Of the many talking points over the weekend, the biggest was the significant warning posted by Tyrone in Newbridge on Saturday evening.
Mayo grinding out a win against impressive Armagh, Clare winning on the road again and Laois only one game away from the super 8s all earned headlines in their own right.
But Tyrone’s 10-point victory stood out and while it’s not the first time Mickey Harte’s team have made us take notice, this was a tad different.
Tyrone seem to have addressed some of the serious issues that were plaguing them.
Firstly their defence had a different shape and structure to the one that couldn’t cope with Donegal and only two defenders started Saturday from that horror show. The Tyrone defenders’ positional sense was much better, as was their tackling.
The balance between defence and attack was on point, their angled running off the shoulder was splendid.
Rory Brennan, Michael Cassidy and the McGearys added much-needed pace to the defence and they were able to get up and down the field to great effect.
Tyrone’s midfield had a torrid afternoon against the impressive Kevin Feely and Fergal Conway, who notched 1-5 from play between them. It was the one area that will cause concern for Tyrone ahead of what’s still to come.
Darren McCurry scored 1-2 and his jinking, mazy runs caused havoc. But it was the awesome return to form of Mattie Donnelly, Peter Harte and Cathal McShane that ultimately put Kildare to the sword - they scored 15 points between them.
On this form they are virtually unstoppable.
If Tyrone are to be taken serious as a top team, these three players can’t go missing in big games. They must stand up as they did against Kildare
Donnelly covered every blade of grass and gave a Micheal Murphy type performance. He was the general, he led by example and drove at Kildare non-stop until he broke their hearts, bossing the game magnificently.
Donnelly and Harte in particular must drive on now, repeat their performances on the big stage consistently in the coming weeks. If they can then on this form, Tyrone have a chance.
Some of the scores in this game were absolutely wonderful but the difference in the two attacks was alarming.
Kildare used 10 forwards throughout but they only scored a total of 0-3 points from play, compared to the 1–13 haul from the Tyrone forwards..
Tyrone’s mojo has returned but only performances of real, steely substance will bring the glory days back.
Weak refereeing amusing, but ultimately embarrassing
Of all the amusing things I have seen this year, the incident involving Kildare manager Cian O’Neill being sent to the stand in the first half against Tyrone was up there.
He was ordered off after a dispute in the first half but then point blank refused to go.
The referee asked him to leave, the linesman asked him to leave and then the fourth official repeated the request. But no way, he stood defiantly beside the dug-out throughout the entire game .
Even at the start of the second half the linesman pleaded with him, but again there was no way that he was going.
But to see the referee Paddy Neilan watch him stand there all day long and defy his orders was nothing short of comical.
O’Neill should have gone but when you have a weak referee officiating, that’s what happens. It was a little embarrassing for everyone involved.
Armagh and Westmeath robbed of time that should've been played - it's time for change
For the love of God can GAA decision-makers stop, take a deep breath and install an independent time keeper at intercounty matches for the sake of fair play.
In this day and age, it’s absurd to allow or expect referees to do this job at the top level of our game.
It’s absolutely crazy what’s going on. In Castlebar on Saturday, Armagh were pushing hard and they were blown up five or six minutes short of what was left to play when you take into account all the stoppages.
The same happened in Mullingar, where Westmeath were pushing hard at the death only for the referee to blow up around two full minutes short of what was left to play after all the stoppages.
It’s totally unacceptable.
Heslin challenge was never a black card
I must mention John Heslin’s black card after 7 minutes of the Clare v Westmeath. It was such pivotal moment.
Before anyone jumps down my throat, if this brush with Gary Brennan was a black card then we would have somewhere between eight and 10 in every single intercounty game .
In contests like this big players sometimes test each other out = or seek each other out with a little bit of contact, pushing the flesh.
This is the perfect example of the GAA taking every ounce of physicality out of the game.
It wasn’t a black card. Brennan was jogging away from the ball and away from goal and Heslin jostled with him. Nothing more, nothing less - it was a little Westmeath welcome from one team’s top player to the opposition’s top player.
If this was a black card, why do other referees let these challenges go all day long?
I commentated in the Ulster final and there was at least a dozen or more of these brush-offs, and no-one blinked an eye at all -simply because common sense was applied by the referee.
The GAA need to bite the bullet and hit the provincial towns for big games
Saturday was the biggest endorsement for all games up to the All Ireland final to be played in provincial grounds.
The atmosphere in Newbridge town hours before the game was electrifying.
Castlebar was the same with the big Armagh crowd that was full of colour and joy, it was brilliant, and when I arrived back to Mullingar on Saturday night from Newbridge, to see the amount of Clare fans enjoying their win around the town was fabulous.
By all accounts they outnumbered the Westmeath fans, which was some achievement.
Imagine, Laois v Offaly was put back by 10 minutes to let the crowd in for the eagerly-awaited local derby.
Croke Park must bite the bullet now. Scrap Headquarters for the Super 8s. Hitting the provincial towns is the only way.
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