This weekend, Tyrone and Cavan roll into Clones for what should be an enthralling Ulster football semi-final. It needs to be, for the sake of the Ulster championship. So far, the most entertaining aspect of what is usually the most competitive provincial tournament has been the antics and nomadic tendencies of makeshift Armagh goalkeepeer Paul Courtney against Cavan.
There have been five games so far in Ulster, games won by margins of six, eleven, eight, nineteen and seven points; an average of ten points, albeit taking into consideration the drubbing given to Down by Monaghan. But what is more telling than the scores is the lack of competitiveness in the games. The hardest-fought game was probably the most recent encounter between Donegal and Fermanagh and, if we are totally honest, Donegal won with another gear or two available to them. But at least Fermanagh showed some fight. The feeble resistance put up by Down, Derry and Armagh in their opening championship fixtures had supporters and pundits shaking their heads in disbelief.
VIDEO: Pundits lament Down's lack of fight: Martin Clarke says Down's lack of effort in the second half of Su... https://t.co/ng5nve05Ze
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In contrast, the other provincial championships have produced some cracking affairs. Although it was widely dismissed as a poor way to open the championship as a whole, New York nearly caused one of the biggest upsets in GAA history when they pushed Roscommon to within a point. And while the Rossies eased past Sligo in the final stages of their Connacht semi-final clash, up until that point the two had been locked in a fast and dramatic arm-wrestle that enthralled and captivated the Dr Hyde Park crowd.
Leinster has given rise to Herculean battles, too. One of the greatest sights of the championship so far was the sheer delight and pride on the faces of longtime warriors such as Niall McNamee and Alan Mulhall after their Offaly side narrowly and bravely secured a win against a resistant Longford side. And then, in the next round, the agony of loss throbbed through the Faithful; defeat's pointed, cruel dagger was embedded within their fragile side.
Within two rounds we had seen the various and fickle faces of sport-as the minimum of tallies separated Offaly and Westmeath. Meanwhile, Kildare and Wexford stood in the ring with each other and in the end Kildare just managed to land the winning punch-but not until their gallant opponents had considered them close to the canvas on several occasions. Meath stride on to Croke Park but Louth held onto their coat-tails for long periods and the celebrations by the Royals when they finally managed to shake the Wee County off elucidated that a real war had been won on the day.
And in Munster we have experienced the impossible. Albeit with twice as many games, there has been more drama in its much-derided football championship than in the golden-locked lovechild of the GAA, the Munster Hurling Championship, so far. Clare's three-point win over Limerick provoked bemused heart-fluttering from confused observers who found themselves entertained without knowing how. Tipperary's defeat of Cork in front of a tiny Thurles gathering had every element one looks for in a sporting spectacle as well as representing at once a point of crisis and re-birth for Cork and Tipp football respectively.
Of course, the competitiveness of these championship match-ups shouldn't leave any illusions as to where honours will lie in the various provinces. Kerry will, in all probability, hammer Tipperary. The relentless cyborg that is Dublin will lay waste to whatever doomed group of lost souls find themselves in Croke Park on July 17th. Unless the entire Mayo panel take on the Sean Quigley Pizza Challenge every night for the next three weeks, Connacht is theirs. Ulster is really the only province that is left open at this stage of the season. All four semi-finalists will harbour realistic aspirations of lifting the Anglo-Celt Cup, though Tyrone appear to be the strong favourites.
Still, there is a wide gap growing in Ulster that is beginning to resemble that which exists in other provinces. Watching an Ulster championship game used to resemble spectating at a heavyweight title fight. You would cringe as each slugger battered the other until both, weak with exhaustion, almost begged to be knocked out and spared any more pain. But the evidence so far this summer is of a province in decline, and we are reaching a stage now where, like with the other regions, we can only hope for a couple of competitive games to whet the appetite somewhat for what lies down the road in Headquarters. The only difference is that, in Ulster, the real blood is to be spilt at the business end of the competition. In Connacht and Leinster-and probably Munster this year-it has recently been the case that a team fights to reach the latter stages of their province only to encounter (and subsequently get trounced by) the one genuine All-Ireland contender therewith.
Maybe this year has just been a blip in Ulster football. But at least it has been something of a pleasant surprise that while we were expecting Ulster to lead the way in terms of excitement in the football Championship, counties in other provinces have instead come to the fore. And the lack of passion and combativeness from some sides in Ulster has been more than made up for by the footballers from Offaly, Tipperary and Meath.
But expect all that to change this Sunday when Tyrone face Cavan. There will be fireworks.
Then again, we've been saying that all summer in Ulster so far.
Fingers crossed.
