It was a strange opening weekend of the Club Championship with so many stars absent, but the teams that brought the right level of intensity and bite were rewarded in the main.

It was well-known that a lot of county players were going to miss matches and perhaps for some sides, it was hard to get up to the right pitch of things when their best players weren’t involved.

However, it turned out to be quite an interesting weekend and there were probably a few reality checks dished out.

One of the big upsets was Killybegs defeating Termon in Fintra.

Termon went into the match as favourites, but Killybegs had the fire in the belly and they were really up for it with Eoghan ‘Ban’ Gallagher, Hugh McFadden and Evan Broderick all back in the team.

They took control early on and built up a big lead and Termon just didn’t have the answers.

It was feisty in Downings as Dungloe had three men sent off and the hosts finished with 14 after a black card.

I’m sure Dessie Gallagher won’t be too enamoured with suspensions for the next match but he will be proud that they saw it out and won with 12 men.

They take on Killybegs this weekend and that will be a proper championship match for me. Dungloe are strong at home and might just edge it.

Reigning champions St Eunan’s were beaten on the first day out by Kilcar.

St Eunan’s didn’t field any of their five county players and then Eoin Dowling, Lee McMonagle, and Aaron Deeney didn’t play either, while Conor Morrison is in Amsterdam and will be a huge loss.

Kilcar were without Ryan McHugh and Jack Hegarty but deserved their win, and they should have enough for Downings this Sunday.

I expect St Eunan’s to have a couple of their county men back as they head to Ballyshannon on Saturday evening to face Aodh Ruadh.

There was a bit of a surprise at Kentucky as Ardara raced ahead of Aodh Ruadh.

The Ballyshannon side made it respectable at the end but they will be disappointed and I can’t see them beating St Eunan’s at home.

Ardara will take confidence from their performance and they have a big derby against Naomh Conaill this weekend.

Naomh Conaill are another side who will have to up the ante after they lost to Glenswilly in Round 1.

Glenswilly didn’t have Michael Murphy but their young guns were really up for it.

Naomh Conaill have a strong panel but they didn’t have Ciaran Thompson, Finnbarr Roarty, Jeaic Mac Ceallabhuí or Charles McGuinness, while Kieran Gallagher only came off the bench. They will need to get those men back fit.

Ardara have a bad record against Naomh Conaill recently but the pressure is off them this week.

I expect them to get stuck in but it’s hard to look past Naomh Conaill.

Glenswilly face Sean MacCumhaills on Sunday and I’m sure the TG4 bosses are hoping for a shoot-out between Michael Murphy and Oisin Gallen.

It will be interesting to see if it materialises or not. Glenswilly are in a good spot and they probably don’t need to rush Michael if he’s not 100% after the long county season.

Gallen should be available for MacCumhaills and they were excellent against St Michael’s.

They played with great pace and energy with Sean Martin, Jamie Keegan, Conor McGinty, and Kevin McCormack all to the fore.

MacCumhaills might be a tad light for Glenswilly but I’ll be keeping an eye on their progress.

St Michael’s were off the pace against MacCumhaills and they will feel they have more to offer.

They did miss a penalty and hit the post in the first half against the breeze and that might have kept things tighter.

St Michael’s face Glenfin this week and that won’t be easy but if Michael Langan is back then I think they will prevail.

That said, Glenfin gave a good account of themselves last Sunday and pushed Gaoth Dobhair all the way in Magheragallon.

Ethan Harkin and Eamonn Collum led the charge for Gaoth Dobhair while Eoin de Búrca looks to have kicked on.

Gaoth Dobhair face St Naul’s this Saturday and it would be a surprise if they don’t win.

St Naul’s had their county men back last week and battled well against Four Masters but just fell short.

Masters will be happy and they might have revenge for the league final on their mind when they face Termon after the league final, and it wouldn’t be a huge shock if it’s an away win.

The pressure is starting to build on the teams that were beaten last weekend, especially those that were away from home.

They are on the tougher side of the draw and you don’t know who might come out of the hat for round 3 or round 4.

You don’t want to have nothing to show after two games so teams will have to bring proper championship intensity to their matches this week.

Intermediate

In the Intermediate Championship, the big result for me was Malin defeating Buncrana.

There’s going to be a lot of Inishowen derbies over the first couple of weeks and teams will have to be ready for it.

Malin have lost a host of players over the last year but they did have a couple of good minor teams so there were probably some youngsters waiting in the wings, waiting on their chance.

They took it on Sunday, and Buncrana didn’t have the answers.

Naomh Columba are the other team that had a real stand-out result when they eased past Milford.

It was a tough enough league campaign for Naomh Columba but their team was a lot stronger last Saturday and if they can keep everyone fit then they will be big contenders.

I saw Naomh Muire in action and they were never in any danger of losing to Na Rossa.

They’ll get a better test this week against Red Hughs, who have Stephen McMenamin and Jonny Carlin back now.

Naomh Pádraig had a great result as Cormac McColgan’s two-pointer gave them a win.

Much like the senior championship, there is some pressure building on teams that were defeated last weekend.

There is scope for a defeat or two but no team wants to go into Round 3 without a result of some kind.

Fanad and Bundoran meet this Saturday and that is a big match as both clubs have tough games coming up and they will want two points on the board.

Quite a few games last weekend went the way of the underdogs and it will be interesting to see if that continues.

I don’t think any team will be too high or too low after Round 1, but the likes of Buncrana will need to start building up momentum and a home win over Burt might just help with that.

The Junior Championship looks lop-sided once again and Convoy hammered Lifford.

I don’t think the structure is quite right as there are four or five stronger teams and some of the other clubs just can’t compete with them.

Carndonagh beat Naomh Ultan and they are still very much the team to beat for me.

Letterkenny Gaels will make their bow this week and they will be stronger when Ronan Frain returns after excelling in Chicago.

Intercounty managers

There’s always some change on the intercounty manager circuit over the summer, and every county wants to get someone in place as quickly as possible.

Mayo have appointed Andy Moran as their new boss. It’s interesting that he has Paddy Tally in as a coach alongside Colm Boyle.

I felt things were starting to take shape for Tally with Derry towards the end of the season but for whatever reason it didn’t work out.

His spells as manager with Down and Derry haven’t worked out but he has an excellent track record as a coach with Tyrone, Galway, and Kerry.

Mayo will be hoping he can add something to them now and Moran will bring freshness and energy to the set-up, and they have some good youth coming through.

It’s a blow to Monaghan as Moran was very popular when he was coaching the Farney men last season.

Ger Brennan is the new man at the helm for Dublin and he has a big job on his hands.

The Dubs haven’t been the animal they once were in recent seasons but there are loads of talented players around the capital.

When Ger stepped away from Louth, it looked like a done deal that he would link up with the Dubs and it will be interesting to see how he gets on.

Dermot McCabe has swapped Westmeath for his native Cavan and I’d say the Breffni people will be happy with that.

Dermot was in with Mickey Graham when things were going well but it had all gone a bit flat for the Breffni men over the last two years.

They have shipped some big defeats over that time and McCabe will have to make them stronger at the back.