The Fixtures
Sligo v Galway Saturday 6pm (Live on TV3)
Antrim v Kildare Saturday 7pm
Kerry v Limerick Sunday 2pm (Live on TV3)
The Previews
Kerry v Limerick
For the second year in succession, Limerick will face one of the province’s heavyweights in the Munster Final after the big two have knocked lumps out of each other on two separate occasions.
Last year, after overwhelming Kerry in a replay in Páirc Uà Chaoimh, Cork took their eye off the ball somewhat and were extremely lucky to capture the provincial title after beating the Treaty County by a single point.
Their performance last year will have encouraged Limerick to a degree, but their manager, Kerry legend Mickey Ned O’Sullivan, will surely not be expecting any favours from his native county on Sunday. All the talk this year has centred on Kerry’s determination to go through the front door, with manager Jack O’Connor recently admitting that he doubted the capacity of some of the older members of his squad to endure another trek through the qualifier route.
Cork were always going to represent the biggest obstacle and now that they have been dealt with, they should be able to negotiate a path to the business end of the season safely enough, even in the temporary absence of talisman Paul Galvin.
Limerick showed in the league that they are too good for Division Four football, but being well able to beat the likes of Waterford, Clare and Wicklow is a far cry from putting it up to the best team in the country and they are likely to fall short on Sunday despite having quality such as the likes of Stephen Lucey, veteran John Galvin and Ian Ryan in their ranks.
O’Sullivan has named an unchanged team from the fifteen who defeated Waterford in Dungarvan a month ago, twelve of whom lined out against Cork in the Munster final last year.
Lat year’s All-Ireland winning captain Darran O’Sullivan replaces David Moran in the only change to the Kerry fifteen that defeated Cork after a replay three weeks ago.
Teams:
Kerry: B Kealy; M O Se, T Griffin, T O’Sullivan; T O Se, M McCarthy, K Young; S Scanlon, A Maher; Darran O’Sullivan, Declan O’Sullivan, D Walsh; C Cooper, K Donaghy, B Sheehan.
Limerick: Brian Scanlon; Mark O’Riordan, Johnny McCarthy, Andrew Lane; Stephen Lavin, Stephen Lucey, Pa Ranahan; James O’Donovan, John Galvin; Padraig Browne, James Ryan, Seanie Buckley; Ger Collins, Ian Ryan, Stephen Kelly.
Odds:
Kerry 1/6, Limerick 11/2, Draw 11/1
JOE Prediction:
The Kingdom to win it with about six points to spare.
Sligo v Galway
Make no mistake about it; last Sunday represented a major opportunity lost for Sligo. Galway, without a game of note since the beginning of May when they were put to the pin of their collar against New York, were definitely there for the taking.
David Kelly was magnificent in the drawn game, scoring 1-3 from play
On the other hand, Galway will have been rejuvenated by their late, late comeback. Their midfield failed to function on Sunday and their defence struggled, particularly against the livewire David Kelly. But they still have plenty of quality in attack, which will be boosted by the return to the starting line-up of Michael Meehan.
Conventional wisdom would suggest that Galway, traditionally the stronger of the two counties, will have learned their lessons from the drawn game and bounce back with a victory, but there is a steely resolve about Kevin Walsh’s side that suggests that they won’t roll over so easily.
Their work rate, epitomised by the indefatigable Eamon O’Hara, is ferocious. They have a solid defence, a very promising midfield partnership and Kelly provides a major threat up front. The home support in Markievicz Park was particularly vocal against Mayo first time out and with a similar Saturday evening kick off time this weekend; they will no doubt provide an effective 16th man again against the Tribesmen.
Kevin Walsh has named the same fifteen that started in Pearse Stadium but has made a number of positional switches. Eamon O’Hara will start at full forward with Kenneth Sweeney dropping back to wing forward. Mark Breheny will start the game on the 40 with Alan Costello moving to right half forward.
As expected, Michael Meehan returns to the Galway starting line up in the only change from the drawn game last Sunday. Paul Conroy drops to the bench with Joe Bergin replacing him at midfield.
Teams:
Sligo: P Greene; C Harrison, N McGuire, R Donovan; K Cawley, B Philips, J Davey; T Taylor, S Gilmartin; A Costello, M Breheny, K Sweeney; C McGee, E O’Hara, D Kelly.
Galway: A Faherty; K Fitzgerald, F Hanley, A Burke; G Bradshaw, D Blake, G O’Donnell; N Coleman, J Bergin; G Sice, S Armstrong, M Clancy; M Meehan (capt), P Joyce, E Concannon.
Odds:
Sligo 11/10, Galway 10/11, Draw 15/2
JOE Prediction:
Despite blowing it on Sunday, we think Sligo will make up for it this weekend with a narrow victory.
Antrim v Kildare
Given the circumstances that surrounded last weekend’s game, it was always likely to be a memorable occasion and the two teams provided the late Dermot Earley senior with a fitting tribute by serving up an entertaining encounter, even it was blighted by shooting errors throughout, particularly by the home side.
Kildare can’t afford to be so wasteful in Casement Park on Saturday evening and Kieran McGeeney would also be wise to stress to his team the need to avoid concession of cheap frees close to goal, after Paddy Cunningham landed nine of his ten-point haul from placed balls in Newbridge.
The withdrawal of CJ McGourty from the squad would suggest that all is not well in the Antrim camp but Liam Bradley’s side coped without the St. Gall’s attacker last weekend, with older brother Kevin and Cunningham taking on the scoring responsibility.
Kieran McGeeney has named the same side that started the drawn game in Newbridge, but has made a few positional switches. Pierce O’Neill will begin on the 40′ with Ronan Sweeney starting at full forward. John Doyle and Eamon Callaghan have been named as the corner forwards.
Liam Bradley has also named an unchanged fifteen for the clash at Casement Park on Saturday evening. CJ McGourty’s departure to the United States means that the returning Michael Magill replaces the St. Gall’s attacker on the substitutes bench.
Teams:
Antrim: S McGreevy; A Healy, C Brady, J Crozier; J Loughrey, T Scullion, K O’Boyle, J Loughrey; B Herron, A Gallagher; K McGourty, K Niblock, T McCann; P Cunningham, M McCann, K Brady.
Kildare: S McCormack; P Kelly, H McGrillen, A McLoughlin; M O’Flaherty, E Bolton, B Flanagan; D Flynn, D Earley; J Kavanagh, P O’Neill, H Lynch; J Doyle, R Sweeney, E Callaghan.
Odds:
Antrim 5/4, Kildare 5/6, Draw 7/1
JOE Prediction:
Very tough to call this one, but if Kildare have their shooting boots on, they might just shade it.
