The Super 8s must deliver

Sean O’Sulluvan argues that provincial finals like last weekend’s are doing football no good whatsoever

AFTER having seen all four provincial finals it’s clear to see that the Super 8s can’t come quick enough. With the exception of the Connacht decider, where Roscommon at least put it up to Galway for long periods, they were all a damp squib.

You can argue that Laois caused Dublin some problems in the first half of the their clash, but let’s be honest about it that was the worst 35 minutes of football Dublin have put together in a long, long time. When they resumed after the break it was normal service resumed.

Up in Ulster it was another one sided affair. Rory Gallagher was part of a very successful set up under the guidance of Jim Guinness while with Donegal and he will point to the improvement he has brought to his home county Fermanagh, but by god it’s horrible football. It was sickening to watch. So bad in fact I switched over to watch England terrorise poor Panama in the World Cup.

The above games are just more examples on a long list of why the provincial championships are coming to an end. They have to. Listen I have a few Munster medals to my name and damn proud to have. They mean the world to me.

Indeed, ask the likes of Kieran Donaghy or Darran O’Sullivan who picked up another one Saturday evening and they will tell you the same. When the time comes to hang up the boots they will look back on these Munster wins as special times, but as competitive competitions they are losing all credibility.

The simple reality of the situation is that teams at the lower end of the spectrum, as in Division 3 and 4 sides, are trying to compete with the elite forces of Division 1. It’s just too much of a quality gap to have any real meaningful games.

And it’s not serving either team any good is it?

Kerry, Dublin, Donegal and maybe to a lesser extent Galway will arrive into the new championship format probably still wondering where they really are on the form graph?

Galway at least had a few tough battles with Mayo and the aforementioned Roscommon, but the rest breezed through at a canter. The teams they handed out these beatings to must be wondering where they fit in all this?

Managers will come out with the usual sound bites that they were beaten by a better team who are just a class apart from the rest of the province and let’s be honest it’s all getting boring.

The powers that be had the courage and initiative to change up the format with the introduction of the group phase rather than quarter-finals. Let’s hope that they look at the dinosaur the provincials have become and revamp the whole thing.

As for the Munster final itself it finished like many had expected, which was disappointing as the opening quarter was encouraging from a neutrals perspective. Cork just went for it.

Paul Geaney celebrates scoring his side’s third goal during the Munster SFC Final at Páirc Ui Chaoimh. Photo by Sportsfile