The greatest battle since Blur v Oasis continues. But who pulls out a Country House while the other releases Roll With It this week?
As the weather has improved so has our ability to pick winners. We landed two hits last week, as Monaghan just did enough against Antrim while Tipp-Kerry was even more goal free than we expected. At this stage though we must apologise for ruining Leighton Glynn’s year by backing him.
As for our foes, they only managed the one winner but it was tasty 4/1 shot as Wicklow’s early burst saw them up at the break before Meath battled back.
However, the €5 patent bet (three singles, three doubles and a treble, giving a total cost of €35) ensured JOE only lost €2.50 this week, while the pros lost just a tenner. The table below shows the current running totals. Feel free to point and laugh.
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-€52.25 |
-€67.50 |
Now, undaunted by what sits just above, here’s three more bids for glory, and cash, this week.
Our selections:
Wexford to beat Offaly, Leinster SHC, 13/8
The home side are the favourites but with this being Liam Dunne’s first Championship game at the helm of the Model, and with a smattering of exciting new talent in the Wexford XV, we think they can get one over the more-fancied Offaly.
Wexford to lead at half-time and beat Longford, Leinster SFC, 13/8
Longford have beaten Wexford twice already this year so maybe we’re throwing caution to the wind a little with this one. But still, Wexford have the stronger Championship pedigree, have a forward line that outscored everyone in the top three divisions earlier this year and perhaps most importantly of all should not be short of incentives after those two defeats to the midlanders in the League. We’re going for the half-time/final whistle result to boost our winnings. No laughing at the back.
London to beat Leitrim, Connacht SFC, Evens
For the first time in living memory, the Exiles are the favourites in a Championship game. After a fine showing last year, we expect London to be even better this year. When they met in Carrick in March, Leitrim won by five but Ruislip is a very different prospect, especially facing a London side still fuming over the recent rule changes that almost scuppered their year.
And Paddy’s picks for this week…
Dublin open their defence of Sam this weekend when they take on Louth at Croke Park. Dublin normally kick off their championship with a routine hammering of a Leinster minnow sending the hype machine into overdrive. When scouring through this week’s prices we felt that the handicap was unkind to Louth, so much so that we changed it from +8 to +7, sorry! We still think however that the men from the Wee County will keep it tighter than that.
Red Card in Fermanagh v Down 5/4
Following a disappointing end to what looked like a promising league campaign, Fermanagh will no doubt be raring to go in their opening fixture against Down. This match is expected to be a typically hard fought Ulster championship match and with no shortage of hot heads on either side it could be a ticking time bomb! All we need is one mind-fart from an adrenaline fuelled Northerner and we’re in the money, easy!
Over 3.5 goals in Westmeath v Galway 4/5
The clash of the maroons ended up far closer than anyone anticipated at this stage last year when a late rally secured Galway a far from convincing nine-point win. The criticism the Galway players received in the wake of that fixture will no doubt be in their minds in the run up to this game. If there’s one thing we’ve learned from recent seasons it’s that Galway produce their best when questioned and we expect them to blitz Westmeath’s goal, with the men from the Lake County nicking one or two at the other end.
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