'The Leinster championship is pitiful. Offaly go on to play Dublin and you feel sorry for them'

Dessie Farrell with Meath’s Adam O’Neill after their Leinster quarter-final.

SUNDAY GAME PUNDIT Seán Cavanagh believes that the Leinster football championship has become a “pitiful” competition as Dublin look to be on course for a 13th title in-a-row this year.

Dessie Farrell’s side comfortably booked their place in the semi-finals with a 3-19 to 0-12 victory over Meath on Sunday. Their dominant display triggered another wave of discussion surrounding the validity of the Leinster championship, with Meath manager Colm O’Rourke labelling it a “shambles” in the aftermath.

Cavanagh also questioned the need for persisting with a competition which has an outright winner with no close contenders every year.

“Meath showed no belief, you never felt like Meath were in the game,” Cavanagh said, assessing Meath’s impact on the game.

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“I didn’t think they were competitive, I felt they were gone after 15 minutes. It almost feels like it’s getting worse. The Leinster championship is pitiful at this stage. There’s no competitiveness. You almost start to ask, ‘What’s the point?’ Offaly had a great win last night but they go on to play Dublin now and you feel sorry for them because no-one has a chance.

“The Leinster championship might be a great championship if Dublin weren’t there. It just feels like, in such a condensed season, we spend precious time in championship mode playing games that are non-events.”

Former Dublin footballer Paul Flynn was also in studio. He said other teams in Leinster must follow the example of Derry if they wish to close the gap on Dublin in the provincial championship after Mickey Harte’s side defeated the All-Ireland champions in the Division 1 final recently.

“We have to look at the Derry blueprint that’s been shown to us. They’ve beaten Dublin in Croke Park in a league final. The resources that they have, if Kildare and Meath both look at themselves and get people in the room to put a blueprint like that in place, they can absolutely go on a journey like that.

“But it takes a long-term vision, it takes getting the right people involved. They’ve Seán Boylan and Colm O’Rourke in that squad. They’re the best people you could ask for to lead it. The whole structure piece is one part of it but I think people need to look at themselves and put a proper strategy in place rather than giving out all the time.”

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