The All-Ireland football championship roared into life on a Sunday filled with old scores in need of settling. Sundown came with several talking points and shifting priorities.
Galway managed to storm the citadel for the first time in the James Horan era, leaving MacHale Park ecstatic after a hard-earned and fully deserved one point win. Further north, Donegal settled the fractious build-up to their Ulster championship game with Armagh by presenting their best performance in two years and leaving the Orchard County in a precarious position.
In a way, the day confirmed old certainties rather than revealing new facts. Mayo will never do things the easy way. Michael Murphy is unique. Armagh are a mystery – and not, right now, a happy one. Shane Walsh is the purist’s purist.
As Joyce pointed out, there is always more than a game at stake
All of this was known. But the day confirmed that the appeal of the championship has always resided in the transference of the intensely local emotions and friendships onto the national stage. That much flowed fro …