![Jim McGuinness: 'I think it’s disingenuous in many respects to create a format that doesn’t allow people to go after it [the league] properly. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho](https://www.irishtimes.com/resizer/v2/KTCDKE2VPBHNNU23T6BHINXZUM.jpg?auth=14dc5ffd822e408ce7ea177cdee0c4606f4d6affb984d88a48dee9776595c0aa&smart=true&width=1024&height=683)
These are the weeks when everything starts to come into sharper relief in the football and hurling leagues.
Or at least that’s usually the case. In 2025 though, there are so many wheels within wheels that it can be difficult to discern what exactly everybody wants from the league. Some of them might find they’re going to get it, right between the eyes.
Take Division One of the football league. Donegal’s 1-22 to 1-19 victory over Derry, coupled with Galway’s last-gasp 1-18 apiece draw with Tyrone, means that both teams are within touching distance of making the final.
But it’s not quite that simple either, on account of the league final being on the last weekend in March. Donegal play Derry in the first round of Ulster on the first weekend in April, while Galway play New York in New York the same weekend.
And so, everyone has a decision to make now. Donegal and Galway are a bit like Spud in Trainspotting, walking a tricky line between not throwing their hat at the competition altogether while also being careful to not accidentally make the final. In fairness, it might end up suiting Galway to reach the final but you might not be so sure about Donegal.
In Ballyshannon on Sunday, Jim McGuinness reflected on his side’s three-point win by making an impassioned defence of the league, while also making it clear that he couldn’t guarantee that it would be in the best interests of his team to go all out to win the competition outright. To listen to him, the juice doesn’t sound worth the squeeze.
“Everybody who is in Division One wants to be in Division One,” McGuinness said. “We’re all fighting tooth and nail to stay in Division One. I do believe that is the case. But I also do believe that maybe 50 per cent of the cohort don’t want to be in the league final. And I think that diminishes the competition.
“We now will not be thinking about the league final. We are going to be thinking about what’s best for us. And if that means being in the league final, that means being in the league. That will be a consideration when we make those decisions. But it won’t be us going, ‘we want to be there and we need to be there’. Because obviously, you run the risk of going round seven, then the league final and then Derry in Ballybofey.
“I think it’s disingenuous in many respects to create a format that doesn’t allow people to go after it properly. It will probably come back, depending on the decision that we make, it will probably come back on me. It will be that we’re disrespecting the competition and we’re taking things into disrepute and all that. But the reality is that me and all the other mangers, we have to do our best for our players.
“I think there should be a league final. But there should be a week’s grace. It’s hard enough to win Ulster. It’s extremely difficult to win Ulster from the preliminary round. And you throw in a league final the week before, on the back of a tough round six and a tough round seven – it becomes nearly an impossible task. We were flat today. There’s a reason why we were flat. There was no energy, the batteries were low.”
Derry won’t be worrying about a league final, clearly. They contrived to lose another game they were winning handily, throwing away an eight-point lead with 15 minutes to go. It means that they’ve won just one game in normal time since March 2024 and now need back-to-back victories over Mayo and Armagh to have any chance of staying up.
Elsewhere, Meath, Monaghan and Roscommon are deadlocked on eight points apiece at the top of Division Two. Meath snatched an old-style Meath win over Westmeath in Mullingar, with Conor Duke burying the winning goal right on the hooter for a 3-14 to 1-17 victory. And Monaghan’s free-scoring campaign continued with a 1-27 to 1-21 win over Louth.
In hurling, All-Ireland champions Clare clawed out their first win of the campaign with a 1-21 to 0-20 win over Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds in Division 1A. Wexford’s 2-19 to 1-20 defeat at home to Galway on Saturday means they look doomed to relegation.
Looking odds-on to pass them in the other direction will be Offaly, whose 1-22 to 0-19 win over Westmeath means they are on the verge of promotion to the top flight for 2026. Meanwhile, Waterford were given a huge scare by Dublin at home and needed late scores from Jamie Barron, Stephen Bennet and Patrick Curran to get out the gap.
Unbeaten Carlow’s 1-21 to 2-18 home draw with Antrim proved a major dent to the midlanders' promotion hopes.
