GERARD O’KANE: Crunch time for Galway and Derry

JUST when the GAA seems to have got a few things right, they might just go and undo it all again.

When these new group stages came in last year there was commentary around needless games, about how it’s set up for the stronger sides and will lead to some dead rubbers and too many drubbings. So as a result there is a plan to change this next year to a new format.

Then the last two weeks happened. Five out of the eight provincial finalists have been beaten in their first group games with three out of four of those being the provincial winners. Kerry, meanwhile, are the only provincial winner to win their first group game at home. Good luck to anyone picking the winners in games with any great security this week. A number of the groups have been turned on their head and this weekend will only see further trepidation.

It was probably no great shock to see Dublin get their house in order given the men they had back after the defeat to Meath, and they over-turned four in-a-row Connacht champions Galway in their own backyard. It’s thrown that group wide open: Galway have to navigate tricky fixtures away to Derry and at a neutral venue with Armagh over the next few weeks to try to secure a preliminary quarter-final game at best.

For a team touted by many as favourites for the All-Ireland this is not what they would have chosen as their route to Croke Park.

Following Derry’s mixed showing in the Athletic Grounds, Galway might have their work cut out for them if the Oakleafers can achieve some sort of consistency over the 70 minutes. From being 13 points down to clawing the game back to a four-point margin, and Armagh having Ethan Rafferty in goals to thank for pulling off a number of saves, there is a consistency somewhere in that Derry performance that allows for a deal of optimism in the next few weeks. The last time Galway came to Celtic Park it ended in a draw with Derry coming from seven or eight down at half time and if the game had gone on any longer Derry looked the more likely winners. It definitely is pressure cooker time for both teams – especially Galway given the expectation which surrounds them.

While not seeing the Donegal v Tyrone game on Saturday, I did look for all the highlights available on different social media platforms on Saturday evening and there was one noticeable omission from them all – an interview with Donegal manager Jim McGuinness. I was interested to hear what he had to say as I can’t imagine he would have been too happy.

While I only had highlights to go by, it seemed like Donegal were off the pace in so many aspects of their play. Their trademark aggressive and disciplined defence – where another team really has to work for a score – seemed absent.

The second goal from Seanie O’Donnell was the epitome of this. Conn Kilpatrick ran six- plus yards unchallenged, gave a loopy handpass to O’Donnell which cut out three or four men. O’Donnell then easily side-stepped a lazy one-arm tackle and found himself one v one. This was just one instance, but it seemed to be happening all game and the Peter Harte two-pointer was another example of everything that is not associated with a McGuinness side.

I can only attribute his media absence to him being so angry that he wanted time to cool down, collect his thoughts and have a chat with the players in a constructive manner. Media duties probably went out the window.

Up next for them is a Cavan team who will have a bit of a bounce and energy from their recent victory over Mayo, so much so that they might relish Donegal coming to town on a bank holiday weekend. This is a massive test of the resolve of Donegal. Having had to fight their way through Ulster from the preliminary round, they have been on the go at a high intensity for a while now and in fairness to them they have ticked most of the boxes so far. It will be interesting to see how they respond this weekend.

Cavan, on the other hand, have somewhat of a free hit. Very few expected them to go to Mayo and get a result and depending on other results, there is a good chance they will get to at least a preliminary quarter-final so Sunday for them is about going out and trying to back up their performance in Castlebar. At the same time, they’ll be wary that they might have an angry Donegal coming to town.

All in all, after round one and some interesting results, it looks like most groups will go down to the wire with plenty of ups and downs to come.

The planned change already in place for next year might just have come too quickly and we will see how the next few weeks unfold.