WE thought the first weekend of the National Football League was full of fun and surprises, well the second week certainly took things up a notch or two.

Going by the displays on the opening day of the National League this year, it was clear that we were in for a very interesting campaign with so much at stake and very little between the teams. We all sat back and watched as Armagh dismantled the Dubs in their own backyard but many of us wondered if this was a once off or if Armagh were finally about to take that leap forward that they have threatened to do over the last number of years.

I was looking forward to the Armagh and Tyrone game on Sunday for a number of reasons. No matter what time of the year this game is played at, there is always fierce competition between both teams given the rivalry between them.

Let’s start by saying that Tyrone are nowhere near the animal that they were at the end of last season or the team that they will be in say four or five weeks’ time, but that takes nothing away from Armagh’s performance.

After the Dublin game, a lot of us looked at the Dublin team and perhaps said that they were not at their strongest and maybe we still had question marks over how good this Armagh team was.

The pressure was on Kieran McGeeney’s young team to back up that Dublin performance last weekend and they did so with aplomb. I love the look of them.

This Orchard team are young, energetic, physical and show very little fear and with man-mountain Rian O’Neill on the edge of the scare they have one of the best full-forwards in the business at the minute.

They play a lovely brand of football and mix it up beautifully between holding onto position and kick-passing the ball in early to the danger zone.

Stiffer tests no doubt lie ahead, but I’m pretty sure at this moment in time Donegal manager Declan Bonner will be sitting up and taking notice as this Armagh juggernaut seems to be picking up pace at an alarming rate ahead of their Ulster meeting.

I can’t move on without touching on the red card situation and although none of us want to see scenes like that at games, unfortunately from time to time they do happen.

If you fast-forward and rewind that clip 1000 times you will struggle to find any real malice and the fact that the referee decided to flash a number of red cards simply baffled me. I understand there is a rule stating that if you contribute to melee then that is a red card offence but here lies the issue for me. The next time this happens on any field club or county you can be sure that there will be screams at the referee to hand out a number of red cards so David Gough’s actions last weekend only put more pressure on referees at all levels.

You can argue that he took the step to try and stamp this out of our game but if you think that in the heat of the moment and with temperatures running high that players won’t rush in and push and shove for fear of being sent off, then you have no understanding of our game.

I also do not understand the need for pundits to sit on TV and argue that this was the correct decision just so that they look as if they’re saying the correct thing. I guarantee you that if you met them in the street and you asked them was there any harm in what happened they would laugh and just say that’s part of our game. Less of the politically correct answers please and just tell us as it is.

Elsewhere last weekend, the Dubs suffered another heavy defeat to Kerry and now serious question marks hang over their season.

They currently sit bottom of Division One and although they are not known for setting the world alight early on, it will be worrying for Dessie Farrell and his players at this point.

There is no doubt that when they get Con O’Callaghan, James McCarthy, Mick Fitzsimons, Johnny Cooper and the likes back on the field it will strengthen their position but the total domination that they had in the past seems to be gone for this current group of players.

Dublin may not dominate the competition like they have done in the past, but they still have enough quality players in their ranks to topple some other of the so-called pretenders to the crown so this only adds to the excitement of this year‘s championship when it does swing around.

Donegal collected two much-needed points with a better performance last weekend against Kildare at home in Ballybofey, so this eases the pressure as they now sit on three points.

They face the acid test in the next round when they head to Killarney to face off against the Kingdom but with three points now in the bag, things will be rosier this week in the camp.

The big concern will be the injury to Michael Murphy who had to leave the field of play after picking up a knock, but knowing Michael he will recover quickly enough to take his place on the edge of the square when we head to the Kingdom.

Before I finish this week, I would like to extend a warm congratulations to the Steelstown, Brian Ogs club from Derry on their monumental success at the weekend in becoming All-Ireland Intermediate champions. This has been an incredible journey for this club from Derry city and they deserve all the praise and plaudits that are coming their way.

I would also like to wish Kilcoo all the very best in their quest for All-Ireland glory on Saturday. Let’s hope that the Magpies can get the job done and bring that Andy Merrigan Cup back to the province. UTM!