Thanks to the GAA's decision to avoid a capital clash with today's rugby and due to the ever-considerate association's sudden concern with notions of geography, this meeting has a strangely parochial feel to it. It's not quite been relegated to the status of sideshow but as a stand-alone game on a big day of sport, it's well down the pecking order and a double header would have been a far more attractive proposition, regardless of geography.

On the upside, you won't have to spend so long queuing at the turnstiles today to part with your 15 (give or take a few shillings) and perhaps this is really what the Central Games Administration Committee had in mind when they finalised times and venues earlier in the week. Ever-considerate, remember?

Anyway, Donegal manager Brian McIver has other matters on his mind. Following last Sunday's victory over Westmeath in the semi-final, McIver was quick to praise his All Star defender Kevin Cassidy for his uplifting performance but things turned sour and days later news filtered through that Cassidy and his clubmate Eamon McGee were dropped from the county panel for breaching discipline.

More worrying in the bigger picture is that this is not the first time such problems have occurred and stern action has been taken with suggestions that the pair have been suspended for the remainder of the season.

Time will tell if the ban holds.

Injuries have further reduced the manager's options and all things considered, the week's incidents won't have helped preparations.

Still, Donegal are the only team in the land to remain unbeaten. The standard of opposition may have been a bit washy at times but they've done what was required and secured Division One football for next year. Whether games against the likes of Longford, London and Carlow will stand to them in the heat of the Ulster championship remains to be seen but the challenge of Louth will at least be an improvement.

Under Eamonn McEneaney Louth have prospered, with the Monaghan man adding a grain of stability to a football set-up that in recent times seemed terribly shortsighted. Louth have been on a roll ever since they overcame Cavan away from home in the depths of winter and they won't be fazed by a return to Breffni Park today either.

With six wins on the trot McEneaney couldn't have wished for a more positive start to the season. Going into the league there was a sense that Louth would be pleased with some decent displays and a mid-table finish on which they could build over the remainder of season. That hypothesis now seems totally misguided and those who underestimated Louth have paid the price.

They racked up a nice tally against Limerick last weekend and in Mark Stanfield they have a forward of pure consistency. On a higher profile county side he would surely receive more plaudits.

Darren Clarke is another who has also enjoyed a favourable league campaign and this Louth front six could cause problems later in the summer.

In three weeks they'll finally get the chance to grace the sod of Croke Park when they take their first breath of championship air against Meath.

They'll look upon today as a building block for that encounter and given Donegal's turbulent week, it's too difficult to look past a steady Louth side in this Division Two decider.

LOUTH S Reynolds; D Brennan, C Goss, J Carr; J O'Brien, P McGinnity, J Neary; M Farrelly, P Keenan; C Grimes, M Brennan, M Stanfield; JP Rooney, A Hoey, D Clarke

DONEGAL M Boyle; N McGee, P Campbell, K Lacey; D Diver, B Monaghan, F McGlynn; B Boyle, N Gallagher; C Toye, M Hegarty, S McDermott; B Roper, C Bonner, M Doherty

NATIONAL LEAGUE DIVISION TWO FINAL DONEGAL v LOUTH Breffni Park, 3.30 Referee P McGovern (Galway)