It really is crunch time for the dark horses of the GAA football and hurling championships this weekend. There promises to be some intriguing battles and the outcomes also depend on the mental state of the teams who teams who were defeated in their provincial championships. I give my predictions below:
Monaghan v Kildare, 3pm. Live on RTE
Monaghan will be devastated with their performance against Tyrone last weekend. After some early jostling they were overwhelmed by the Red Hands despite being much fancied to end the long wait for another Ulster title. Some of the big names didn't perform to their ability and it will all depend on how they react to such a demoralising defeat. There is no doubt they are a better team than they showed and in McEnaney they have one of the greatest motivators in the game so I expect them to be well up for the challenge.
And a challenge it will be. I was hugely impressed by Kildare in their showing against Derry last week. They had such a terrible start, falling behing 1-2 0-0 after 10 minutes but they kept their nerve and as the half wore on they clawed their way back into the game. Even at half-time things weren't looking great, having only a 1 point lead and facing a stiff breeze in the 2nd half. But they played some lovely football in the 2nd half and in the end they eased to a comfortable victory. Granted, Derry have been a bit of a shambles this year but some of the passages from Kildare were of the highest quality. And in Jonny Doyle they have a player who showed tremendous workrate and a williness to help out his defense as well as kicking some fine scores.
This will be a tight game and Kildare are slight favourites. I would slightly favour a full-strength Monaghan but it will be a tough task without JP Mone, the inspirational Vinnie Corey and Duffy (if he goes back into goal),
Verdict: Kildare
Louth v Dublin, 5pm, TV3
Im not going to talk again about what happened to Louth for we have heard enough, but needless to say they were unlucky against Meath. They showed a lot of fight in that game and impressed especially in the 2nd half, where Meath really struggled to get anything going. They have quite a few players on fine form and it just depends on where their heads are at after the debacle a fortnight ago. They have had that extra week to recover and hopefully we will see the best of them tomorrow.
The Dublin bandwagon is back on the go and one thing about Dublin is that when they start to pick up momentum, they are very hard to stop. I wasn't overly impressed with them last week from an attacking sense. In fact, I was more disappointed with Armagh than anything else. However, to their credit, they defended with intensity and had a good structure to their game in their own half. Bernard Brogan was awesome last week, but their reliance on him is very worrying. They are going to struggle in this game if they dont have at least another 3 or 4 scorers because Louth will do all they can to stop him.
I dont think either of these teams are going to go much further in the competition, but reading about how Louth manager Peter Fitzpatrick wakes up every morning "haunted" by that refereeing decision makes me think that Louth aren't recovered quite yet.
Verdict: Dublin
Limerick v Cork, 7pm RTE
I was somewhat shocked by the huge praise being thrown Limerick's way by some of the experts on the Sunday Game last Sunday night. A few of them thought that Limerick were well fit for any of the other qualifiers and were unlucky to draw Cork. Im not sure why exactly they think this because Limerick have a terrible record in the qualifiers. Sure, they have a relatively decent record against Cork and Kerry, always making it difficult, but never quite cutting the mustard.
Cork are heavyweights in this competition, make no mistake about it. They got past Wexford with minimal fuss in horrendous conditions and are pacing themselves nicely. I have a feeling they might just start to rev the engines tomorrow and pull away in the 2nd half.
Verdict: Cork
Sligo v Down, 7pm
What must Sligo be feeling? They did all the hard work, beating Connaught juggernauts Galway and Mayo and forgot to finish the job last weekend, letting Roscommon steal in. It was an exciting enough game although at times the quality was lacking. Sligo made far too many errors and really, only for some magnificent Costello long range points, never really got to grips with the task. More worrying was that, somehow managing to draw level with 10 minutes left, they were unable to push on and close the game out.
Are Down ever going to show their potential? At times they can look brilliant going forward and have shown glimpses this year but nowhere near enough. The idea of Dan Gordon as a full back just did not work and I would be very worried as a Down fan if he starts in there again. Offaly could have been out of sight after 10 minutes last week!
This is another tough one to call. I always feel with Sligo that if you keep O'Hara quiet then your task is much easier. If Down can do that and give a steady supply of ball to Marty Clarke, who is showing signs of settling back into his game, then I think Down will have that bit too much firepower.
Verdict: Down
0 comments:
Post a Comment