The fixtures
Galway v Wexford Saturday 2pm (Live on RTE 2)
Cork v Cavan Saturday 3pm
Offaly v Waterford Saturday 5pm
Westmeath v Derry Saturday 5pm
Dublin v Tipperary Saturday 6pm (Live on TV3)
Kildare v Leitrim Saturday 7pm
Down v Longford Saturday 7pm
Louth v Meath Sunday 2pm (Live on RTE 2)
Fermanagh v Armagh Sunday 4pm
The previews
Louth v Meath
History beckons for Louth on Sunday as they contest their first Leinster title in 50 years in the hope of winning the Delaney Cup for the first time since 1957. Peter Fitzpatrick’s side have been a breath of fresh air in the championship so far this season and the growing band of admirers of their football is not limited to the Wee County.
The platform for their impressive performances has been built on the excellent midfield partnership of Brian White and Vodafone GAA player of the month for June, Paddy Keenan. Both White and Keenan are excellent in the air and have contributed handsomely to the scoreboard from play and in White’s case, from frees as well.
Shane Lennon and Colm Judge have led the charge in an attack that has scored 2-37 in the last two games, but if there is a weakness in the Louth side, it is in a defence that has shipped heavy scores against relatively mediocre opposition in the form of Longford, Kildare and Westmeath.
If there is any team prepared to exploit that weakness, it is Meath, who have been the most devastating attacking force in the competition this year. They have notched up 10-56 in the last four games, which included the magnificent five goal haul against Dublin last time out.
The Royals are no doubt awash with confidence after that encounter and if they can get the same supply into the likes of Cian Ward, Stephen Bray, Shane O’Rourke and Stephen Bray, then the Louth defence could be in for a long afternoon.
The bookies have made Meath firm favourites at 2/9 but if Keenan and White can dominate at midfield like they have done so far, this game will be far from a foregone conclusion.
Louth have named an unchanged side from the 15 that overcame Westmeath in the Leinster semi-final. Meath have made one change from the side that defeated the Dubs, with fit-again Nigel Crawford returning to the side at midfield in place of Mark Ward.
Read our exclusive interview with Louth defender Michael Fanning here.
Teams:
Louth: N Gallagher; E McAuley, D Finnegan, R Greene; R Finnegan, M Fanning, J O’Brien; P Keenan, B White; A McDonnell, M Brennan, A Reid; C Judge, S Lennon, JP Rooney.
Meath: B Murphy, C O’Connor, K Reilly, E Harrington; A Moyles, G O’Brien, C King; B Meade, N Crawford; S Kenny, J Sheridan, G Reilly; C Ward, S O’Rourke, S Bray.
Odds:
Louth 4/1, Meath 2/9, Draw 9/1
JOE Prediction:
Louth to put up a brave effort, but Meath to prevail in the end by 3 points or more.
Fermanagh v Armagh
It’s another all-Ulster meeting for Armagh on Sunday and to be honest, it’s another game which, like the Donegal encounter, shouldn’t pose too many problems for the Orchard men. Both of these teams are in the qualifiers because of heavy defeats to Monaghan, but Armagh had the Donegal game to put things right, while Fermanagh’s confidence will be shaky after a chastening defeat only a fortnight ago.
Teams:
Fermanagh: (to be announced)
Armagh: (to be announced)
Odds:
Fermanagh 11/4, Armagh 4/11, Draw 15/2
JOE Prediction:
Armagh to win at a canter.
Dublin v Tipperary
Two weeks on from the damaging defeat to Meath and Dublin are about to embark on their first game in the qualifiers since 2004. Many pundits have said that a run in the qualifiers will do this Dublin side no harm and if they could get a run of a few games, it might at least go some way to help Pat Gilroy (below) decide on his best XV, because on the evidence of this year so far, he doesn’t seem to have a clue.
Tipperary did extremely well to overcome Laois in the first round of the qualifiers, and it’s great that a lower-profile side like Tipp get to have a run out in Croke Park. This game looks like being a step too far for John Evans’ side, however. Evans have named an unchanged side from the 15 that defeated the O’Moore County a fortnight ago.
Teams:
Dublin: (to be announced)
Tipperary: M O’Donnell; P Codd, R Costigan, A Morrissey; C McGrath, B Jones, B Fox; G Hannigan, K Mulryan; S Hahessy, H Coghlan, P Acheson; P Austin, B Grogan, C Sweeney.
Odds:
Dublin 1/7, Tipperary 5/1, Draw 12/1
JOE Prediction:
The Dubs to get back on track with a comfortable win.
Galway v Wexford
The manner of their defeat to Sligo last weekend can’t have been good for the psyche of the Galway players and it will take all of Joe Kernan’s managerial nous to rouse them for a tricky game against Wexford.
Jason Ryan won’t have learned much from his side’s facile win over London, but they showed against the Dubs earlier in the championship that they’re not too far off the side that reached the All-Ireland semi-final two years ago. With Michael Meehan a significant absentee for Galway, these sides look evenly enough matched on paper and this is probably the pick of the ties in the qualifiers this weekend.
Jason Ryan has named the same 15 that defeated London in Ruislip while Joe Kernan has named Fiachra Breathnach in place of the injured Michael Meehan in a switch that will see Seán Armstrong move to the full-forward line.
Teams:
Galway: A Faherty; D Reilly, F Hanley, A Burke; G Bradshaw, K Fitzgerald, G O’Donnell; N Coleman, J Bergin; G Sice, F Breathnach; M Clancy; O Concannon, P Joyce, S Armstrong.
Wexford: A Masterson; J Wadding, G Molloy, B Malone; A Flynn, D Murphy, A Doyle; E Bradley, D Waters; C Morris, R Barry, S Roche; C Lyng, M Forde, PJ Banville.
