The candle Burns fast
AND just like that, the Championship begins.
Jarlath Burns gave a man of the match display with his speech after the Division One final last week and it provides hope that the Association finally has a genuine leader.
He has many things to try and fix but I’m sure the gap, or lack thereof, between the League and Championship will be high on the list. It seems very strange that we are talking about the start of the football Championship when the hurling League final is also on this weekend.
Westmeath and Leitrim are on the road again this week having played their League finals seven days ago. I never had to do it that abruptly, but I imagine the mental switch is very difficult for players.
I spoke to a few of the Mayo players last year when they were in a similar position – straight home after the game, no chance to enjoy winning a national title. Recovery and analysis followed the next day and back to training before playing Roscommon the following Sunday.
Players need to be given a chance to enjoy the experiences of playing in big games. Some of the best craic I had as a player was meeting up with my teammates the day after a game for a few drinks. But we nearly always had a fair gap between matches.
The only meet-up the Westmeath and Leitrim players had last Sunday was probably in a swimming pool.
That said, everyone knew the schedule at the start of the year. Having won, Westmeath will be in a much better place to handle the short turnaround and I expect them to beat Wicklow comfortably.
Leitrim have a much tougher test against near neighbours Sligo, who had a really good Division Three campaign. They are also coming off the back of heavy defeat and I expect Sligo to take advantage.