Inside Track with John McIntyre

National League form is often an unreliable guide to the fortunes of various hurling and Gaelic football teams come the championship, but what’s happening so far in the GAA’s second most prestigious inter-county competition would nearly drive a sane person demented.

With a few exceptions, the displays of most teams are swinging wildly from one week to the next. Anybody trying to bring up a GAA accumulator these days is nearly wasting their time due to the number of head-scratching results. Look at last weekend, for instance, high-flying Kildare being turned over by Clare in Division Three.

After the early rounds of the league, the Clare hurlers and Mayo footballers were on life-support and already being written off for the summer, but that opinion stands no more as the teams managed by Brian Lohan and Kevin McStay respectively are suddenly back in business.

Mayo hosted Kerry last Sunday at MacHale Park. Few neutrals gave them a chance, but they stormed out of the traps in building a commanding advantage. Ryan O’Donoghue and midfielder Matthew Ruane led their scoring as David Clifford and company struggled for traction.

Yet as we have seen regularly under the new rules, even double-digit leads are anything but safe and when Kerry edged in front in the second-half, the game looked over for the hosts, but they rallied with Fergal Boland, David McBrien, O’Donoghue and Ruane raising decisive late white flags.

At the Gaelic Grounds on the same day, the All-Ireland hurling champions were taking on their fierce rivals Limerick. Clare had zero points from their first three outings and the camp was still digesting the deflating news that the 2024 Player of the Year Shane O’Donnell would be out for the season after shoulder surgery.

Against that background, you’d think Clare would be on a hiding to nothing and in the opening minutes, that’s how it looked. Limerick had several goal chances, but took none of them as opposition ‘keeper Eibhear Quilligan proved his worth time and again. Gradually, the Banner started carrying the fight to their hosts, none more so than newcomers Sean Rynne and Jack O’Neill who each scored three points from play.

With David Fitzgerald, Mark Rodgers, and Ryan Taylor more like their true selves, and the great Tony Kelly bombing around the place, Clare served a sharp and timely reminder why they won the All-Ireland title last year. Sure, Limerick were missing a host of regulars and lost Diarmuid Byrnes to a red card, but this was a huge win for the defending league champions.

Pictured: Galway midfielder John Maher on the charge against Tyrone’s Brian Kennedy and Peter Harte during Sunday’s Division 1 league clash at Tuam Stadium. Photo: Joe O’Shaughnessy.