Sport is a funny thing, isn’t it?
At the end of your season, you can feel a number of different emotions with how everything went.
It all evens out though, for every happy fan there is a sad one too.
And for every team that overcomes the odds and exceeds their expectations, there is a team that disappointed and never got going.
So, who made the shortlist disappointment of the year in the Wooly Awards?
Laois
Now, you have to remember these are called the ‘Wooly Awards’ for a reason, they are voted on by Colm ‘Wooly’ Parkinson who is a Laoisman.
So, there may or may not be the same objectivity in this inclusion than the others, Wooly just wants to see Laois do well.
But they’re a far cry from the team than they were in the early 2000’s and had a dire year.
Peter Creedon was meant to be the man to turn things around but, unfortunately for him, he did the opposite.
Laois convincingly beat Longford but were then thumped by Kildare and were then beaten in a similar fashion by Clare as their championship run was short lived.
Tie this in with the fact that they were relegated to Division Four and their coach stepped down after allegations of a drinking culture in the county and 2017 can be regarded as a disaster.
Galway
There’s always going to be a team that will find it harsh that they’re on the list.
Galway beat Mayo in the Connacht Championship and hammered Donegal to get to a quarter-final.
They produced a lacklustre performance against an equally lacklustre Kerry to end their run and the Connacht final against Roscommon was one that nobody expected them to be beaten in.
It was a nearly year for Galway, their highs were great but after winning Connacht in 2016 they were seen as promising and the Tipperary defeat was one that wouldn’t happen again.
Ultimately they regressed and will be disappointed with how the season went but they did get promoted to Division One.
Maybe they shouldn’t be on the list.
Donegal
Dismantled by Tyrone, dismantled by Galway and dumped out in the qualifiers, it just wasn’t a good year for the 2012 All-Ireland champions.
It’s hard to imagine this was the team that last beat Dublin, ever since Jim McGuinness left it hasn’t gone Donegal’s way.
Rory Gallagher stepped down at the end of the year after a disastrous 2017 and Declan Bonner is now set to take over.
Meath
How can you disappoint after the past three years haven’t been great?
Meath made a late promotion push but ultimately fell short but there was optimism with Andy McEntee in charge as the new boss.
The new manager had unexpectedly took Ballyboden to an All-Ireland crown as well as doing similar miracles with the Meath minor team in the past.
Championship didn’t go all that rosy after a thrashing at the hands of Kildare after unconvincingly beating Louth.
This was followed by a nervy win over Sligo and ultimately a one-point loss to Donegal.
But, hey, there’s always next year.
Loser: Laois
It’s an unfortunate title to win this one is. All we can say is better luck next year.
You can listen to the full debate below.
