Fintan O'Toole

 

1.  There’s another left-footed corner-forward from Killarney on the intercounty scene

WE first came across James O’Donoghue on the Corn Ui Mhuiri fields. On a February Sunday in 2007, he lit up a semi-final clash in Knocknagree with an astonishing late goal for St Brendan’s against DLS Macroom. There was no college silverware that season but the following year O’Donoghue was inspirational as St Brendan’s came just short of Hogan Cup honours. Injuries stalled his progress last year but the Legion youngster has bolted from the pack in Kerry in early 2010. He made a couple of fine substitute cameos in the early McGrath Cup rounds before announcing his arrival properly with a 1-3 blast in Saturday’s McGrath Cup decider against UCC.  One to keep an eye on.

 

2.      If Donegal could bottle their January form, then their summers would be more pleasant

2009 ended in meltdown for Donegal with Croke Park last August being the scene of utter carnage for the Tír Chonaill men as Cork ripped them apart by fourteen points. The progress achieved by battling qualifier wins over Derry and Galway was rendered redundant and they entered 2010 in a sombre state. But John Joe Doherty has once more found the Dr McKenna Cup to his liking as he coaxed a winning run out of his players for the second successive January. With old stagers like Brian Roper and Raymond Sweeney having departed the scene, it’s been refreshing for Donegal that new blood has emerged. Adrian O’Hanlon and Leo McLoone have been illustrated that  they are prepared to offer viable offensive support to the Michael Murphy show. There was resilience as well in Saturday night's McKenna Cup decider in the manner in which they edged out Mickey Harte’s team who had won their previous two games by an average of fourteen points. The hard part for Donegal now is to maintain the standards they have set.

 

3.      Third-level teams are not the Four Horsemen from the Apocalypse in disguise

THIS is a well-worn argument from these parts but worth repeating as January disappears. The pesky students have illustrated again how they can make the fare competitive in all four provinces as they compete with inter-county teams slowly rousing themselves from a winter slumber. In Munster, UCC engineered a route to the final and but for a fixture pile-up would have been able to compete with a stronger side in the final against Kerry. Sligo IT fell short on scoring differentials from a FBD League final place, UUJ were pipped for the knockout stages of the Dr McKenna Cup and DCU have once again blazed a trail through the O'Byrne Cup. Overall the colleges helped raise standards yet not to the extent that they have exerted total control. And it's also worth nothing that several students dazzled in a fashion that their inter-county bosses will have noticed. Watch out for Johnny Buckley (UCC and Kerry),  Stephen Coen (Sligo IT and Sligo), Shane Roche (DCU and Wexford) and Stefan Forker (UUJ and Armagh).

With the pre-season competitions, the college sides are enhancing rather than impairing the January action.