Two Provincial titles down, two to go

AT 37 years old and having just won a second La Liga title in Spain, Robert Lewandowski, the Barcelona and Poland striker, attributes his playing longevity —at least in part—to following what’s known as the ‘reverse diet.’ Basically it means that he consumes his dessert first, before turning to his main course.

Devised by his wife and nutritional specialist, Anna, it is designed so his body metabolises sweet foods first, and to avoid these mixing them with the precious proteins and carbs he gets from his actual dinner.

Maybe this is true, but it also sounds well, odd. A traditional sequence is put out of kilter and, for a great many of us, no amount of medical theory would convince us to condone this interference with the natural order of things.

It’s a sensation that many Gaelic football fans will have shared when—before even one provincial title was decided—the draw for the preliminary round of the All-Ireland Men’s Senior Football Championship was made.

The theory is that clarity is needed to allow counties to plan for the logistics of travelling long distances in the first round, like Donegal, for example, who will be making their way down the country to play Kerry.

But therein lies the rub: you can bet your last pound that Jim McGuinness and his backroom team travelled for some reconnaissance work in Killarney, where a valiant Cork had—futilely it turns out—hoped to win their first Munster title since 2012. Indeed in the lead up to the game, Jack O’Connor fielded as many questions about facing Donegal in two weeks’ time, as about extending the Rebels’ final winless streak.

There’s also the undeniable fact that Jim will secretly welcome the long break his team have enjoyed, before going toe-to-toe with Kerry.

Still, it says something for the renewed vigour around the Provincial series elsewhere that the awkward timing of the All-Ireland draw has not totally distracted from them. And it remains true that league form is no reliable barometer of the chances of progressing in championship football.

Jeopardy and uncertainty

While Munster remains a bit of a cakewalk for Kerry, elsewhere real jeopardy and uncertainty prevail.

The Connaught title is likewise already decided, with Roscommon now the holders of the Nestor Cup. Hopefully the Rossies get a least one day to savour their achievement ahead of Tyrone coming to town on the weekend of May 23, and bask in the glory of having also won their province’s U20s and minor titles.

There is a note of Scottish interest here, as those U17s—celebrating their second minor title in a row—are currently managed by Charlestown native, Shane Moran, who is a former player and manager of Glasgow Gaels Senior Men.

League form is also getting a pasting in Ulster with Division One Champions, Donegal, long gone, while Armagh will be quietly confident of finally winning the Anglo-Celt Cup and shake their serial runners-up tag.

Ulster also produced one of the games of the season to date, with Monaghan winning a titanic tussle against Derry, whose tally of wides in the semi-final allowed the Farney County to close a gap of 11 points and eventually force extra-time.

The game was also notable for other events.

Derry led at the hooter with the ball going over the sideline from an Oak Leaf player. The referee, Noel Mooney, made for the dressing room evidently ignoring the Monaghan keeper, Rory Beggan’s, remonstrations that the sideline could still be taken and a possible two points claimed.

However, another Monaghan player and registered referee, David Garland, keeping pace alongside the quickly departing Mooney, must have produced his own whistler’s union card from a back pocket, since Mooney suddenly appeared to heed the proffered advice, U-turning on the pitch and pointing back to the sideline for the kick.

Eventually, an age later, it was Jack McCarron—with Beggan (above) in close attendance on the advertising hoardings behind him—who sliced his kick through the posts and into Derry hearts to claim the two-pointer and send the game to extra time.

It was a truly stunning effort and even the linesman appear to enjoy it so much that he ignored the line breach committed by the hugely skilled McCarron. Beggan, as he often does, had the last say with a 47-yard free to ultimately win the game.

Maybe the less said about Down’s annihilation by Armagh the better, despite the Mourne men having spectacularly downed Donegal just two weeks previously; but their relegation to the Tailteann Cup is just another part of the humiliation for Conor Laverty’s squad.

An unfamiliar finalist

If it was McCarron of Monaghan making headlines in Ulster, it was calm Sam McCartan of Westmeath—who failed to get promoted from Division 3 remember—who produced all manner of scores to get his injury-hit team over the line against Kildare and into the final against Dublin. With key players, Luke Loughlin and Matthew Whittaker, fighting to regain fitness, Westmeath will not fear their opponents, Dublin, in the Leinster Final. Meeting Cavan in the first round of the All-Ireland Series won’t unduly worry them either.

As for Dublin, it’s experience that’s driving them forward, and a fit Con O’Callaghan will be key to his team regaining the Leinster title and advancing in the direction of Sam.

So two provincial titles won, two more to go and just a couple of weeks before the binge diet of Gaelic football rolls on with Round 1 of the All-Ireland.