Preview: This weekend's Football Championship matches
Saturday, June 4
All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers round 1
Clare v Meath, Cusack Park, 6pm – GAAGO
There was just a single point between these teams when they met in Division 2 of the Allianz Football League this year in the same venue and another game of fine margins is likely here.
The big question is just how much will Meath morale have been dented by their heavy defeat to Dublin in the Leinster semi-final? They’ve had three weeks to get over that experience, but it can’t have been any easy job for Andy McEntee to rally the troops.
Clare’s defeat to Limerick on penalties was disappointing in its own way, but confidence shouldn’t be as much of an issue for the home team.
Mayo v Monaghan, Castlebar, 4pm - Sky
It’s difficult to judge the likely winners here until we see what Mayo team takes to the field. Michael Plunkett is definitely out and there are injury concerns over key players like Ryan O’Donoghue, Paddy Durcan, and Rob Hennelly.
Both teams are in a similar position mentally after underperforming in their respective defeats to Galway and Derry, so whichever manager has done the better job in convincing his players they’re still championship contenders will have the advantage.
Monaghan’s inside forward line is more potent than Mayo’s, but the home team have two of the best man-markers in the game in Oisin Mullin and Lee Keegan. If those two can win their duels against Jack McCarron and Conor McManus, then it’s advantage Mayo.
Cork v Louth, Pairc Ui Chaoimh, 2pm – GAAGO
They were beaten by 12 points in the end, but Cork will still have salvaged positives from their Munster semi-final defeat to Kerry. Their young team seems to be bedding in steadily and is playing with a lot of energy and spirit.
Stephen Sherlock, Brian Hurley, and Cathail O’Mahony are a potent inside-forward line, and a defence that conceded an average of 20 points per match in Division 2 of the Allianz Football League is starting to look a bit more solid.
Louth were a team with considerable momentum after winning Division 3 of the League and then hammering Carlow in the first round of the Leinster SFC, but a 16-point defeat to Kildare in the Leinster quarter-final might have damaged their confidence.
No better man than Mickey Harte to get them to peak again five weeks later, though, so don’t write off the chances of the Wee County pulling off an upset.
Tailteann Cup quarter-final
Offaly v New York, O'Connor Park, 2pm – GAAGO
Offaly look like a team on an upward curve again. They struggled to beat Wexford in the preliminary round of the Tailteann Cup, but were impressive last time out against Wicklow.
Fit again cousins Niall and Ruairi McNamee give their attack a real cutting edge, and defensively they were rock-solid against a Wicklow attack that had previously put up big numbers.
New York performed very creditably when losing by four points to Sligo in the Connacht championship, but this is still a big ask for a team with little real experience of inter-county football and none whatsoever of the logistics of flying across the Atlantic to play a championship match.
Sunday 5 June
All-Ireland SFC Qualifiers round 1
Armagh v Tyrone, Athletic Grounds, 1.30pm - RTE2
Armagh have already beaten Tyrone twice this year and will be very motivated to repeat the dose in what should be a packed Athletic Grounds on Sunday.
They ripped the reigning All-Ireland champions apart when they met in the League at the same venue, racing into a 10-point half-time lead that could have been an awful lot more.
On that day Tyrone simply couldn’t cope with the intensity that Armagh brought to bear on the contest in all areas of the pitch, so expect them to be really fired up to do better in that regard this time around.
The talk coming out of the Tyrone camp is that they’re determined to atone for their limp Ulster Championship exit at the hands of Derry, but Armagh are in a similar enough position having failed to rise to the occasion against Donegal.
That match was five weeks ago now so it’s difficult to predict what version of this Armagh team will turn up on Sunday.
If they can reproduce the form that saw them cut through both Tyrone and Dublin in the League then you’d fancy them here, but you wouldn’t be surprised to see a Tyrone team desperate to reclaim some lost pride play with the level of organisation that took them all the way last year.
Cavan's Killian Clarke pictured with the Tailteann Cup.
Tailteann Cup quarter-finals
Fermanagh v Cavan, Brewster Park, 4pm
Cavan underlined their status as Tailteann Cup favourites with a dominant win over Down last time out so bring considerable momentum into this match.
Their forward line is a very potent one. Paddy Lynch is quickly developing into one of the outstanding inside forwards in the game, Gearoid McKiernan is on fire, and James Smith and Gerard Smith are chipping in nicely too.
Fermanagh don’t have the same potency in attack, but they’ll still be formidable opponents.
They’re well-organised defensively, Ryan Jones is a powerful operator in the middle third, and a fit-again Ultan Kelm gives them a cutting edge in attack.
Home advantage for Fermanagh will also help balance the scale, but it’s hard to look beyond Cavan’s superior firepower.
Leitrim v Sligo, Carrick-on-Shannon, 3pm – GAAGO
There’s never a whole lot between these two neighbours but Leitrim’s form-lines is arguably the more impressive of the two in recent weeks.
They played some great stuff last time out against Antrim, and in Keith Beirne, Jack Heslin, and Shane Moran have forwards in a good groove at the moment.
Sligo laboured to an extra-time victory over London last weekend and the exertions of that match might still be in their legs. Home advantage for Leitrim is a factor too.
Carlow v Westmeath, Netwatch Cullen Park, 2pm
Carlow produced something of a shock last weekend when downing Tipperary with a superb performance.
The spirit and skill they played with that day should ensure a strong home support at Netwatch Cullen Park for this match.
They’ll need to play to their limit again in this match, because Westmeath’s potential is obvious even if they only played in fits and starts in their win over Laois last weekend.
Sam McCartan is one of the form midfielders in the country, and if he can help guarantee a good supply of ball in to class acts like John Heslin, Luke Loughlin and Ger Egan then the Carlow defence will be under pressure.
