With summer upon us the Bank of Ireland football championship is certainly beginning to heat up. As I write a number of inter-county managers will be making plans to manoeuvre their way through the 'back door' route. Since the inception of the qualifier system the number of dissenting voices has been on the decline with the vast majority of players and managers relieved that they will have a second chance to redeem themselves. In the Ulster SFC, the National League champions, Armagh, have got off to an impressive start. Their performance may not have reached the same dizzy heights as against Wexford in the NFL but how many teams could afford to play below par and still beat Fermanagh by eight points? With a number of key men still to return, their strength in depth is unquestionable and they are the team to beat in the race for the Anglo Celt Cup. Fermanagh will be extremely disappointed with their performance - at half time they were still in the game but they could never get to grips with Armagh's dominance in the midfield sector. Martin McGrath's absence was a huge loss to them - not only did they miss his ball winning capacity but also his leadership qualities as well. Knowing a number of the Fermanagh players I appreciate how desperate they are to win an Ulster Championship medal - especially at a time when they have a talented panel of players. The manner of their defeat will hurt them but Charlie Mulgrew will have time to regroup his troops and I will be greatly surprised if there is not a big improvement from them in the qualifiers. From my own perspective I was delighted that the portended shock of the championship did not materialise in Healy Park, Omagh. Before our first round game with Down, a number of well qualified scribes were predicting that the time was right for this youthful Down team to emerge and signal the demise of a fading Tyrone side. On a day of persistent rain Tyrone proved that they are not totally washed out yet. Whilst our performance was very patchy and often mistake-ridden we were more that happy to survive this tricky encounter. Down introduced a number of their successful U21's and with a supreme target man in Benny Coulter they were coming to Omagh in a very positive frame of mind. It was imperative from a Tyrone perspective that we prevented a decent supply of ball into Coulter and this we did for a large part of the game. Often Down players were left with no option but to thump high hopeful balls into our full back line. It was from one of these balls that I witnessed the moment of the game when Coulter himself rose for the ball over a number of players to fetch cleanly. In such difficult conditions this took brilliant timing and it was a marvellous catch - had it happened in Aussie rules, we would be viewing it over and over again - a certain contender for the Fosters Top Ten! With twenty minutes left in the game I was delighted to get the nod to enter the fray. With a constant supply of ball coming from the middle third of the pitch we were given ample opportunities. We converted most of these chances and finished the game strongly, winning with seven points to spare. Like Fermanagh I will expect Down to have a big say in the back door system and their younger players will benefit and improve as they go along. As Tyrone will not have a say in the outcome of the other three provinces I will attempt to predict the eventual winners. In Connacht we already have one upset with Sligo falling at the hands of Leitrim. Mayo will be favourites to retain their title and rightly so but the Tribesmen are preparing very quietly and I'm sure they are itching to get a crack at Mayo. Peter Forde is a manager I admire and with the shrewd Ja Fallon as selector I believe they will lift the Connacht title in their first year in charge. Munster is very like Connacht in that it appears to be a two horse race between Cork and Kerry. Liam Kearns will just love to hear that! If Limerick can get all their best players out and train hard as a team then they certainly have a chance and if they win a Munster title they will have to erect a shrine to Liam. Cork are improving all the time and they are in a better position to put it up to Kerry. Unfortunately for the rest of the counties in Ireland Kerry have also improved - what county wouldn't with the likes of Seamus Moynihan and Dara O'Se returning and playing well? I believe one would be foolish to bet against Kerry retaining their Munster crown. Leinster is very much up for grabs - with up to six teams believing they are good enough to win it. I believe we will witness a couple of hard-fought, evenly contested encounters in the Leinster championship. The battle of wits on the sideline should also be intriguing - will the old timers Boylan and O'Dwyer get the better of the young guns such as Caffery and O'Se? With so little between so many teams predicting a winner is not easy but I will follow the form of the U21 teams in Leinster and predict the winners to come from either Dublin or Kildare. If I was a betting man I would back Kildare - you will get great odds. Being more the superstitious type I will go for Dublin not because the winning All-Ireland manager this past three seasons has done it in his first year in charge, rather because the history books show that Dublin are following a winning trend. They have won the Leinster title in '55, '65, '75, '85 and '95. I believe Paul Caffery's men have the capability to maintain the winning sequence in '05. Respect of players needed from Croke Park In my previous article I wrote about making out a wish-list for the President elect Nicky Brennan. After recent developments I will narrow this list down to just one - that his term of office will result in the proper treatment and respect being displayed to all inter-county GAA players. Despite directives from the Central Council, certain county squads around the country are not receiving their full entitlements with regards to travel expenses, match tickets and playing gear. Their treatment of the GPA and C&C, their main sponsor, also leaves a lot to be desired. The controversial banning of Club Energise from advertising at venues nationwide and other issues relating to image rights disappoints me and indicates a bullish attitude being displayed by Croke Park towards their own players. The fact that the role of the GPA was brought up recently at Congress and the possibility of an official meeting sounds positive. But with 90% of all inter-county players now members of the GPA I'm sure Nicky Brennan will not ignore us. On a similar topic, I was delighted with the recent announcement by Club Energise of the 'Official Players GPA Funds' for the 67 inter-county hurling and football squads. This launch represented a watershed in the development of player welfare. It remains to be seen whether the powers that be will afford us the same respect! Tweet

Most Read Stories