With Tyrone’s match against Donegal last night getting washed out by the weather (it’s been refixed for a different venue this afternoon), the only other Division 1 match on last night was the clash of Laois and Kerry at O’Moore Park. The visitors won by four points (match report here) and, if our Division 1 survival is a priority for us (is it?), then the result was probably helpful. With only one point on the board and a points difference of -17, Laois are starting to looked doomed and I suppose we should now be rooting for Donegal today to keep our fellow strugglers Tyrone in the danger zone too. The best thing we can do today, however, is help ourselves – a good win will pull us clear while dropping Kildare further into it, making it likely (though not certain) that we’ll remain in Division 1 for 2009.

With the Tyrone match off, Setanta’s coverage switched instead to the Division 2 clash at Breffni Park between Cork and Cavan (why the Division 1 Kerry-Laois encounter wasn’t higher in the broadcasting pecking order is another day’s work), which the home side nicked by a single point (match report here). Cavan’s tricky little full-forward Seanie Johnston was the star of the show, kicking nine of Cavan’s total of 13 points, including the winner. Johnston was one of the senior panel in Cavan who buggered off to the States last Summer after they’d been knocked out of Ulster and, on the basis of his form last night, it’s possible that we might have been spared that long trek up to Celtic Park last July had he been around for our qualifier meeting with the Breffni men in the previous round.

TG4 opted to face-off with Setanta last night by reshowing The Greatest Match Ever Played™, a fact I only became aware of when I did a bit of channel-hopping near the end of the match up in Cavan. I had, of course, to alert the kids to it: “Come and see the Dubs beating Kerry! Yes, I know it looks like it was a hundred years ago – it nearly was!” And they call this a rivalry …

The other action of interest from yesterday took place in the Connacht U21 semi-final when Roscommon survived a major scare from Sligo before emerging winners by 1-11 to 1-9. Sligo led by four points early in the second half and, with the wind behind them and Ros down to fourteen men, another shock win for the Yeats County looked on the cards. However, with Donal Shine to the fore, the Rossies took control and finally make it through to the final with our lads (a repeat of last year’s) which will now take place, so I’m told (by The Brother who listened to the game on Shannonside while traversing the country yesterday and provided me with the above synopsis), on Wednesday week.

That’s all. Back later after the match in Newbridge.