Tyrone 0-25; Donegal 0-19
Don’t be fooled by this result as in reality this was a full-strength Tyrone fighting for their Division One lives playing against a shadow Donegal team who are not quite sure if they want to qualify for the Division 1 final or not, given that they play Derry seven days later in the opening game of the Ulster championship.
Tyrone can only beat what is put in front of them and they certainly looked hungry and well coached as they had six points to spare against the home side at O'Donnell Park, Letterkenny on Sunday. They now welcome Dublin to Healy Park this weekend knowing they will need a win to be sure of survival at this level while the Dubs could qualify for the final if they get a positive result.
Niall Morgan may be a goalkeeper but he was the outfield start of this game too with Darragh Canavan sharing the billing in large part in ensuring that the Red Hand kept the upper-hand for most of this game.
Jim McGuinness made 11 changes from the team who beat Derry in Ballyshannon and his squad players showed up quite well but were obviously not up to the pace and physicality of the game to the same extent as their opponents.
They started well and were level on no less than five occasions in the opening 20 minutes before Tyrone turned on the afterburners to lead 0-12 to 0-7 at the interval.
It was on the changeover that Tyrone put the foot to the pedal and shot nine points from every angle to go nine clear with only 10 minutes gone in the second half.
Donegal could have thrown in the towel but instead they rallied with points from Odhran Doherty and Caolan McColgan. However, man of the match Morgan kicked a massive two points to push them out of danger.
Donegal travel to Mayo in the last game and could make the final with a win, if they want one. That is the decision McGuinness will make this coming days but don’t be surprised if they are happy to concentrate on the championship because ultimately that is how a manager and a team is judged at the end of the day.
Tyrone: N Morgan (0-5, two 2pfs); A Clarke, P Teague (0-1), N Devlin; M McKernan (0-1), R Brennan, J Oguz; B Kennedy (0-1), C Kilpatrick; M Donnelly (0-3), K McGeary (0-1), C Daly (0-2); D Canavan (0-4,0-2f), M Bradley (0-4,0-2f), P Harte (0-1) Subs: S O'Donnell (0-1) for Oguz (48); C Quinn and R Canavan for McGeary and Harte (both 52); D McCurry (0-1) for Bradley (57); S O'Hare for McKernan (67)
Donegal: G Mulreany; M Curran (0-1), K McGettigan (0-1), P Mogan; O McFadden Ferry, F Roarty (0-1), C McColgan (0-2,2pt); H McFadden (0-1), D MacGiolla Bhride; J Brennan (0-4), J Mac Ceallabhuí, O Doherty (0-2,2pt); C McGuinness, M Murphy (0-4,0-2f), N O'Donnell Subs: E McHugh (0-1) for Mac Ceallabhuí (ht); C Moore (0-2) and K McGroddy for McColgan and McGuinness (both 48); L McGlynn for O Doherty (54); J Carlin for Murphy (62).
Ref: P Faloon (Down).
Mayo 2-19; Derry 1-17
Derry are proving themselves the yo-yo team of the GAA world as they followed up on last year’s league annexation with a relegation from the top flight with a round of game still to be played.
Yes, manager Paddy Tallon has had to pick up the pieces following the hasty departure of Rory Gallagher and more latterly Mickey Harte but for a team only 12 months ago favored to collect the Sam Maguire, the Oak Leaf men are now outsiders to get past the first round of the Ulster championship next month.
Such are the vagaries of modern day Gaelic football teams but they did their season no real good by conceding three goals from Mayo as Jordan Flynn and Frank Irwin major saw the visitors to Celtic Park collect the points and leave on a high after their own poor start to the campaign.
You could argue that very little is going right for Derry this term and point to Flynn’s goal which came after the hooter sounded when he cracked home a goal with the last kick of the half to put a spring into the Westerners step for the remainder of the game.
Irwin's goal on the changeover was followed by Mayo hitting five unanswered scores to go 10 points clear, leaving the home side to chase shadows for the remainder of the game.
Despite this, Conor Glass was immense in the middle of the park for the home side and did his best to inspire a late rally with three amazing two-pointers but it was not enough to really get his side back in the game.
