Only the league. That’s what they say, isn’t it? Only the league, nothing to get too excited about. Tell that to the crowds in Omagh, Newbridge and Sligo, skipping back to their cars drenched and wind-beaten and giddy as anything.
The three Allianz League Division One matches held on Sunday all ended in draws, meaning that the upshot of the weekend is that Dublin are rooted to the bottom of the table. Not alone were they the only team to lose, they were the only team all weekend that got outclassed and outfought. Everyone else came away from the opening round of matches with something to shout about. All of which should mean a quiet enough week ahead of Saturday’s trip to Kerry.
In Newbridge, Jack O’Connor’s return to Kildare ended in a 0-13 to 1-10 draw. The home side kicked the last four scores of the game and had St Conleth’s Park rocking in the gloom. The circumstances of O’Connor’s departure over the winter meant that everyone was keeping an eye out for what kind of welcome – or otherwise – he would get. In the end, there was very little to note on that front, for good or for ill. In all truth, it probably was too cold and wet to get overly excited either way.
“Ah look, this was always going to be a tricky game for me,” O’Connor said afterwards. “I have a lot of good memories up here. I’m still very friendly with a lot of the boys and the backroom staff here, even the kitmen, they’re great characters.
“I knew it was going to be a tricky game, no question about it. I gave it absolutely everything when I was up here in Kildare for two years. I enjoyed it, I’ve no regrets. But it wasn’t sustainable to keep it going. I’d have had to get divorced!
"We're down anything up to seven or eight players. We think we'll improve when we have the full panel back. This game will bring us on. This was a real game. It's only a six-day turnaround so we won't be doing a whole pile next week. This was a huge game for Kildare. They were never going to be an easy nut to crack. Glenn Ryan is a legend up here and they were all going to row in behind them. They've an awful lot of work done and that could be seen near the end."
As for Ryan, a full house and a draw saved against Kerry might have been about as much as he could have hoped for from his first league game in charge. But given the amount of possession and scoring chances Kildare had after half-time, it would have been a rueful Kildare manager we’d have been talking to afterwards had they not achieved parity.
“Well, obviously it’s a special day for me, it’s a special day I hope for the players,” Ryan said. It’s all about the players. If I hope for one thing during this league it’s that the focus becomes about the players and not on the fellas on the sideline because they’re the ones doing all the work and they’re the people who are going to deliver anything here.
“I don’t think there was any lack of effort in the first half. Maybe we challenged a little bit better in the second and maybe we started trying to do the things that we think might improve us. I think they showed great bravery to go for the game rather than sitting back and maybe content to put up a brave face. If you do that in this division you won’t be in it for too long.”
Elsewhere, Mayo goalkeeper Robbie Hennelly bent in a stunning free on the wind to grab a draw for Mayo against Donegal in Markiewicz Park deep into injury-time. In what has become a familiar tale for Donegal, Declan Bonner's side failed to close the game out despite having a three-point lead and a man advantage after Stephen Coen was sent off. Aside from his free-taking heroics, Hennelly also found time to save a penalty from Patrick McBrearty, making for a final score of 0-11 to 0-11.
The rotten weather had its say in Omagh as well, where All-Ireland champions Tyrone played out a 0-9 to 0-9 draw with Monaghan. You want to know what kind of games this was? Well, the top scorer was Monaghan goalkeeper Rory Beggan whose three points – with one from play – was enough to win him man-of-the-match. Where would you get it?
Only the league.
