Sport

Danny Hughes: Let the League race begin - it's about time

Down travel to Mayo for their first League clash of the new season Picture by Philip Walsh.
Down travel to Mayo for their first League clash of the new season Picture by Philip Walsh. Down travel to Mayo for their first League clash of the new season Picture by Philip Walsh.

IT'S not just the players, management teams and the fans who look forward to the return of on-field games, spare a thought for columnists and journalists who have really had to delve deep into their imaginative processes in order to write a sports piece.

We can now start to comment on team and player performance, tactical approaches or even begin to accurately predict who we think will and will not make progress based on what we have seen.

Given the League re-structure, there will be local derbies and as anyone will testify to who has played in such, past performance is not an accurate reflection of future results.

We are almost in a state of the unknown and without sounding too much like Donald Rumsfeld, we know we have ‘known unknowns’.

We know Dublin will most likely retain the Sam Maguire.

The unknowns are possibly the contenders and just how close they are to closing that gap to the Dubs.

For the last five years, a number of teams have threatened Dublin’s unbeatable narrative – without much success might I add.

Mayo account for two such finals, Kerry two also and Tyrone one.

Mayo appear weaker and look to be in a state of re-building and Kerry had the winter of all discontents if the rumours are to be believed.

Tyrone should be the only one of those latter teams capable of building on the ‘bounce’ one experiences when any new management team take up the reins.

Life after Mickey Harte will prove interesting to watch but I suspect that improvement in the team’s aesthetics in terms of playing style will be as important as the results themselves.

At this stage, Tyrone and everyone else feel an inferiority complex as Dublin haven’t be beaten in the Championship in five long years.

The best test of any new management is a fixture against their rival contenders and Saturday evening’s game against Donegal has more than just a few sub-plots.

Will Feargal Logan and Brian Dooher get off to a winning start?

Will Tyrone’s previous cautious approach make way to a more offensive style?

Are Donegal able to rebound from the most unlikely of all Ulster final losses to re-establish themselves as the best team in Ulster?

Of course, both teams will have any potential future Championship meeting in the back of their heads, but given both Tyrone and Donegal’s recent rivalry, no one will want to give an inch.

Football is as much about the mental edge and confidence end of things as it is in preparing the body physically for the challenges ahead.

Tyrone in Healy Park might just sway the result in favour of the Red Hands, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it should end in a draw.

Down face the long trip to Mayo.

The fact that Mayo were relegated into the second tier last season gives us some indication that perhaps the League was not as important as the Championship.

Added to the fact that there was a significant amount of ‘testing’ going on, with newcomers cutting their teeth in what turned out to be a very unsettling type of season, Mayo favoured experimentation in 2020.

They have also lost a significant number of battle-hardened stars due to retirements over the long winter and those position on the team and panel are not easily filled.

In my experience those types of individuals, who have been in and out of battles over the years, tend to drive the standards among the group, especially debutants.

Without the normal team holiday to enjoy this year, the All-Ireland final defeat and impact of this from a psychological perspective may take more than a few early round League games to get out of their system.

So Down have a chance to catch Mayo this weekend.

Down will be missing some key players who were critical in securing promotion and providing a real threat to Cavan in last season’s Ulster semi-final.

Donal O’Hare and Jerome Johnston were Down’s most potent attackers and in their absence Down will have to rely on scores from many others in order to ‘plug that gap’.

They will certainly introduce some new blood, but it will be their collective spirit, counter-attacking style and ability to score goals that will see them cause an upset in the division.

Fermanagh and Cavan play later on Saturday evening and while Cavan appear to be favourites going into the fixture, again being the derby, the Erne-men will be no pushover.

It will be interesting to see how Cavan will perform with greater expectation, not being that of the underdog – the question becomes whether they will display that ‘never-say-die’ attitude in every game?

The key to any development at inter-county level will be securing Division One status or at a minimum consolidating your Division Two status.

Anything less means that progress for a group will stall or in some cases even retreat.

Derry, Under Rory Gallagher, has not been afforded the seamless transition to progress the panel in a wider sense in ‘normal times’, as an early season exit to Armagh in 2020 meant that no such momentum was possible through a back-door championship run.

This League this season represents the chance for Gallagher to show real progress and given the rich history enjoyed in the Oak Leaf county, a further continued period in a third tier is really nothing short of a failure.

With a very strong club fraternity prevalent, Derry should really be operating much higher and while Owenbeg may be an impressive facility, I question its usefulness if languishing so lowly at inter-county level.

All cameras will be on the 'Wee' County this weekend with two comrades due to go up against one another as Enda McGinley and his Antrim team go up against Mickey Harte and Gavin Devlin.

It will be interesting to see who draws first blood.

Both teams have a lot at stake in this League – as both have difficult Championship pathways to contend with this season.