Afterwards, Paddy Tally was realistic in his assessment of where his team are and what they have to do to kick-star their season into gear: “It's been a symptom of our season so far. Today looked like the way our year has been, bits good and bits poor. We looked exciting at times and a lot of the time we just looked off it.
“We really needed things to fall for us and even if we had won the game today, I didn't think we were going to survive. Our relegation was probably sorted out a long time ago. Today was disappointing because I think the players really wanted to equip themselves well. At times we did play well, we played with plenty of spirit, but we just didn't play up to the standards we expected ourselves."
A dead rubber against Armagh awaits Tally’s men this weekend before they enter the Lion’s Den in April when they make the short journey across the border to face Jim McGuinness’s Donegal in Ballybofey.
Tally is still hopeful they can improve in the intervening three weeks.
He declared: “The first thing you do is look at what you're doing well. You know, there is a lot of really good stuff. I know we didn't get the result today, but there's still a lot of really good football being played.
“We've exposed players to Division 1. I think there's another couple of lads getting there today for the first time, so that's part of it as well. You have to look at the positives here. This is a process that was never going to be easy after last year, after the way Derry finished the season last year. We knew this was going to be a tough one. We're trying to rebuild something here, it's going to take a bit of time.”
Dublin 2-19; Galway 2-13
If Galway are many people’s favorites to go all the way in the race for Sam Maguire this year, then where does that leave this Dublin team - a mixture of vets and new faces, who have been fairly uprooting trees for most of this league campaign?
A six-point win at Croke Park on Saturday was much easier than even the final scoreline suggested and with Stephen Cluxton back in goal, Cormac Costello firing like a new signing in attack, and in-betweener Sean Bugler pulling the strings and scoring two goals, who knows how rapidly they can develop into contenders alongside northern giants Donegal and Armagh, Galway and of course Kerry.
Galway shocked Dublin in last year’s quarter-final, and while they lost here, they saw the return of Damien Comer with a goal and two points, which could easily have doubled in his second-half cameo. You can be sure Padraig Joyce would happily cede these league points for the prospect of having him and Shane Walsh dovetailing in attack come championship time, which begins with a visit to the Big Apple in less than three weeks.
Forty-something goalkeeper Cluxton, actually he’s 43 and counting, hadn’t lined out for his county since that Galway match but he appeared to be back with the same zest for honors and knowing that should Dublin go all the way and win this year’s championship, he will stand alone in Gaelic football history as the only player with 10 Celtic Crosses at senior level.
That prospect has gone from unlikely to possible thanks to the likes of Bugler stepping up, Con O’Callaghan, Niall Scully, Ciaran Kilkenny and Cormac Costello showing a great zest for yet another campaign. Add in how well the younger members are standing up to be counted and Dessie Farrell may be a lot more optimistic than he might have been when all those key players of the six-in-a-row sides had called it a day.
Dublin would relish a big game experience before embarking into the championship and if they beat Tyrone in Omagh this weekend, then they will find themselves playing in the National League Final. Considering that they are unlikely to have any real trouble getting out of Leinster this year again, the Dubs management should relish a league final to both test themselves and also gain experience at competing at this level.
Galway, too, are still in the title hunt especially if they beat Kerry in Salthill and Joyce has made it clear he wants national titles now to go with the provincial three-in-a-row they have achieved over the past three seasons.
Dublin were the dominant side in the first half and turned over 1-10 to 0-6 with Bugler getting on the end of a series of swift passes in the 12th minute which opened up the Tribesmen’s rearguard.
Ross McGarry was a revelation in the first moiety as he interpreted his playmaker role to perfection and set up several scores, with Costello, Scully and Luke Breathnach all benefiting for their interchanges with him.
Rob Finnerty showed up well for Galway, scoring from play and a free, but should have had a goal after Walsh did the spadework. The latter came into the game with 15 two-pointers to his name but suffered a blank on this occasion.
The visitors could have had two goals themselves but Matthew Tierney had his effort brilliantly cleared off the line by Greg McEneaney while Daniel O’Flaherty’s rasper came back to play off the upright and crossbar when a goal seemed certain - however the marauding quarter-back helped make amends by landing a massive two-pointer to bolster Galway confidence when they team seemed down at heel.
