Football review: And we’re still so young, and we hope for more

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There’s not much left of our calculators after a hectic weekend of permutation-working-out in Divisions 1 and 2. Meath’s defeat of Cavan counted for nothing as Roscommon thumped Westmeath to gain promotion to Division 1 based on head-to-head records; Tyrone led Kerry throughout their match in Omagh and – as a result of the Mayo-Donegal draw – would have relegated their visitors if they could have beaten them by two points or more. Instead, their own draw sends them down to Division 2 along with Derry.

The last week was marked by an insistence in some quarters that gaelic football is dying – largely as a result of the Croke Park game where Dublin beat Derry by 0-8 to 0-4, in horrendous conditions where an Ulster team – faced with the most formidable attack the sport has ever known – decided to play a defensive game. It should be noted that the same Derry team, when the weather and opponent favoured a more pleasing brand of football, scored 2-15.

Round 6 of the NFL saw a total score of 25-312, averaging at 10.5 scores per team. Round 7, played in better weather nationwide, saw a total of 36-399 – 13.5 scores each.

Let it be said: football is not dying, it’s just that nobody plays it very well when faced with pissing rain.

Football rankings
(w/e April 5, 2015)
1 Dublin 1943
2 Kerry 1847
3 (+1) Donegal 1794
4 (+1) Mayo 1777
5 (-2) Cork 1759
6 Monaghan 1680
7 Tyrone 1603
8 (+2) Derry 1491
9 Meath 1469
10 (-2) Armagh 1432
11 (+1) Down 1422
12 (-1) Kildare 1396
13 Roscommon 1389
14 Galway 1379
15 Laois 1305
16 Cavan 1285
17 Tipperary 1241
18 Fermanagh 1201
19 (+3) Sligo 1141
20 (-1) Westmeath 1100
21 (-1) Louth 1080
22 (+2) Wexford 1060
23 Clare 1054
24 (-3) Longford 1053
25 Limerick 1052
26 (+1) Offaly 963
27 (-1) Antrim 917
28 Leitrim 894
29 Wicklow 766
30 (+1) Carlow 707
31 (-1) Waterford 655
32 London 574

We’ll be back on Thursday to preview the two Division 1 semi-finals.

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