So the 4 provincial final losers have all made their exits from the All-Ireland series. It will probably act as a watershed in the structure of the championship in future years as there seems to be a lot of talk that it is unfair for the beaten finalists to have to pick themselves up so quickly for a tough knockout match. Personally, I wouldn't be so sympathetic. I certainly think that this year it was more a case of the best teams coming through. Louth and Sligo both surprised more fancied teams on the way to their provincial finals but were knocked out by teams in Down and Dublin who have improved game by game. Kildare were also very poor against Louth but have really come on since. It certainly makes for a mouthwatering line-up for the quarter finals no matter what pairings are thrown up.
Kildare 1-15 1-11 Monaghan
The scoreline doesn't really do this game justice as it was all but over after 45 minutes. Monaghan started brightly enough and tagged on a few scores but Kildare are perenial slow starters and clawed their way back into the game as the half wore on just as they did against Derry a week earlier. The thing about Kildare is that they make so many scoring opportunities that if they find a bit of a purple patch accuracy wise, their opponents can find themselves a handful of points in such a short period. Psychologically it must be hard to take. Once Kildare put a bit of daylight between themselves and Monaghan, the game was over. Monaghan didn't have any fight left and the late rally was more due to Kildare easing off and replacing some of their key men. James Kavanagh was brilliant especially in the 2nd half and his pass for the goal was inch perfect.
Kildare are a force to be reckoned with and whoever they face in the quarters will know they were in a game. They certainly gave Tyrone all they could handle last year and I expect more of the same next week.
Dublin 2-14 0-13 Louth
Unfortunately I was unable to get sorted with an Irish proxy to catch this game on TV3 online so I had to make do with the updates from RTE.ie but its clear that Dublin came flying out of the blocks and left Louth for dead early on. Fragile enough from their loss to Meath, it was always going to be difficult to try to come back against Dublin in their back yard. However, all credit to Louth in the second half they battled away and can walk away from this years championship with their heads held high.
Cork 0-16 1-11 Limerick aet
Well what can you say about this game? It wasnt great, far from it. Limerick were unlucky early on, denied a stonewall penalty and then denied by the crossbar but after an enjoyable opening 10 minutes, it really was dreadful stuff! What happened in the last 2 minutes of normal time is hard to explain. A very daft shoulder in the back by Alan O'Connor and then a woeful kickout from Quirke gifted a draw for Limerick. I was cursing my luck that I would have to sit through another 20 minutes to be honest. Unfortunately it got even worse in extra time and Cork just about crawled over the line in the end.
If Cork play like this next week they wont beat any of the provincial winners so they have a lot of work to do.
Down 3-20 0-10 Sligo
Just when I had given up on Down showing what they can really do, they go and do it. They are one of the very few counties who are capable of racking up such a score and this result will set off alarm bells around the country. On their day, they are capable of beating anyone. As for Sligo; well it was never going to be easy to pick themselves up after the shock defeat last week and they were never really at the races.
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