That was due to Bugler getting in for his and Dublin's second goal, blasting to home after the hard-running Tom Lahiff had done the spade work.
Leading 2-13 to 0-09, the Dubs looked formidable at that stage but once Comer came in, he changed the dynamic and panic spread across the Dublin defense.
His pass saw John Maher's shot deflected by Dublin full-back Theo Clancy past Cluxton for an OG. No sooner had that being waved as legal when the bustling and burly forward unleashed an unstoppable rocket past a despairing Dublin netminder to cut the lead to just two points.
Although only making a first appearance in a long time at a competitive game, Comer kept going and kicked two points, one from a mark but they never headed the Dubs.
Instead, four white flags from Costello, Killian McGinnis, McGarry and Cian Murphy between the 55th and 60th minutes, gave the management and the team the scores to ride out for a six-points victory.
Dublin: S Cluxton; D Byrne, T Clancy, C Tyrrell; B Howard, S MacMahon, C Murphy (0-1); P Ó Cofaigh Byrne, T Lahiff; N Scully (0-1), C O'Callaghan (0-4), S Bugler (2-0); R McGarry (0-2), L Breathnach (0-4, 1tp), C Costello (0-5, 0-2f, 0-1 45) Subs: K McGinnis (0-1) for Ó Cofaigh Byrne (43), J Madden for Scully (54), L O'Dell (0-1) for Breathnach (54), K Lahiff for McGarry (62), D Keogh for Costello (68).
Galway: C Gleeson; J McGrath, S Fitzgerald, D O'Flaherty (0-2, 1tp); D McHugh (0-1), L Silke, S Kelly; P Conroy, J Maher (1-0); M Tierney (0-2, 0-1m), C McDaid (0-1), C Darcy (0-1); R Finnerty (0-2, 0-1f), S Walsh, M Thompson (0-1) Subs: L Ó Conghaile (0-1) for Finnerty (32), C Ó Curraoin for Walsh (ht), J Glynn for McHugh (40), D Comer (1-2, 0-1m) for Conroy (46), S O'Neill for Fitzgerald (58).
Ref: M McNally (Monaghan).
Kilkenny 0-29; Limerick 0-20
You only write Kilkenny off at your peril.
Talk of the Cats being relegation fodder this season and not having a part to play in the quest for the Liam MacCarthy Cup were silenced once and for all with this comprehensive nine-point win over Limerick in Nowlan Park on Saturday where the influence of the ageless TJ Reid was again evident not just on his opponents but on the standards of those in black and amber around him.
Having recently lost to both Galway and Tipperary, the obituary writers were out not just for the team but for manager Derek Lyng.
And with this third win, they insulated themselves from relegation if not quite making the latter stages of the league this time around.
Their win means that neighbors Wexford and 2024 double champions Clare will both be operating in Division 1B next season even ahead of the final round of games.
The defeat of Limerick means the Treaty County will not contest this year’s league final no matter what the outcome is of their final game against Wexford this weekend. Instead Tipperary are guaranteed a spot against either Cork or Galway, depending on this weekend’s results in both their games.
GAA Results
FL Division 1
Tyrone 0-25 Donegal 0-19
Mayo 2-19 Derry 1-17
Kerry 2-21 Armagh 0-17
Dublin 2-19 Galway 2-13
FL Division 2
Cork 1-23 Louth 0-18
Monaghan 1-29 Meath 1-20
Cavan 0-22 Roscommon 0-20
Down 1-26 Westmeath 0-28
FL Division 3
Sligo 1-18 Antrim 1-15
Offaly 2-17 Kildare 0-17
Clare 2-22 Laois 1-21
Division 4
Wicklow 3-15 Limerick 1-21
Waterford 1-19 London 2-11
Carlow 2-20 Longford 0-14
Wexford 1-13 Tipperary 1-12
HL Division 1A
Kilkenny 0-29 Limerick 0-20
HL Division 1B
Carlow 2-26 Laois 0-29
HL Division 2
Meath 2-30 Down 4-21
HL Division 3
Armagh 2-21 Cavan 2-15
