While Galway didn't have it all their own way against 14-man Derry, they were still five-point winners in Salthill while Kerry and Mayo also eased to victory in round one, the Kingdom having 10 points to spare against Monaghan and Mayo nine points too good for visiting Cavan in Castlebar.
"We only have to look at the results over the weekend and see the clinic that Mayo put on, Kerry were out of sight after five, maybe 10 minutes in that game as well."
Examining Derry’s loss at Pearse Stadium, where Mickey Harte’s side were severely hampered by Gareth McKinless’ first-half sending off for a stamp on Damien Comer, McCluskey could sense irritation across the entire Oakleaf performance.
"It was just frustration probably more than anything else and it was probably summed up by the McKinless incident," said the former Fermanagh defender.
"It was silliness from himself and I’m sure he’s been frustrated. He probably hasn't played a lot of football throughout the league campaign as well.
"It just looked a bit flat and the Derry that we’re accustomed to seeing, that are so disciplined in terms of their attack and their defence, it just didn’t happen for them.
"It’s not to say that they didn’t have an innings back into the game - it was 1-13 to 13 points before Galway broke for that second goal. They were still actually in the game and I don’t know whether that was a testament to themselves in terms of their character, clawing their way back into the game, or maybe the fact that Galway just maybe were bringing players back.
"But it was just disappointing [from Derry], there’s just something there at the moment.
"We look at the injuries – their half-back line has been decimated, [Conor] Doherty's gone, [Eoin] McEvoy’s gone, Paudie McGrogan is out for the season so there’s a real lack of consistency just overall in their game-play and in their squad and in their team.
"That just drip fed onto the pitch."
The result was another indicator that when it comes to Ulster opposition, Pádraic Joyce has solved the riddle with his record now reading 13 wins and one draw in his 17 games against teams from the province.
"He’ll be happy with that, he’ll maybe want to play in Ulster next year," McCluskey joked.
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