Jimmy’s not winning matches, it’s the boys, insists Donegal’s McGuinness

Grimaces after matches over Jimmy winning games

There was an interesting exchange on BBC between reporter Mark Sidebottom and Donegal manager Jim McGuinness following the Ulster final.

The pair completed their interview and, as he wrapped it up, Sidebottom attempted to sign off with “Jimmy’s winning matches, thank you”, referencing, of course, the eponymous song.

McGuinness, though, was keen to clarify something.

“I don’t know about that,” he responded, the slight grimace on Sidebottom’s face perhaps indicating his surprise.

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“No, that’s wrong, it’s actually wrong. The players are winning matches and that’s something that gets lost. There’s too much about that, there’s too much about that. These are the boys. See in that 10 seconds to go there and [if] they lose that possession, the game’s gone. It’s not Jimmy doing that.”

Sidebottom, pro that he is, was unruffled.

“Jimmy’s boys are winning matches,” he concluded, to a nod from the Glenties man.

Underdogs reduced to tiers as Tailteann grows lopsided

Westmeath beat Antrim by 16 points in the Tailteann Cup on Sunday. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho

Although ugly mismatches off-Broadway in hurling are commonplace, it was widely argued by pundits and officials that the addition of a second tier in football would make things more even.

The Schemozzle kept the receipts. For example, Joe Brolly, in 2021, cited the need to “create competitions that are competitive” and how “in hurling, we don’t send Mayo out against Tipperary or Tyrone out against Limerick to be humiliated”.

Tom Parsons, also in 2021, said that “the potential for brutal mismatches” would be “limited” in a tiered championship. It’s worth noting that the Ring, Rackard and Meagher hurling finals were decided by a combined 52 points that year.

Mike Quirke, in 2018, noted: “Hurling has a tiered championship structure which regularly pits teams of even enough ability against each other and mismatches are a rarity.”

Has that worked out? In the Tailteann Cup’s first year, when it was knockout, the average margin of victory was 5.8 points per game but it has crept up. In 2023, it was 6.8; last season, 7.1.

The first round at the weekend produced an average margin of 10.25 points. One solution mooted is more football tiers but the hurling experience doesn’t indicate that will work – the average margin of victory in the first round of the Lory Meagher (tier five) this year is 9.3 points in the 12 matches to date. The “humiliations” Brolly referenced remain the norm.

Number: 1

Occasions in which a team scored three or more goals in the first half of a Leinster final and lost the match (Offaly actually led 4-7 to 0-9 at the break in 1970 but lost to Meath). Louth fans may have feared history would repeat itself at one stage yesterday.

Luke is warming up for a big summer

Luke Loughlin of Westmeath in action. Photograph: James Lawlor/Inpho

Westmeath’s Luke Loughlin is in the form of his life and almost completed a rare championship feat on Sunday in single-handedly outscoring the opposition. Loughlin, who plays his club football for The Downs and hurling for Clonkill, equalled Antrim’s tally as he bagged a scarcely-believable 1-17, which included a penalty and five two-pointers (three of the latter from frees).

Having bagged 0-11 in the defeat to Kildare in the Leinster Championship on April 12th, Loughlin didn’t rest on his laurels. The next day, he competed in and won a Hyrox event in Kells, Co Meath, alongside his training partner Fearghal Tiernan.

(Hyrox, for the uninitiated, is a competitive workout entailing 8km running alongside various exercises.)

Westmeath’s win over Antrim was their first victory this season. They have been somewhat unlucky in that of their eight previous matches this season, they drew one, lost two by a point, two by two points and another by three to a controversial last-minute Meath goal.

However, while they have been impressive up front, Westmeath are one of only four teams (Derry, Waterford and Longford are the others) who have yet to keep a clean sheet this season.

Quote

I knew coming up here this was going to be a tough job. It’s a tough drive anyway, I can tell you that ... I’m struggling a bit with the drive.

Antrim manager Davy Fitzgerald, speaking after the loss to Dublin, is clocking up the miles on his trips north.

Dessie pushing it a little bit

Speaking of TV coverage, should Louth’s first-half penalty have been given yesterday? On television, RTÉ’s analysts were divided, which prompted a predictably incredulous reaction on social media.

“It’s minimal enough contact,” noted Dessie Dolan, who described Donal Keogan’s tackle on Kieran McArdle as “a little bit of a push”.

Meanwhile, Ciaran Whelan, at half-time, was in no doubt it was a foul. “It is a penalty ... It has to be, just right there, look, he’s not able to strike the ball, it has to be a penalty,” he said.

Whelan’s fellow pundit Sean Cavanagh, meanwhile, wasn’t sure and opted to sit on the fence.

“Ciaran’s a referee now apparently,” he chuckled, adding “And yeah, there is, there’s contact there, is it enough to make it a penalty? It’s hard to say.”