THE GREATEST show on earth? This Championship is right up there — and it is wide open. The way this season has gone, somebody can come in from left field and lift Sam Maguire. No game is a certainty and last weekend proved that. You would have fancied Armagh to beat Galway and they didn’t, despite powering nine points clear in the first half before vintage Shane Walsh took the game by the scruff of the neck and fired over nine points, including the winner. Mayo put it up to Donegal, but were undone by another buzzer beater when Ciarán Moore’s last-gasp score knocked them out. While that was the fatal blow, the damage was inflicted much earlier in that opening-round defeat by Cavan in another example of these matches being so difficult to call. It’s the Championship we have been missing for so long — 50-50 games are the norm again. The two-pointer has been instrumental — it keeps teams in games but also provides a quicker way back for sides that find themselves trailing. And we’ve seen that over the last number of weeks. Could Louth spring a surprise in Ballybofey against Donegal? I can’t see it, but I’ve said that a few times during this Championship and been wrong. And Tyrone have already turned Jim McGuinness’ men over at home in their All-Ireland series opener. The worry is that Louth struggled to dispose of Clare last weekend. They dominated for large parts but still allowed Peter Keane’s men a way back into the game and only won by three points. The Wee County have failed to hit the heights that propelled them to Leinster Championship glory. The emotion of ending that 68-year wait for provincial glory looks to have taken a toll. They celebrated — and rightly so, you can’t take that away from them. And no matter what they do in this All-Ireland series, Ger Brennan’s side have written their names into the history books and 2025 will be considered a massive success. They would dearly love to advance and add to that legacy, but Donegal is a huge step up, even though we don’t know the toll last week’s battle with Mayo has taken out of the Ulster champions. McGuinness’ men have played seven Championship games now and the level they’re playing at does take a lot out of bodies. Having said that, I still think they’ll win at home and head into the pot tomorrow morning. 'BANANA SKIN' Pádraic Joyce takes his men to Newry to face Down, and this match is a potential banana skin after the high of the win over the Orchard. It can be hard to get players back down to earth after a victory like that, but no better man to do it than Joyce. Down are a very good side and will be eager to set the record straight after putting in a huge performance against Monaghan but falling short in an absolute thriller. Their physicality might just let them down, particularly with the power Galway have in John Maher, Cillian McDaid, Walsh and Paul Conroy. On paper, you’d imagine Galway will have too much for them. They won’t have it all their own way, but they will still win, especially if Walsh brings his shooting boots again. FANCY THEIR CHANCES Do Meath have a chance of getting to an All-Ireland semi-final for the first time since 2009? It depends on the draw, but nobody will fancy taking on this side. You would have said Kerry beating Meath was a certainty — I called it for Kerry — but was delighted to be proven wrong. It was a fantastic performance and the fact that nobody saw it coming makes it all the sweeter. I thought they’d give the Kingdom a run for their money, but the Munster champions were completely outplayed. It was a free hit in a sense. Having already qualified, Meath probably said, ‘Listen, we’re through anyway, we’ll give it a good rattle and see how it goes’. Much has been made of Kerry’s injury list but Meath were missing some of their big hitters too. James Conlon, Ronan Jones, Jack Flynn and Mathew Costello missed the trip to Tullamore with hamstring injuries. They mightn’t be household names like the Kerry absentees, but they’re hugely influential. Nobody will want to play Robbie Brennan’s team because they’ve proven they can take out big teams. Dublin and Kerry were dispatched comprehensively and the Royals have also seen off Cork. They were unbeaten in the All-Ireland series and were unfortunate against Louth in the Leinster final. They will be coming into the quarter-finals fresh and fearless. CHANGE TO COME Contrast that with Mayo, who are facing another long winter and the accompanying post-mortem. It’s hard to see Kevin McStay saying on for a fourth campaign after health issues forced him to step aside following the Cavan defeat. That dressing room could be headed for a big clearout and the days of challenging for All-Irelands seem to be behind them, with Galway chasing five consecutive Connacht titles next summer. The Championship is a poorer place without them, but they only have themselves to blame. It’s fine margins and they bow out as one of the biggest losers. For this weekend’s winners, they face three games in 14 days so fatigue will be a factor. We always compare our players with soccer players in the League of Ireland or across the water who play week in, week out but having sampled a bit of that life, I can say that it’s completely different. Soccer doesn’t have the same level of physicality or pressures on the body and those take a huge toll. It’s survival of the fittest from now.