GAELIC SPORTS WORLD Issue 31 – August 8, 2015 | Page 38

IT’S GETTING TOUGH
AT THE TOP
– TOMMY MORAN
AUGUST 5, 2015
As the Football Championship hopefuls get fewer and
fewer, Tommy Moran muses over the recent on-field action.

TUSSLE AND BATTLE

Tyrone, Donegal, Kerry, Dublin, Mayo and Monaghan –
familiar names for the closing stages. Did anyone really expect any other side outside that half dozen to be still in with
a shout? A few would have mentioned Cork as a possibility
to be in there, but somehow Kildare put paid to that. How
the Lilywhites could manage that and subsequently take an
absolute hammering from Kerry will long remain one of the
great mysteries of Championship 2015. Another will surely
be the mind-boggling score-lines from the provinces and
from the Qualifiers. Yes, those Qualifiers that were designed
to give weaker teams a second chance, another bite at the
cherry. Lord protect us, but they served mostly to provide
another white-wash for the minions, although the free-spirited Fermanagh teams of this year and of 2004 did prove
an exception to the rule. Second chances are for the strong.
There has to be another way and soon, or some counties will
give up the ghost and wonder what is the point of it all.

Donegal eventually surmounted a strong Galway challenge,
their winning margin hardly reflecting the real tussle they
had on their hands. They face a much more experienced
championship fifteen when they meet Mayo this weekend.
Both sides have incisive forward lines and strong midfields,
but the Mayo back-line might appear a little more porous
than Donegal’s. However, positional selections will mean
little, as both teams have the stamina and the legs and the
longing to be wherever they are needed. Paddy McBrearty
and Cillian O’Connor may be picking off a point one minute
and suddenly appear from nowhere to help clear the lines at
the other end. And anything Michael Murphy can do, so can
Aidan O’Shea, be it on the edge of the square or when summoned out-field. This will be the battle of all battles. Donegal will want to relive 2013, Mayo are still hurting from the
agonising defeat last year in Limerick and will tolerate no
thoughts of fall-guys, years of waiting or priests’ curses. They
want to live in the now.

SALVAGE PRIDE

BACK-UP

Little happened last weekend to keep GAA followers on
tenterhooks. Sligo did manage to salvage some pride after
the debacle of the Connacht Final and Tyrone maintained
their innate ability to take the Qualifiers one step at a time,
always appearing to have the know-how to adapt their play
to out-fox the opposition – Monaghan be warned.

Kieran Donaghy, Darren O’Sullivan, Paul Galvin, Barry John
Keane and Tommy Walsh sitting all in a row warming the
subs’ bench seemed a bit out of kilter. And that was just the
front, there was more artillery behind. How could any county
have the luxury of such back-up.? What other county would
have Colm Cooper with number 17 on his back, only getting

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