IN THE mid to late 2000s, in the Gaelic Life’s infancy, when I was young and filled with the optimism about Derry’s prospects in the All-Ireland series there came a turning point in every year. Our editor at the time had an interesting relationship with the Oak Leafers in that he said he liked to see them do well, while at the same time he delighted in their defeat. Every year, the turning point in the season seemed to be when he assigned a journalist the job of finding a pundit to tip Derry up for greatness. It always felt that that very practice ended my county’s chances of success. This week, after watching Shane McGuigan’s performance, in particular his incredible side-steps to beat his man and score, coupled with Niall Loughlin’s outrageous tight-angle goal, I found myself reaching for my contacts book, like Pavlov’s sports-reporting dog, to ring a pundit to set Derry up for a fall.
RONAN SCOTT

SO, one of Cavan’s best players is out for the season. Ciaran Brady, their energetic wing-back who was unlucky not to win an All-Star last year, sustained a cruciate knee injury in their match against Longford just over a week ago. It’s desperately unfortunate for him on a personal level, first and foremost, but it’s also a huge blow to the team. Cavan’s success last year was grounded in the hard work and energy of players like Brady, and they haven’t had the best of league campaigns anyway. He’s nigh on irreplacable, and the task of defeating Tyrone in Healy Park in the first round of the championship has got even tougher. Hopefully he makes a full recovery and is back to his best in 2022.
NIALL GARTLAND

WHEN we think of Donegal we automatically think of Michael Murphy, but last week’s game with Armagh was another reminder of the brilliance of Paddy McBrearty. The Kilcar man maybe doesn’t always get the credit he deserves, maybe because of the miracles Murphy seems to constantly produce, but he really has been one of the best forwards in Ulster over the last decade. He was sublime against Armagh, picking holes, running with intent and scoring five points from play alongside with his three frees. It feels like he has been around forever, but McBrearty is only 27 so we should get to enjoy his talents for a good while yet.
NIALL MCCOY