Weekend Football and Hurling Previews

There are football finals in the pre-season competitions in all four provinces this weekend, a sure sign that the beginning of the 2012 Allianz League is just around the corner.

In Connacht on Friday night, Mayo claimed back-to-back the FBD League titles with a big win over NUIG, Tipperary and Cork face each other with McGrath Cup honours on the line in Munster, Derry and Tyrone meet once again in the McKenna Cup final and Kildare put their O’Byrne Cup title on the line against DCU.

Saturday, January 28

Power NI Dr McKenna Cup Final
Derry v Tyrone, Morgan Athletic Grounds, 7.30pm

It’s back to the Morgan Athletic Grounds in Armagh for Derry and Tyrone for the second time in six days as the Ulster giants meet in the final of the 2012 Power NI Dr McKenna Cup.

It’s also a rerun of last year’s decider, when Derry served notice of their renaissance with a one-point win over Tyrone in a final that was delayed until early March.

Champions Derry put their title on the line against a Tyrone side that have shown impressive form in their four games to date. As well as putting Antrim and Queen’s to the sword, Mickey Harte’s men have beaten Peter Canavan’s Fermanagh twice, the second time in last Sunday’s play-off at the same venue.

Harte stated from the outset of the year that winning a first McKenna Cup title since 2007 was one of his aims. The Red Hands are going through a period of transition following the retirements of some of their big names during the off-season and the McKenna Cup has thus far served its purpose as an arena to blood new talent ahead of the Allianz League, which they open with an attractive fixture against Kildare under the lights in Croke Park on February 4.

“Mickey wanted to get the five games out of the McKenna Cup and he has got that now,” injured midfielder Seán Cavanagh told www.gaa.ie during the week.

“We have the chance now against a Derry side that are ever improving under John Brennan. They pipped us at this stage of the competition in the final last year by a point and I have no doubt that Mickey will give a few of the younger guys a run on Saturday night.

“It will be a baptism of fire because there is a difference between playing Queen’s or Antrim – no disrespect to them - this is another step up when you meet the likes of Donegal and Derry. Saturday will be a big challenge but I have no doubt that the younger lads will prove their worth.”

Derry boss John Brennan knows only too well the confidence that can be gained from a win in this competition, as evidenced when his side made it all the way to an Ulster final on the back of McKenna Cup success and a solid Allianz League campaign last year.

The sides meet again in Allianz League Division II at Healy Park, Omagh on February 12, where the stakes will arguably be higher, but with local bragging rights up for grabs in front of what is likely to be a large crowd, it is expected to be a full-blooded and eagerly contested affair.

Sunday, January 29
Bord Na Móna O’Byrne Cup Final
Kildare v DCU, Newbridge, 2.00pm

The champions of the last two years meet in Sunday’s O’Byrne Cup final in Newbridge, where the home side put their title on the line fresh from knocking the All-Ireland champions Dublin out of the competition.

With the students due to open their 2012 Irish Daily Mail Sigerson Cup campaign against Cork IT on Tuesday, there were suggestions that the game might be moved to midweek, but the Lilywhites don’t have floodlights at St Conleth’s Park and, naturally, they were unwilling to concede home advantage.

Kildare have beaten DIT, Offaly and Dublin en route to the final, but manager Kieran McGeeney says there is still plenty of work to do ahead of the Allianz League, which they kick off with a mouth-watering game against Tyrone in Croke Park six days later.

"It was a good performance, but again I think there are loads of things to work on," McGeeney said after the Dublin game. "For the players that are on at this time of year it's more about staking a place for the game against Tyrone and to try and keep it.

"They know how the team operates; if they play well in training you get in and if you play well you stay in. If you make some mistakes somebody else gets a chance and that's the way we try to keep it to keep the competition up."

Kildare lead the way in the roll of honour with nine titles, while DCU remain the only third level side to win the competition, back in 2010, when they beat Louth in the final.

Given their more pressing engagement two days later, DCU manager Niall Moyna may decide to rest some of his star players on Sunday, which is a pity because the students have already proved they can mix it with the best, beating Wicklow, Longford and Meath so far this year.

Sligo’s David Kelly, who netted two goals, Laois star Colm Begley and Cavan’s Jack Brady were all prominent in the 2-8 to 0-6 last four win over the Royals, but it remains to be seen if all the big guns are rolled out again this week.

McGrath Cup Final
Tipperary v Cork, Clonmel Sportsfield, 2.00pm

Cork will make the journey to Clonmel on Sunday afternoon for the final of the 2012 McGrath Cup.

Tipperary are yet to meet an inter-county side in the competition, but John Evans’ side have shown great early-season form in seeing off Limerick IT, Waterford IT and UCC.

The Rebels entered the competition at the quarter-finals stage and have accounted, with relative ease, for Clare and Cork IT.

Both sides are facing a step up in class on Sunday, but Tipperary will have to up their game considerably to beat a Cork team that has found its feet early this year after a disappointing end to the 2011 season.

Cork have easily the best record of any county in the McGrath Cup since 2000, only losing twice in 17 games, while Tipp’s is a more modest 11 wins and 11 defeats from 22 games played. The Rebels are seeking their first title since 2009, while Tipperary will have to go all the way back to 2003 for their last title in the competition.

Cork are without Paddy Kelly and Colm O’Neill, the second highest scorer in the competition with 2-6, both of whom picked up hamstring injuries in the straightforward semi-final win over CIT last Sunday. Manager Conor Counihan is expected to continue with the experimental deployment of Fintan Goold as a sweeper, a tactic that worked well against the students.

A major boon for the Premier men has been the form of the competition’s top scorer, Barry Grogan, who has hit 4-13 in three games, including a hat-trick of goals in the destruction of WIT.

Victory would probably mean more to Tipperary given the lean times they have endured at senior level in recent years, but one suspects that Evans will have one eye on his side’s Allianz Football League Division III opener against Roscommon a week later.

Waterford Crystal Cup Senior Hurling (Munster)

Tipperary opened their 2012 season with a 2-24 to 1-16 win over LIT last weekend, and with the later than usual start to the Allianz Hurling League this year, there are just two fixtures this Sunday in the competition.

Clare will begin life under Davy Fitzgerald with a home game against WIT at Sixmilebridge, while Kerry and IT Tralee are in action in Killarney.

Click here for Waterford Crystal Cup fixtures

Bord Na Móna Walsh Cup Senior Hurling (Leinster)

Some of the big hitters in the small ball code will shake off their winter cobwebs on Sunday, with Galway, Dublin and Kilkenny all in action in the Walsh Cup.

Champions Dublin, minus a host of players due to injury, face Teddy McCarthy’s Laois in Rathdowney, while the tiger stripes of the All-Ireland champions Kilkenny will be on display for the first time in 2012, as the Cats face NUIG in Freshford.

Galway, under new manager Anthony Cunningham, begin their season with a game against UCD at Belfield.

There is also a full programme of fixtures in the Kehoe Cup.

Click here for this weekend’s Walsh Cup, Walsh Cup Shield and Kehoe Cup fixtures.