Ireland semi-finals last season, and promotion to Division One through the league, Meath were the nailed-on favourites for the Leinster Championship. But things rarely work out quite as simple as that and Mark McHugh’s men in maroon were awesome at Tullamore to upset the odds and knock the Royals out of the competition. Matthew Whittaker and Shane Corcoran, along with substitutes Robbie Forde and Danny McCartan found the net for Westmeath.

Kerry 0-16 Donegal 2-22

Donegal beating Kerry doesn’t necessarily sound like a shock, but context is everything. After hammering the Kingdom in the Division One league final, surely there was going to be a bite back from Jack O’Connor’s men? Especially on home turf in Killarney. For 35 minutes they were well in the game, but tempers spilled over at half time and with Miceal Burns receiving his marching orders at the start of the second half, for striking Ryan McHugh, it was all one-way traffic and Donegal cruised to a second successive comfortable victory over the All-Ireland champions.

McKernan praises ‘Dazzler’s’ second half impact

Westmeath 2-28 Dublin 0-26

Yes, it may not be the Dublin of old, but few could have foreseen Westmeath beating the Dubs at Croke Park in the Leinster final. Mark McHugh’s side were in pole position late on but let Dublin off the leash and they roared back into contention in the final few minutes to force extra time. In the addition 20 minutes, it was all about Westmeath and Dublin simply couldn’t live with them. In the end, eight points was the difference, and Westmeath fully deserved their victory and a second ever Leinster Championship crown.

Dublin 1-24 Louth 4-18

Having lost the Leinster final and beaten Louth on the way to the decider, Dublin were the favourites to once again get the job done, this time at Croke Park. The game seemed to be going to script at half time, but the Wee County bravely battled back in the second half and recorded their first championship triumph over Dublin since 1973 with goals from James Maguire (2), Craig Lennon and Kieran McArdle helping Gareth Devlin’s men on their way.

Offaly 3-22 Down 1-20

Having beaten Donegal in the Ulster Championship and put in some superb performances in the All-Ireland series last summer, it was assumed that Down would sail through to another Tailteann Cup success and book their place among the chasers for Sam Maguire in 2027. It looked that way when they defeated Leitrim with the minimum of fuss, but Offaly really threw a spanner into the works in round two. They overpowered Conor Laverty’s men with the accuracy of Dylan Hyland, who finished with 1-11, leading the way for the Faithful County. They could well meet again in the Tailteann Cup final, but that all depends on what happens this weekend.

Donegal 1-13 Cork 0-17

After losing to Down in O’Donnell Park, there was no way Donegal could be beaten by Cork in Ballybofey, right? That was the general narrative pre-match and even at half time it looked fairly straightforward for Jim McGuinness’ side. But Cork are known as the Rebels for a reason, and they had no issues with upsetting the odds, doing so in emphatic fashion. Luke Fahy, Tommy Walsh and Steven Sherlock landed late two-pointers to see John Cleary’s men over the line.

Louth 2-20 Armagh 2-19

With literally one second left on the clock, Armagh were through to the All-Ireland quarter-finals, but it’s not over until the fat lady sings. Sam Mulroy’s botched two-point effort looked to have been dropping into the waiting hands of Ethan Rafferty, but instead, the Armagh netminder misjudged the flight of the ball and it flew into the net to mark a famous win for the Wee County. They hung in there even when Armagh were on top during the second half and they got their rewards in the end.