Kevin Cassidy – Long live the league

IT’S the last week in January and we are already licking our lips at the thought of another round of league games this weekend.

With each passing season, the league seems to become more and more important to teams. Long gone are the days of players returning carrying a few extra pounds due to wintering well, now we have fully fit players chomping at the bit from early January.

Last weekend we saw pieces of skill and flashes of brilliance that wouldn’t look out of place in Croker in early September. More and more people are now flocking to league games and with more TV coverage the league is growing year-on-year.

I suppose the standout tie last weekend was the clash of the heavyweights at Croke Park with last year’s All Ireland finalists Dublin and Kerry going toe-to-toe.

The game was full of excitement and when you add in the sheer brilliance of David Clifford and Brian Fenton, then the punters fairly got their money’s worth.

Both teams were down a number of key men but none the less they showed us why they are the top two teams in the country at the minute.

Elsewhere Mayo robbed a share of the spoils in Ballybofey with a late, late goal almost seven minutes into added time. Donegal will no doubt be disappointed but I actually think it’s a great point as I didn’t expect us to be at full tilt for the first outing given that our older players are just returning. A point from the first game isn’t a bad return.

One team I was extremely impressed with last weekend was Pauric Joyce’s Galway.

When Joyce was appointed the first thing he said was that his tenure would be a failure if he didn’t win the All-Ireland. A bold statement no doubt but when he made that claim, it was a message to his players that he meant business.

Their style of play was heavily criticised under Kevin Walsh but last weekend’s style was anything but dull. It was plain to be seen that the first option is a kick pass forward and when you consider the kind of talented forwards they have in their ranks then it doesn’t take a genius to work out that if they persist with this tactic then they will pose a real threat to anyone. Keep and eye on them over the next few weeks.

Tyrone did what Tyrone do at this time of year, especially up in Omagh, as they easily brushed aside the challenge from the Royal county.

Tyrone were impressive going forward with the likes of Darren McCurry and the returning Mark Bradley showing well. With big Cathal McShane looking on from the sidelines, Mickey Harte’s men turned in a decent display to get the two points and get their season up and running.

From the rest of the other divisions, Armagh’s performance was probably the stand-out one.

Armagh have been threatening to arrive over the last few seasons so could this year be their year? Time will tell but first we look forward to another great weekend of action this weekend. Long live the league!

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