Over the weekend, we witnessed a lot of draws in the club championships, particularly in Armagh and Down. Three of the four quarter-finals in Armagh went to extra-time, while two of the Down last-eight matches headed the same way.
Where Down differed was that their games were decided by penalty shoot-outs, which of course brings its own drama and excitement for the neutral, but it is not a nice way for any team to bow out of the championship.
We witnessed this earlier in the year when Armagh lost out to Galway in their All-Ireland quarter-final in Croke Park and a lot of talk afterwards was that such a means of deciding a major game was not good for our sport.
At the time, Galway’s manager Pádraic Joyce admitted he wasn’t a fan of this scenario, so I was a bit surprised that this was a way for teams to be separated in the Down championship. Why not bring the two teams back for a replay? If nothing can separate them after normal time and extra-time, then surely they both deserve another crack at it in a replay.
The old excuse of "there's not enough time in the calendar" would more than likely have been mentioned and while I appreciate that a date has probably been set for the final, when you have a pitch and lights as good as Páirc Esler, then this could certainly have been facilitated, if even in mid-week.
As I have noted, there is entertainment here for the neutral fans but I would not enjoy this at all if it was my own club participating in it. I attended the Burren v Warrenpoint game and heading into it, not many would have given Warrenpoint a chance of winning, but over the course of the game, they contained a potentially dangerous Burren team very well.
They also scored their goals at crucial stages, which always kept them in front for a large part of the game. Burren, though, were the instigators of their own downfall, particularly in extra-time. In the first half of extra-time, they would have had most of the possession, but because they played against the breeze they showed no ambition to go and get a score on the board.
We witnessed something that has become all too common in our games. Balls being played sideways and backways but to no real purpose. It seemed as if they thought that if they kept possession during a period when the wind advantage favoured Warrenpoint, then opportunities would become more frequent in the second period.
You simply cannot play football on these terms.
In the first attack of the second period of extra-time, Warrenpoint broke forward at pace and went into a one-point lead. They weren’t content with sitting back and holding onto what they had. It wasn’t their only attack in this period also. They showed more ambition to actually go and win the game and, as time was ticking away, shots were being forced from distance by Burren, which all went wide. My point with all of this is that a team that at least shows some ambition to win a game will more than likely get the rewards they deserve. The fitness levels of our players are way and above anything that we have ever seen, but the pedestrian pace of a lot of teams makes you wonder what all the training and strength and conditioning work is all about.
Teams that transition fast cause harm. Clan na Gael did this against Killeavy at the weekend and caused an endless amount of bother to them. On top of this, having big players step up and perform is what you like to witness.
I have to say, the performance of Shane McPartland against Killeavy was the best individual display that I have witnessed in the club championships this year. He was outstanding, moving between midfield and full-forward and his final tally of 0-9 was an excellent return for his team. He is a young player with a big future ahead of him, and on this level of performance, it won’t be long before we see him in an Armagh jersey. He has the physique and athleticism to make it at that level as well as his natural footballing ability and if Armagh can unearth a scoring midfielder like himself, then they will be in a much stronger position heading into the 2023 season.
It's now semi-final stage for most county championships and when you get to that stage, nothing else only winning is what matters. Armagh have two very evenly-balanced semi-finals with Crossmaglen playing Maghery and Killeavy taking on Granemore. There will be very little in both of these games, but what has been witnessed so far, a step up in performance is required and whichever teams can do that, they will make it to the final.
