GAA Championship: Three things we know now

So Donegal are flexible-ish, the long grass surrounding Galway has been well and truly cut and, in hindsight, Longford's surprise win wasn't that surprising.

Donegal's (kind of) expansive approach pays dividends

Lord knows Donegal received enough criticism for their uber-defensive approach last year and when it came to throwing darts, we here at JOE Towers weren’t far behind Pat Spillane (crimes against Gaelic football he called it) in the queue to let Jim McGuinness and his cohorts what we felt about their style of play.

Let’s give credit where credit is due then and while Donegal’s performance against Cavan yesterday could hardly be classed as Total Gaelic Football, there was enough encouraging signs for those of us hoping for a more expansive approach from the Tír Chonaill men this season.

The packed defence was still there, but not anywhere close to what it was last year and there were far more players willing to commit to the attack, with the scoring duties being shared out amongst seven players in total.

With all due respect to Cavan, Donegal will face far sterner tests ahead and it will be interesting to see if the more liberated approach (with Michael Murphy on board, of course) is maintained from here on out.

Galway emerge from the long grass

The fact that they were within a hair’s breadth of reaching the Division Two Final signalled that Galway might be a force to be reckoned with this season, but we’re pretty sure nobody saw yesterday’s performance coming.

A few experts thought that home advantage and the absence of some big names might count in Roscommon’s favour, but that theory was blown out of the water just after the 20-minute mark when Paul Conroy brilliantly netted Galway’s second goal to put his side nine points in front.

Paul Conroy was outstanding for the Tribesmen at full-forward

It has to be said that Roscommon were awful, but there were loads of positives for Alan Mulholland to take away from the game. The twin pillars of Senan Kilbride and Donie Shine were kept quiet, Gareth Bradshaw excelled once again, Joe Bergin dominated midfield, Gary Sice struck 1-3 from the half forward line and the two-footed Paul Conroy looked a real threat at the edge of the square.

Add in the returning Padraic Joyce and Michael Meehan to the mix and Galway look a decent enough bet to at least give Mayo a run for their money in Connacht and/or win their first Championship game outside of the province since 2004.

Longford can't get carried away

The manner of Longford’s victory over Laois yesterday entitled them to celebrate it heartily, but Glen Ryan will no doubt sound a few warnings about the idea of getting carried away with the success.

Sure, Laois were favourites yesterday, but not by much and after their contrasting fortunes this year, the two teams will be playing in the same division next season so it was hardly that much of a shock.

Besides, had Laois been more clinical in the first half, they could and perhaps should have been out of sight by half-time. Longford do deserve a lot of praise for the way they clawed back a six-point deficit – Michael Quinn and Paul Barden in particular were outstanding – but there’s a long way to go yet.

Wexford, who Longford already defeated in the Division Three League Final, await in the quarters, with the prospect of playing the Dubs in Croke Park the likely prize for the victors. Keep their feet on the ground and it could be a big season ahead for one of the smallest counties in the country.