The Highs and Lows of Championship At last we are now getting to the cutting edge of the championship and we can now begin to determine the teams that will be real contenders for the Sam Maguire cup. Of course most teams that competed would all have had aspirations of a more successful year than before but unfortunately the trend of previous years seems set to continue as we see the usual suspects starting to ease their way to the front of the pack. Every year the championship will throw in a few curve balls just to upset the vigilant punter who has studied the form for months and is about to collect on that big accumulator only to find that one of the favourites has been caught and his hard earned cash is now forever tucked away in the vaults of his local bookies. Kerry, Derry, Monaghan and Laois are examples of teams now incurring the wrath of many a punter. Further surprises then arose in the back door games, and not just at who had been defeated but at the scorelines in some of the games. Meath's nine point defeat in Limerick despite scoring four goals and Down racking up 5-19 in Tullamore are prime examples. Thankfully, the championship will always throw up the unexpected. Seldom do things work out as anticipated or as predicted in these do-or-die battles. Every game creates new scenarios wherein new methods achieve results. Results are never achieved in exactly the same method as those before. Different game. Different situation. Different frame of mind. Wexford beat Fermanagh in thrilling league final. Fermanagh were eight points down to Armagh in the second half and only for a lack of fire power up front should have won the match comfortably. Wexford behind by three points at half-time and despite having the lethal Mattie Forde up front are hammered by 23 points. The irony of the situation is that many people would see Armagh capable of beating Dublin at present so it is difficult to go by any form book. Punditry aside no-one could have predicted Dublin's landslide victory over hapless Wexford. Maybe a comfortable six or seven point win but not really much more. I'm quite confident that Wexford will recover and the astute Jason Ryan will learn a lot from this painful episode. What of Dublin? As in previous years they are showing good form at this time of the year but have only flattered to deceive and failed once the fences have gotten bigger. I have to say that on recent form they look well capable of jumping any fence at the minute. We, the public pundits, have all been critical of Leinster football in recent years (rightly or wrongly) but to put four Leinster titles back-to-back is an amazing feat regardless of the opposition. Strong Laois, Westmeath, Kildare and Meath teams have taken to Croke Park in recent years but Dublin have always been there at the end with the silverware. As I've just mentioned, every game presents a new set of problems and a good team must always be on form to overcome these hurdles. Dublin have always done this and certainly have not been caught out by any lesser team. In truth they have been unlucky at times when playing against the stronger teams in the latter stages. Admirably, they are back once again. Pillar Caffery's plan seems to be unfolding at last. Four years. The long, hard hours of training and preparation endured by the players. The defeats. The discipline, once lacking, now instilled on and off the field. The defeats. A potent, smart forward line led by the experienced Jayo and brilliant Alan Brogan. The defeats. The mercurial Ciaran Whelan and new leader Shane Ryan running midfield. The defeats. Bryan Cullen, Barry Cahill, Stephen Cluxton. Freetakers. The defeats. They have certainly earned an All-Ireland but fate isn't always kind. The open expanses of Croke Park that they have enjoyed to date will become much smaller should they be confronted with the Armaghs or Kerrys who are still in the shake-up (at the time of writing). It is how they will cope with these conditions that will determine their eventual fate. Defeat can bring many repercussions to any team be it club or county. The supporter will complain, maybe with justification. Players may shout, sometimes bitterly. There may be fall outs. Sometimes teams will benefit from a defeat, become more tactically aware, hunger more for success. Of all the different scenarios arising out of defeat the most upsetting to see is the resignation of the manager. Unfortunately we have already seen this happen to four different county football teams already this year as a result of championship defeats. While their decision to resign may not be a direct result of one defeat it can certainly be assumed that they would still be in a job had they won that fixture. Pat Roe has parted company with the Offaly footballers after two years at the helm following their terrible performance against Down in Tullamore. Following terms in Carlow and Wexford the experienced manager couldn't generate the required hunger from a team who are struggling to find themselves at present. After two years in charge at Cavan, Donal Keoghan has resigned his post as manager of the Breffni boys. While not shirking his own responsibility for the poor results he also cited a lack of effort from some of the players as a contributory factor in their current demise. Luke Dempsey, who enjoyed four relatively successful years in the midlands with Longford, has gone his own way. He was disappointed that they could not build on the success of previous years and was dismayed that they had fallen back some. Meath are now without a senior manager following the departure of Colm Coyle after two years in charge. After a mixed season last year Colm was expected to produce a team worthy of at least provincial honours in 2008. Whether or not Colm, Luke, Donal or Pat were the main reason (which I doubt) for their teams recent defeats it is sad to see these dedicated, passionate footballing men having to step down from positions that they held in high regard and had sacrificed so much time to. Many conditions have to be satisfied before a team can enjoy success. Good management can satisfy most of them - but not all. Hopefully they can find success in their next roles. Hunger of course is a vital component in the make up of any successful footballer regardless of what previous successes he may have enjoyed. The joy of winning should be directly proportional to the despair of defeat. Donal Keoghan intimated that some of his players did not hurt enough in defeat. The joy of winning expressed in recent weeks by some of the country's top players suggests there is still plenty of hunger there and that defeats still hurt a lot. Cork hurlers Joe Deane, Sean Og and Diarmuid O'Sullivan after their passionate victory over Galway. Waterford hurlers Eoin Kelly, Ken McGrath and Tony Browne after beating Offaly. Dublin stalwarts Ciaran Whelan, Shane Ryan and co after their fourth provincial in a row. Padraig Joyce and his Galway team-mates after winning another Connacht title. (The first Connacht final I attended and enjoyed immensely). A lot of these players have tasted success at various levels but their expression of joy reflects the sacrifices they've made and the importance they place on their relevant victories. Tweet

Most Read Stories