THIS weekend we head into what could be the final action of the National Leagues as the majority of finals look like they won’t be played due to championship fixtures.

Looking at all divisions, in the majority of cases I think that managers would be fairly happy with how they have managed to come through the leagues. Obviously some teams have had a shaky performance here and there and may have a lot of tweaking to do before they head into the championship. But, by and large, teams and management teams would have been happy just to get a few games under their belts.

In terms of what we have learned as a whole moving into the championship season, you must be excited especially if you’re from Ulster with the amount of teams that have shown real promise for the season ahead.

At the start of this campaign obviously you would have had the likes of Donegal and Tyrone with Cavan also there or thereabouts after last year’s performances. Now you could probably add Monaghan and Derry and possibly Armagh to that list, which is frightening to say the l least.

I also want to give a special mention to the Antrim footballers who are starting to shake a few branches and attract some attention. We know that they have a very shrewd management set-up in place in terms of Enda McGinley assisted by Stephen O’Neill, so one thing is for sure they will be extremely well drilled and well coached and that for me could make them dangerous.

I do feel that with this fresh, new approach of most teams playing a more open expansive brand of football it makes for a fascinating season ahead.

Now don’t get me wrong, some of the defending that we have witnessed in a few of the games leaves a lot to be desired, but I’d rather focus on the scintillating forward play that simply blew us away over the last few weekends.

This weekend I will attend the Donegal and Dublin Division One semi-final and I must admit it’s a game that I’m really looking forward to. I said at the start of last season that Donegal perhaps were one of the few teams who could put it up to Dublin but those dreams was shattered when Cavan put an end to the Tir Chonaill journey.

Last year I just felt that the way Donegal approached the game and the individual talents that they had within their team meant that just maybe they would have enough to tackle this Dublin machine but, unfortunately, that didn’t materialise.

This season is slightly different. Dublin are still doing what Dublin do – dismantling teams for fun – but Donegal seem to have taken a bit of a wobble so it will be interesting to see how close they can’t come to Dublin this Saturday night.

Make no bones about it, yes an Ulster title would be fantastic for Declan Bonner and his troops but their eyes are firmly fixed on the big prize. In order to get their hands on that prize they must be able to match and compete with this Dublin juggernaut.

In the other semi-final we see Kerry lock horns with Tyrone in what should be another fascinating tussle.

I was covering the first National League game between Donegal and Tyrone and I fully understand that that was the first game but leaving Omagh that night I would have to admit that I was a little bit disappointed.

Since that game Tyrone have gradually improved so I am interested to see how they will shape up against this free-scoring Kerry machine. Based on performances to date I feel it will be a big ask but I’m sure it’s one that Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher are very much looking forward to.

These are the types of games where are you find out if that new player that you are so excited about really has what it takes to compete at the highest level.

Tyrone may not win this one this weekend but they will learn some valuable lessons about how they are setting up, and the players they can trust.

Summer is here, the pitches are in immaculate condition, the weather is improving and with each passing game you can almost sense that championship atmosphere in the air. By God isn’t it great to have that back?