TO put a stop to recent speculation, I can confirm that earlier this week I congratulated the President Elect by phone, before briefly discussing a number of issues of mutual importance, including the unlikelihood of a smooth transition from the Harte regime. I have no further comment to make at this time.

On Saturday evening, Dublin showed that they will win six in-a-row in an awesome, mistake-free performance against Westmeath. Forget the opposition. With a new stepfather, five All-Irelands in-a-row achieved and no atmosphere at the ground to stimulate them, they played superbly, illustrating once again why they are the country’s dominant team.

The reason for this is that they are the only team that has achieved the right balance between defence and attack. Their system involves constant attack. Unlike most teams, when they go ahead, they do not drop back to protect the lead, which in turn promotes anxiety and can result in a good team losing confidence and squandering a winning lead.

We see this constantly with Tyrone. Most teams panic in the face of a very strong forward line or quality attacker. So, when they face David Clifford he becomes the focus of their game plan. The Dubs merely mark him as normal. If he scores 0-5, well then he was going to score 0-5 anyway. This is precisely what happened in last year’s replayed final.

The Dubs, regardless of the opposition, trust their game-plan, which means defence and attack in equal measure. They are superb in every facet of the game, from their own kick-outs to the opposition’s, from penetrating zonal defences to outstanding individual skills. Underdogs are treated with exactly the same respect as contenders. Westmeath, a good, hard-working team with plenty of good players were simply destroyed from start to finish.

On the wooden spoon front, Kerry’s hilarious, exhilarating last second defeat by Cork underlines the shocks and thrills of knock-out football, something that the younger generation are experiencing for the first time.

Nothing matches knock-out football. The favourites feel huge pressure. If the underdog gets a run on them, the clock ticks faster and suddenly we have the euphoria of a shock win. Tyrone out. Monaghan out. Roscommon out. Kerry out. It feels like freedom.

This is how it used to be and how it needs to be again. I am heartened by the GAA Work group’s report recommending the abolition of the pre-season competitions but they need to go much further. We must go back to real football, which means sudden death.

Pat Spillane had written on Saturday morning that “Clifford and his colleagues could have a field day tomorrow. I don’t give Cork a prayer against Kerry.”  To be fair, RTE punditry isn’t what it used to be.

In the event, Kerry panicked because Cork had run through their middle last year and did what Dublin never do: They dropped back into a heavy zonal defensive formation.

With only two forwards left up, Clifford was isolated and did not have the impact he would otherwise have had. Secondly, it encouraged Cork and kept them in the game.

The winning goal was superb from the Aussie Rules man, coming from his first legal touch. People criticised Big Tommy Walsh who stood watching the ball dropping like a cow looking over a five bar gate, but it was a brilliant hip nudge and finish from the Cork man. On The Sunday Game that night, Tomas O’Se and Ciaran Whelan were talking through their arses when they gave no credit to the goalscorer. For me it was an epic take and finish at the game’s crunch, summing up the extraordinary nature of knock-out.

Kerry have formally objected to the result. The Kerry County Board released the following statement after the game:

“Kerry won this game and will not allow it to be stolen from us by the pro Cork media and the dishonest GAA. We were in the lead before Cork’s goal, which was scored after normal time was up and is therefore disqualified and a hoax.

“The extra minutes played were fake minutes. A HOAX. A BIG HOAX. The GAA people need to understand that this is a GIANT CON by the fake media and Cork GAA and we will if necessary take it to the Supreme Court.  We can confirm that Kerry will be playing Tipperary in the Munster senior football final in a fortnight’s time and tickets will be available at all usual outlets, including the Healy Rae’s back yard.”