ON Wednesday, Belfield played host to a rousing affirmation of the status quo as holders UCD survived a thorough workout with UCG. Conversely, yesterday's remaining Sigerson Cup first round match struck a blow for change.
Tralee, arguably the most promising RTC side to have contested the Sigerson, moved smoothly past the traditional challenge of Queen's University in a dour and sometimes nasty encounter redeemed by occasional cameos of skill and vision.
The Belfast side are in the throes of redevelopment as nearly all of the exceptional players that constituted winning teams earlier this decade, have graduated, but putting away notionally weaker university teams has in the past proved a problem for the newer participants at this level.
To an even greater extent than the previous day, the wind was an influence and the contrasting facility with which the teams exploited it was one of the decisive factors of the afternoon.
Queen's weren't as adept at playing early ball into their forwards and when they did, the forwards weren't as adept at converting the opportunities. Eight first-half wides were evidence of that, and an interval lead of only one point, 0-5 to 0-4, placed the Belfast team under a lot of pressure at the start of the second half.
It's easy to say that a strong wind properly harnessed should wipe out a narrow deficit and Queens' best hope was that Tralee would find the practice harder than the theory. They didn't and two points within three minutes of the restart pushed the Kerry college into a lead they weren't to lose.
Although the winners' attack attracted most attention, there were solid contributions down the middle from Munster Railway captain Seamus Moynihan at centre back and behind him, the imposing Barry O'Shea whose physical presence snuffed out the more time-honoured routes to goal.
Queen's were largely driven by Paul Brewster competing in his seventh Sigerson campaign. His power at midfield kept the side moving in the first half although later in the match, William Kirby and especially Michael Cloherty took a stranglehold on the middle.
Apart from Brewster, the Belfast side disappointed. County players Diarmuid Marsden from Armagh and Down panellist Charlie Pat McCartan were unable to provide a foothold on the half-forward line and the overall level of accuracy was poor.
Although their own finishing was at times as bad, Tralee's lively forwards caused problems from an early stage - problems that weren't always confronted with acceptable solutions. Genie Farrell shipped some heavy challenges and left the pitch with concussion after 23 minutes. Subsequently Aidan O'Rourke was lucky that referee Pat McEnaney took no further action than a booking after Mayo's John Casey was on the receiving end before half-time.
For all the broadsword there was little enough rapier and Casey, having been brought on at centre forward as an early substitute, demonstrated the point when taking control of the match after the interval. Running from deep, his pace and trickery on the balls opened up Queen's on a number of occasions.
Tralee's most consistent forward, however, was another Connachtman, Galway's Padraig Joyce whose eight-point haul six from frees - didn't exaggerate his influence on the result.
