THE championship here in Donegal has now reached the business end of things. The group stages have finished and we are now left with eight teams. The so-called top four of St Eunan’s, Naomh Conaill, Gaoth Dobhair and Kilcar have finished between first and fourth, ensuring a home quarter-final tie for each.

If we are being completely honest the championship has really yet to catch fire. Given the new format this year, I was excited to see how this would pan out but it has resulted in far too many one-sided games for my liking.

You could argue both sides of it and say that here in Donegal we have four very strong teams competing for the championship whereas in other counties you might only have one or two, but the problem for me is the massive gap that exists between that top group of teams and the rest.

From the quarter-final stage games should be way more competitive and there shouldn’t be as much between teams and when we get to the semi-final stage we should be in for some real humdingers.

It’s been a strange year to say the least. Normally by this time of year you have a fair idea of how you are going and how your team is shaping up but given how quickly this has come around this year and with matches coming thick and fast, it is really hard to judge where you are at.

If you take the top four teams in Donegal, none of them have been really tested to date and some would argue that they won’t get much of a test in the quarter-finals either. I can only speak for our own team and say that we have just done enough to beat what has been put in front of us week-on-week. Last week’s game against Sean McCumhaill’s was probably our toughest game this year. We won by five points in the end but once we sit down to analyse the game there will be a lot for us to work on.

The way the quarter-finals worked out means that we meet MacCumhaill’s again next weekend. Like ourselves, they will come away from last week’s game feeling that they have a lot to work on so both teams will be aiming for big improvements.

Like I said earlier, it’s really hard to judge where are you are at but one thing is for sure, the serious stuff is now upon us so it’s time to stand up and deliver.

Should we manage to win at home the next day then it sets it up for a cracking semi-final against one of the favourites for the competition so your performances would really need to moving up from here on in.

I suppose one of the major talking points last week in the lead-up to these games was how it would feel to play behind closed doors. Once the game begins you forget all about that and you’re just really focused on the next ball. However when you look back on the day as a whole it really does lessen the whole championship experience if supporters cannot attend.

As we head into the business end of things I’m sure the county boards would love to see a reversal of that decision so that once again we can open our doors and allow spectators in. We have a bit of time now until the quarter-finals so we live in hope that some breakthrough might be made and that as the games ramp up we also have some sort of atmosphere to go along with it.

Along with playing in our own club championship here in Donegal and catching as many games as I can, I have also had the opportunity to visit some other counties to watch their club championships and I have to say that is has been just brilliant.

Last week I was working at the Kilcoo and Mayobridge game in Newry and it was just refreshing to go and watch another county championship and to see how teams set up, etc.

This week I’m heading to Omagh on Friday night to cover the Killyclogher and Trillick game. Trillick are a team that I have been watching over this last year or two and I’m quite excited to see them up close and personal.

Obviously with our own run in Ulster in 2018 and then getting into the final again here last year you always keep your eye out at what might be coming down the tracks from other counties and Trillick were one of those teams that I would have be watching closely.

All club championships are different and styles of play differ from county to county so I’m looking forward to seeing how things are shaping up in Tyrone this year.

On this side of the border our schools return this week so the focus at the minute is to hope that all goes well and that there is no need to close everything down again, which would just be a disaster at this time of the season.

Teams have handled the whole situation extremely well to date and we hope that this will continue and allow the season to be played out.

A number of clubs have had to take precautionary measures here over the last number of weeks and they have done so swiftly and responsibly resulting in the continuation of our games and they must be commended for that. I think it would be a massive boost if we are able to finish the season and to try and end this horrible year on a positive note. It would be a sign that we are winning this battle.

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