The weekend was a real reality check for Ulster football.
I have been considering this for some time, but what unfolded really convinced me that Gaelic football in the province is at its lowest ebb in well over 25 years.
Outside of Tyrone, we don’t have a serious All-Ireland contender, but it’s the standard of the pack that is most concerning.
I made a case a number of weeks ago that Derry had a fair chance of promotion out of Division Two. A good friend contacted me on Monday morning, to remind me of my ‘stupid’ prediction in his own endearing way.
On Sunday, Meath destroyed the Oak Leafers by 15 points. When is the last time Derry got beaten so badly by an opponent considered to be at a similar level?
Down, who I tipped for relegation, were once again convincingly beaten – this time at the hands of Clare who, at one stage, led them by 13 points.
If you had heard that result a few years ago, your immediate reaction would have been that it surely was a game of hurling.
On a weekend of hammerings, Antrim also played their part, losing to Offaly by 13 points, a team just out of Division Four two seasons ago, who were also without their star forward Niall McNamee.
Add in Armagh’s collapse to a Laois team hammered by Louth just a week ago and you have a very bleak picture indeed of just how far away the chasing pack are from Tyrone, Monaghan and Donegal.
In fairness, Fermanagh’s defeat to Galway wasn’t without its positives, but it did highlight their over-reliance on team captain Eoin Donnelly, who was ?black-carded early on. His absence eventually caught up with them as they went from being four up at half-time to lose by six.
Tyrone will have come away disappointed not to end Dublin’s 30-match unbeaten run, especially given the fact that they led by five points after 50 minutes.
But they have lots to be happy about, with the performance of Niall Sludden a huge plus. Defensively, they kept the entire Dublin forward line scoreless from play for 62 minutes.
After losing Mark Bradley and going a man down, it was inevitable that the defensive system would become less effective and that probably was the single biggest factor in letting their lead slip.
But unlike most other Ulster teams, they have the strength in depth to absorb red cards, black cards and injuries and still manage to come away with a draw against a team of the calibre of the All-Ireland champions.
If most of our county teams are displaying all the signs of incompetency and inconsistency, then a certain Derry club are once again flying the flag high. Slaughtneil aren’t everyone’s cup of tea when it comes to their style of football, but by God, you have to admire how they go about their business. Winning is the only currency they deal in and they came with a gameplan that was perfect for the opponent, with the tighter pitch an ideal arena to execute it.
St Vincent’s were set for a high octane end-to-end game full of scores, contact and turnovers, with both teams going at it hammer and tong. They got anything but that.
What they didn’t bargain for was that Slaughtneil would tease them by playing possession football that sometimes saw over 30 hand passes in the same passage of play before they would even look for an opening.
That ball retention game was nothing new but on Saturday they took it to a different level. At times it looked like you were watching one of those small-sided games you’d have in a training session, with the objective merely to keep hold of the ball.
St Vincent’s were run into the ground and strangely it looked like they hadn’t prepared for Slaughtneil playing that way. It is a very obvious thing to say that Chrissy McKaigue’s performance was a huge catalyst.
The easier thing for him to do would have been to completely sacrifice his game in the pursuit of nullifying Connolly. But this would have been the wrong approach for two reasons.
Firstly, the centre half-back is a pivotal cog in the Slaughtneil attacking game, which relies on his late runs to create scores.
When his team needs one, generally he comes up with the goods.
Their forward department don’t usually hit the scoreboard too hard, so getting some points from their back six is important. Secondly, it would have been missing an important trick in exposing the major weakness in Diarmuid Connolly’s game.
He isn’t that fond of tracking back, even when he plays for Dublin – but behind him at county level he has a defensive structure that can usually cope with his momentary lapses.
If you don’t believe me, watch Lee Keegan’s goal in the All-Ireland final replay and check out how far Connolly is away from him.
As the Mayo man was about to plant the ball in the net, his opposite marker was standing motionless on the edge of the big D watching it all unfold.
As it appeared on Saturday afternoon, he is even less enamoured with chasing a marauding centre half-back when it comes to club football.
Time and time again he actually refused to track McKaigue who had timed his runs to perfection. To win this game, they knew that he would have to get the upper hand on a player, many rate as being the best in the country. He didn’t just get the upper hand. He actually destroyed him.
Can they now go all the way? The Derrymen controlled their semi-final from start to finish, but they were never really behind in the game.
If they play the exact same way for the whole match the next day, then they could run out of steam very quickly on a much bigger pitch.
Running the ball the length of Croke Park is a more enduring task and that lateral possession game is only effective while you are in front.
Defensively I feel they have the players to cope with a dangerous Croke’s forward line but it is at the other end of the pitch where difference will be needed. Slaughtneil will have to prepare to play a different way should they fall four or five points behind. If this game was at a club ground or on a pitch similar to Newry, you would lump the house on them to win. But when you hit Croke Park, the ball must do a lot of the work so a functioning kicking game will be vitally important.
Courage to kick the ball early, and at times longer and diagonal, will be vital. I feel it will take more than 12 points to win this game. Mickey Moran rarely deviates from the tried and trusted but he may be tempted to play an extra forward closer to goal for a period.
Can they bring that extra variety to their game and that quality to their full-forward line that will get them more scores through first-time football?
Those are the big questions that will need answering. But for now, there’s one more hurdle to get over. ‘Two out of three ain’t bad’ – so far.
