Frank Roche: How the main contenders for the All-Ireland stand after championship’s opening round of games
Derry goalkeeper Odhrán Lynch is beaten by a shot from Donegal's Daire Ó Baoill of Donegal (not pictured). Photo: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
From lobbing ’keepers to last-gasp escape acts, the race for Sam Maguire has just got a smidgen more interesting. Irony of ironies, this all happened on the weekend of the big hurling lift-off.
We had goalkeeping hara-kiri in Derry, Galway just about avoiding the unthinkable in Sligo, the two Clifford siblings betraying feet of clay on the same day. None of this was in the script but, leaving aside the battle for provincial honours, does any of it alter the big picture landscape?
