WHAT a last day of action we over weekend as the National Football League’s last round of fixtures took place.

I had the pleasure of being in attendance in Clones as Monaghan locked horns with Dublin and what a game of football they provided.

The game had absolutely everything. It ebbed and flowed for most of the contest and kept us on the edge of our seats until the very last kick of the game.

Great credit must go to Monaghan for turning in such a heroic performance given the fact that they were robbed of three or four of their starters just before throw-in due to a bug in the camp.

Once that news filtered through, we all thought that Dublin would saunter to a victory and the first 10 minutes of the game seemed to point in that direction, but Monaghan grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck.

For me, Conor McCarthy’s point was the spark and from that moment Monaghan believed they could go onto win the game and this is exactly how it transpired.

Jack McCarron was simply electric from start to finish. Leaving his scores aside, some of his set-up play and ball-winning ability was a joy to watch and Dublin clearly struggled with him all day long. The Dubs started like a steam train, but then they seemed to lose their way with a number of their high performers being quiet on the day.

It is very hard to be critical of any of those Dublin players given the amount they have achieved but the likes of Ciaran Kilkenny, Brian Fenton and Brian Howard were below their own high standards and that’s why Dublin struggled.

Take nothing away from Monaghan’s performance as they were superb on the day, but as I looked on I just got the feeling that Dublin were a little leggy. Perhaps the league isn’t the be all and end all for Dessie Farrell’s team they may have a long summer in their sights, so watch this space.

We have known for some time that the league is turning in to the main competition and what a final day of action we had as we all tried to keep tabs on scores coming in from the grounds around the country.

I must give special praise to the team at TG4 for doing an absolutely fantastic job on the day and trying to bring as much info and as much action to the public as possible.

It was a pleasure to work with them last Sunday and it was the closest thing to playing that I’ve experienced since hanging up the books so maith sibh!

Now that the league standings are finalised, we can look forward to the finals taking place over Saturday and Sunday this weekend, while the rest of the teams can get themselves ready for championship, which is just around the corner.

This Sunday I’ll make my way to headquarters to cover the Division One and Two finals. I must say, I am really looking forward to both games. I’ve been keeping a close eye on the likes of Kerry, Mayo and Galway during the league so to get to see them up close and personal will be great.

I have a few question marks hanging over teams, so it will be interesting to see how they’re developed over the course of the league.

Galway rested a raft of the players last weekend and Roscommon went in to claim the victory, but with silverware at stake this weekend you can be sure that Pádraic Joyce will be all guns blazing so it should make for a fascinating contest.

In the Division One final, we probably have the two top teams in the country facing off against each other and no doubt both teams have their sights set on Sam Maguire later on in the year so this will be an interesting tussle.

For me, the main thing I will be keeping an eye on this weekend from a Kerry point of view is whether or not they have worked on their defensive frailties and it will be interesting to see if the Paddy Tally effect is beginning to take shape as they gear up for the summer.

Mayo are Mayo and no matter how much we say or write about them they just continue to turn on heroic performance after heroic performance. Given the fact that they had absolutely no home games this season and they still made the Division One final says a lot about this current Mayo team.

Although they have suffered heartbreak in the past, it’s clear that they are on a mission this season so it will be interesting to see how the fare against the Kingdom.

After the weekend we should have a better idea or who is serious about making the surge for silverware this year and who is just toying with us, so I look forward to the games.