I know from talking to a few Ulster people that moving the final from Clones to Croke Park will disappoint many but, with the level of interest in the game now, it seems the only place to play this final. It means everybody who wants to should get to see the game, including a lot of children. That alone makes it a worthwhile thing to do.
Whether Donegal are to join Armagh in the final could be decided by what’s going on in their heads. Mentally, do Donegal feel capable of beating Tyrone? If McEniff can instil that in his team they have a great chance. Last year they showed themselves to be a fairly handy team and improved as time went on. McEniff did not get to grips with them until late in the year, and it showed in their defeat to Fermanagh early in the Ulster championship, but he gradually helped them to play some good football.
This time round he’s had them all winter and they should be playing more as a unit. Some excellent displays by Brendan Devenney, Adrian Sweeney, Michael Hegarty and Brian Roper kept them going last year. This year we need to see them as a team.
Kevin Cassidy is a massive loss at wing-back, but as we’ve seen in recent games, losing a big player can bolster a team to play even better. If they can get a good supply to their forwards, Donegal are a test for anybody.
They should fancy themselves. Tyrone haven’t been firing this year and have looked pretty disappointing so far. The big thing for them is the return of Peter Canavan, and they will be anxious to play him. Mickey Harte should bring him into the game early to try to get his forward line functioning because, so far, they’ve looked poor. They have missed the fluency from their play that Canavan normally gives them.
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In their general play, Tyrone don’t look as confident as last year. Kevin Hughes is the main link in that team and switching him back to centre field the last day against Fermanagh made a huge difference. They were in danger of getting caught, but you can see Hughes is coming back into form, which will help Sean Cavanagh as well.
Their full-back line still looks unsteady, too, and they’ve been shipping scores. They have a good bit to pick up and Donegal will pose them a massive test but I’ve fancied an Armagh-Tyrone Ulster final from the start of May and I’m not going to change now.
We’ll get the first big game in Leinster this afternoon and both Laois and Meath will back themselves. Meath are rebuilding and aren’t playing with too much fluidity but I saw Sean Boylan in Carlow at Laois’ first-round game a few weeks back and I can’t imagine he was too spooked by anything he saw that day.
Laois looked very rusty. Noel Garvan was the only one who kept them in the game at centre field while their forward line struggled badly. Beano McDonald and Ross Munnelly still look class acts but the likes of Colm Parkinson, Ian Fitzgerald and Chris Conway must contribute a lot more. Some of the new names Mick O’Dwyer brought in made no impact. Michael Lawlor has been dropped, but he’s the kind of guy who’s been demoted before only to get sprung on to the team before the start. Don’t be surprised if that is repeated.
It’s a huge day for Laois, a real test of champions. Win today and nobody can tell them last year’s Leinster title was a flash in the pan. Meath won’t spare them, though, and I’d expect a very tough game played at a high pace. Losing to Fermanagh last year will have taught Meath a lot, particularly about maintaining a high workrate. With the younger players gaining more experience and a few old heads around, they’ll give this a good shot. Pauric Clancy’ s return helps Laois a lot and, like Armagh and Tyrone, I’ve fancied Laois to keep their Leinster title from the start. I won’t be changing now.
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In Connacht, Roscommon should be looking to lay down a marker against Leitrim. Only a big win and a convincing performance would suggest they can win a Connacht title. They’ve had the benefit of two good games against Sligo while Leitrim come in cold, though having seen the way Sligo fell apart against Clare you’d wonder how good Roscommon actually are.
The problem is that they don’t put teams away. They need to be a lot more clinical. If they can correct that, they’ll be up there contesting for Connacht titles and more.