Coming to a head with over nine months to go.
Perhaps we jumped the gun with our list of
18 cliches you hear at this time of year because footballers and hurlers all over the country are no longer easing into this season.
Fights were breaking out, goals were being hammered in and teams were booking their spots in knockout stages. January 10: the end of pre-season!
Dublin, Meath, Longford and Louth advanced to the O'Byrne Cup semi finals. Louth will host Meath whilst a Dean Rock-inspired Dublin (just the eight points for him this weekend) will take on Longford. But they had to manage their way around a number of frank discussions against DCU first.
Things weren't any more amicable up north where Tyrone edged out Derry by the minimum in a thriller that was watched by over 5,000 people.
Derry hit their eighth goal in just two games in the McKenna Cup but fell shy of their summer championship opponents, losing out 4-6 to 1-16 in the first of at least three ties the rivals will play in 2016.
Sure it's only January. No-one cares about the result. Right?
https://twitter.com/Chuckdoc32/status/686221023386169344
Fermanagh recorded a fine six-point win over Down in the McKenna Cup and is it any wonder because there was a serious lack of bending your f**king man on show from the Mourne men.
Michael Donoghue's tenure in charge of the Galway hurlers got off to a losing start after the Leinster and All-Ireland finalists fell to DCU in another fiesty affair in which David Burke saw red.
Props to the photographer though for this unreal, picturesque snap of Joe Canning.
FOOTBALL RESULTS
McKenna Cup
Cavan 3-14 UUJ 0-8
Derry 4-6 Tyrone 1-16
Donegal 0-8 St Mary's 2-6
Down 0-8 Fermanagh 0-14
Monaghan 2-9 Armagh 0-16
O'Byrne Cup
Carlow 1-7 UCD 2-13
Dublin 1-16 DCU 1-12
Longford 1-9 Wicklow 1-5
Louth 3-19 DIT 1-8
Meath 2-16 Laois 0-14
Offaly 0-11 Kildare 0-13
Westmeath 0-9 Maynooth University 0-10
Wexford 3-20 IT Carlow 1-12
McGrath Cup
Kerry 0-9 Clare 0-12
Waterford v Cork - OFF
FDB SFL
Galway 1-8 Leitrim 1-5
Mayo 1-16 IT Sligo 0-8
Roscommon 0-12 NUIG 0-8
Sligo 0-12 GMIT 1-10
HURLING RESULTS
Walsh Cup
NUIG 3-26 Westmeath 0-11
IT Carlow 2-15 Carlow 0-14
Meath 2-7 Wexford 3-18
Dublin 3-25 Antrim 1-17
Galway 1-16 DCU 0-17
Laois 1-19 UCD 0-17
Munster SHL
Cork 1-20 Kerry 0-18
Waterford v Limerick, Carriganore - OFF
Connacht SHL
GMIT 1-20 Roscommon 2-16
