Kerry took advantage of a curious Cork performance to take Munster, Down fell foul of a qualifier quirk and the greatest bainisteoir of them all hangs up his bib.
Considering it was set to be the most competitive of all the provincial football finals, the build-up to the meeting of Kerry and Cork in Killarney on Sunday was more low key than a priest at a strip club.
That combination of over familiarity, the safety net of the back door and a host of other sporting attractions left the clash of the great rivals way down the sporting calendar for many. If you missed it, you missed a strange game that probably leaves us with more questions than answers.
Kerry started fast, leading at the break by 1-10 to 0-6. That sizeable gap was achieved with a little help from a wonderful goal by Colm Cooper and some fairly shambolic performances by Cork in defence and midfield.
Conor Counihan eventually made the right changes. Alan O’Connor and Pearse O’Neill took over in the middle, defensively they tightened up and they almost salvaged matters, only losing by two in the end.
Speaking to Cork people after the game, most were furious that their manager had gotten it so wrong initially, but he did get it right in the end. Cork now set off for the Qualifiers but they will certainly improve for this game and with the resources they have to call on, it would be foolish to write them off yet. They may look back on the Killarney defeat as a tough, but necessary, lesson.
As for the victors, Eamon Fitzmaurice has a lot to chew on too. A 75th Munster title gets them a free pass into the last eight, and time to work on things. The experiment with Gooch at centre forward worked a treat in the first half but a team that has power in pace in that area (like a Donegal or Dublin) should be able to choke that supply off.
The Kingdom still have a fine set of forwards but the last 20 minutes, when they were hanging on, has to be a worry. Kerry are second favourites for Sam this morning, at 7/2, but we will hold onto our money just for now.
The Qualifiers played over the weekend were not the most thrilling of encounters. After a minor scare Tyrone did what they always do and ended Roscommon’s summer. Galway stumbled across the line to beat Waterford, in a win that inspired as much wailing out west as a defeat and Laois ended Clare’s championship, bringing the curtain down on manager Mick O’Dwyer’s reign as Banner boss.
The Kerry man, now 77, announced he was done after the game and in all likelihood that finishes his 38-career on the sideline with Kerry, Kildare, Laois, Wicklow and Clare. Four All-Irelands with Kerry as a player was followed by eight more as a manager and he went and won three Leinster titles too. It’s hard to imagine it will ever be surpassed, at least in football.
Let’s hope the GAA honour Micko in some fashion before the end of the year, he certainly deserves it.
Finally you would have to feel sorry for Down this morning as they are out of the Championship after three very tough games. They beat Derry in Ulster, in some style, before putting it up to Donegal in a gallant defeat. Their reward, another trip to Celtic Park, ended in a flurry of red cards and a shortened summer.
The system should allow for teams to at least get a home tie if they have played a provincial rival away in the province already. It may not have changed the result, but you get the sense that Down went into the game fed up with the set up, and that contributed to a below par, and frustrated, performance.
For all the positives that the back door has brought, it’s not perfect just yet…
For those, like me, who went for a draw in the Munster final, it wasn’t a great weekend playing eircom’s Win,Lose or Draw game.
It was a decent weekend for most of the eircom ambassadors, though Michael Murphy will have lost some ground by picking Down, as Conor did for us in our weekend preview. Mickey Harte, who would have been delighted to see his side beat Donie Shine’s Roscommon, was one of those who went for a Kerry win, so he was scooping up the all-important points, as was Ciaran Whelan.
To play the game and be in with a shot to win tickets, signed merchandise and VIP tickets to the All-Ireland final, then just click here.
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