National League proves its worth – Devenney

Donegal's Mark Hugh against Armagh's Anto Duffy

IT’S BEEN a crazy league. The media do tend to get carried away with the meaning of the league, and even two losses in a row sparks headlines in the more excitable papers about teams and management being in crisis.

Perhaps it’s a knock-on effect of Sky Sports coverage, but the fact remains; it’s impossible to make sense of the top division.

You can win three games, lose four, and be talked about as a basket case. On the other hand, if you win four and lose three you are in with a chance of winning it all.

Winning a couple of games early on also provides a smokescreen. After Armagh’s revival against Cork, and then their win away to Kerry, some were proclaiming the O’Rourke/Grimley axis as the canniest duo going. I wonder how they feel about those theories now?

Dublin ended up with the same points tally as Donegal, yet there was so much fault found with Donegal. It shows how everything can change.

Mayo are the most Jekyll and Hyde of teams. I saw them a few times this year and find them really hard to figure out.

They were woeful against Down in Castlebar and Donegal in Ballyshannon. Then they went down to Tralee on Sunday and got a result. Where did that come out of?

The full story is in the current issue of Gaelic Life, published Thursday April 12. Buy your copy now in your local newsagent, or online by clicking the subscribe button on this page