The fixtures
Down v Tyrone Saturday 5.15pm
Meath v Laois (replay) Saturday 7pm
Roscommon v Leitrim Sunday 3.30pm
The previews
Down v Tyrone
Against Donegal in the Ulster quarter final, Down showed that their impressive form in the league was no fluke and that they are indeed a force to be reckoned with in the province this year. The Mourne men were most impressive in the forwards, where Martin Clarke, Daniel Hughes and Benny Coulter in particular, ran riot.
The fact that Donegal managed to take them to extra-time, however, when Down were by far the superior side, shows that they have a long way to go before they are the finished article. Their defence still looks shaky, while Coulter had to drop deep to help out a struggling midfield at crucial stages in Ballybofey.
Benny Coulter was superb against Donegal last time out
The game against Tyrone on Sunday will be a true test of where this Down team are at. The last time the sides met in the championship, two years ago, actually resulted in a win for Down after a replay, but the Red Handers regrouped and went onto win their third All-Ireland of the decade.
Mickey Harte’s men may not be the force they were back then, but they remain the team to beat in Ulster and will be there or thereabouts come the business end of the All-Ireland series. The usual suspects in the shape of the McMahon’s, Dooher, Cavanagh, O’Neill and Mulligan all looked eager against Antrim in the first outing and will provide far stiffer opposition for Down that John Joe Doherty’s Donegal managed did in Down’s championship opener.
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Conor Gormley and Peter Harte come in for injured duo Ryan McMenamin and Davy Harte for Tyrone, while James McCartan makes two changes from the side that defeated Donegal with Ambrose Rogers and Conor Maginn replacing Paul McComiskey and John Clarke. Rogers will partner Kalum King in midfield with Dan Gordon moving to full forward.
Teams:
Down: B McVeigh; D Rooney, B McArdle, D Rafferty; K McKernan, J Colgan, C Garvey; A Rogers, K King; D Hughes, M Poland, B Coulter; C Maginn, D Gordon, M Clarke.
Tyrone: P McConnell; M Swift, Justin McMahon, D Carlin; P Harte, C Gormley, P Jordan; C Cavanagh, K Hughes; B Dooher, S Cavanagh, Joe McMahon; M Penrose, S O’Neill, O Mulligan.
Odds:
Tyrone 1/2, Down 9/4, Draw 7/1
JOE Prediction: Down are most definitely a team on the up, but Tyrone have been around the block for a while and have the nous to exploit the Mourne men’s defensive frailties. Tyrone to win by three points or more.
Meath v Laois
Sean Dempsey’s side showed remarkable strength of character to rescue a draw in extra-time from the Royals in Croke Park on Sunday. Not many gave Laois much of a chance ahead of the encounter, but while the spotlight has been off, Dempsey has put a decent-looking side together that is strong enough that the likes of MJ Tierney and Padraig Clancy have to be content with a place on the bench.
Tierney and Clancy are both likely to see plenty of action in Tullamore on Saturday evening, especially if Dempsey is looking for an alternative threat to that of Donie Kingston, who was the stand out Laois forward last weekend, but was too often their only source of danger until Dempsey called for the cavalry off the bench.
Although impressive at times, Meath weren’t quite firing on all cylinders during Sunday’s game and apart from Joe Sheridan and wing forward Graham Reilly, their much vaunted forward line was kept relatively quiet by the Laois rearguard.
Cian Ward, Shane O’Rourke and Stephen Bray will hardly be as quiet this time around while Eamonn O’Brien will no doubt be looking at a more effective way of dealing with Kingston, who caused all sorts of problems for the returning Kevin Reilly and his team-mates in the full-back line.
Both sides have named unchanged sides for Saturday evening’s encounter in Tullamore.
Teams:
Meath: Paddy O’Rourke, Chris O’Connor, Kevin Reilly, Eoghan Harrington, Anthony Moyles, Michael Burke, Caomhin King, Brian Meade, Mark Ward, Seamus Kenny, Joe Sheridan, Graham Reilly, Cian Ward, Shane O’Rourke, Stephen Bray.
Laois: M Nolan; P O’Leary, M Timmons, P McMahon (captain); C Healy, C Ryan, C Begley; B Quigley, K Meaney; B Sheehan, C Rogers, D Strong; P Cahillane, D Kingston, R Munnelly.
Odds:
Meath 4/7, Laois 2/1, Draw 7/1
JOE Prediction: It should be another good battle between the sides in Tullamore, but we fancy Meath to get over the line this time around.
Roscommon v Leitrim
With Mayo already dumped out and Sligo and Galway facing off on the other side of the draw, both Roscommon and Leitrim will have their best chance of making Connacht Final in quite a while in Hyde Park this weekend.
Ger Heneghan made a welcome return to the Roscommon side against London
Roscommon haven’t been in a Connacht decider since 2004, while Leitrim’s last appearance in the final was four years earlier. Of the two teams, Roscommon are probably slightly better prepared, simply because they already have a championship encounter under their belts and they have star players Karol Mannion and Ger Heneghan back in tow after their absence during the league.
Leitrim won as many as they lost in the bottom tier of the league, while manager Mickey Moran faces being without as many as ten first team players for Sunday’s game due to a combination of injuries and emigration.
Emlyn Mulligan, Colin Regan, Barry McWeeney and Gary McCloskey are amongst those unavailable for Leitrim, who of course, were hit with the tragic death of Philly McGuinness during a club game only two months ago.
Fergal O’Donnell has made one change to the side that defeated London in Ruislip with David Casey coming in at left half back instead of the injured Mark O’Connell.
Teams:
Roscommon: G Clancy; S McDermott, P Domican, S Ormsby; S Purcell, C Dineen, D Casey; M Finneran, K Mannion; D Keenan, P Garvey, C Gregg; J Rogers, D Shine, G Heneghan.
Leitrim: (to be announced)
Odds:
Roscommon 8/15, Leitrim 2/1, Draw 15/2
JOE Prediction:
Plenty at stake at Hyde Park on Sunday, but with home advantage Roscommon should have too much for a depleted Leitrim side.