Odds:
Galway 4/9, Wexford 9/4, Draw 15/2
JOE Prediction:
With home advantage, Galway should have enough to take this one.
Cork v Cavan
After the heroics of their victory over Wicklow, Cavan were unfortunate enough to draw the strongest side possible in Round Two. The hero of that game, Seanie Johnston, looks highly unlikely to feature against the Rebels, making an already difficult task even more arduous.
The truth is, with or without Johnston, the chances of Cavan causing an upset look highly unlikely. In their two meetings in Munster, Cork and Kerry looked very much like the two best teams in the competition and like Dublin, the qualifier route will give Conor Counihan the chance to identify his best starting line-up, even though it must be said that Counihan has a wealth of talent on offer compared to the selection pool available to Pat Gilroy in the capital.
The Cork manager has made three changes to the side that lost out to Kerry at the beginning of June with John Miskella, Fintan Goold and Colm O’Neill replacing Noel O’Leary, Paul Kerrigan and the injured Donncha O’Connor (above).
Teams:
Cork: A Quirke; R Carey, G Canty, J O’Sullivan; J Miskella, M Shields, P Kissane; A O’Connor, A Walsh; F Goold, P O’Neill, P Kelly; D Goulding, C Sheehan, C O’Neill.
Cavan: (to be announced)
Odds:
Cork 1/16, Cavan 8/1, Draw 16/1
JOE Prediction:
Cork to win by more than eight points.
Westmeath v Derry
There might have only been two points between Louth and Westmeath at the end of the Leinster semi-final but the score-line flattered Pat Flanagan’s side. Still, to be even contesting a Leinster semi-final is a credit to Westmeath after enduring a torrid pre-season that saw Brendan Hackett depart in an acrimonious manner and saw the Lake County relegated for a second successive season.
Derry have had some problems of their own, not least the departure of star forward Paddy Bradley, while they were troubled at times by the minnows of Carlow in the first round. Derry have the higher quality performers, but something about them doesn’t look quite right this season and having to travel to Mullingar makes them vulnerable to an upset.
Westmeath have made two changes from the Louth defeat with John Gaffney and John Keane coming in to replace injured duo Donal O’Donoghue and Derek Heavin. Derry have made a host of positional switches but only one change in personnel from the side that overcame Carlow, with Kevin McGuckian coming in for Emmet McGuckian.
Teams:
Westmeath: G Connaughton; F Boyle, J Gaffey, K Maguire; M Ennis, J Keane, D Harte; D Duffy, P Bannon; K Martin, C Lynam, G Egan; P Greville, D Dolan, D Glennon.
Derry: B Gillis; B Óg McAlary, K McGuckian, D McBride; M Craig, G O’Kane, C Kielt; J Diver, E Muldoon; C McKeever, J Kielt, B McGoldrick; E Bradley, M Lynch, R Wilkinson.
Odds:
Westmeath 9/4, Derry 4/9, Draw 15/2
JOE Prediction:
We fancy Derry to come out on top, but not by a lot.
Offaly v Waterford
It is something of a miracle that Offaly are still in the championship, having staged a remarkable comeback to defeat Clare after extra time in Tullamore a fortnight ago. Now, they have to face the team that dumped the Banner County out of the championship in the first place.
The performance of Limerick in the Munster final last weekend would suggest that the other counties in the Munster championship are not as weak as is commonly portrayed. Limerick gave Waterford a sound beating in Munster, but the Deise had only 14 men for most of the game and finished with only 13 men on the field.
Home advantage is a big advantage for Offaly again, but they can expect to pushed as hard if not harder than they were against Clare. Offaly boss Tom Cribbin has made three changes in personnel and a number of positional switches for Saturday’s game. Seán Pender, John Coughlan and and Graham Guilfoyle (above) replace Brian Geraghty, Paraic Sullivan and John Reynolds in the starting fifteen.
Teams:
Offaly: A Mulhall; B Darby, S Brady, S Pender; N Darby, R Brady, K Slattery; R Dalton, J Coughlan; G Guilfoyle, B Connor, C McManus; K Casey, A Sullivan, N McNamee.
Waterford: (to be announced)
Odds:
Offaly 4/6, Waterford 6/4, Draw 15/2
JOE Prediction: Offaly to come out on top, but like the Clare game, it will be a close call.
Kildare v Leitrim
This will be Kildare’s third weekend in action on the trot and the defeat to Louth seems a long way away at this stage. Having struggled in front of goal in the draw with Antrim in Newbridge, they were back on track in Casement Park last weekend and ended up convincing winners.
Leitrim have proved tough opponents for many an established side in the qualifiers in the past, but away from Carrick-on-Shannon, they’ll find it tough to cause an upset.
Mickey Moran has made six changes from the side that lost out to Roscommon in Connacht. Gareth Phelan, Ciaran Egan, Gary Reynolds, Philip Howard, Declan Maxwell and Declan Gilhooly replace Enda Lyons, James Glancy, Shane Foley, Colm Clarke, David O’ Connor and Ray Cox.
Kieran McGeeney has made one change to the side that defeated Antrim after a replay, with Eoghan O’Flaherty replacing Hugh Lynch in the half-forward line.
Teams:
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, E O’Flaherty; J Doyle, R Sweeney, E Callaghan.
Leitrim: G Phelan; D Reynolds, C Egan, D Beck; W McKeon, J McKeon, G Reynolds; T Beirne, S Canning; R Mulvey, James Glancy (Glencar/Manorhamilton), M Foley; P Howard, D Maxwell, D Gilhooly
Odds:
Kildare 1/8, Leitrim 11/2, Draw 12/1
JOE Prediction:
Down v Longford
Fresh from their shock victory over Mayo in Round One, Longford will be full of confidence going into the clash with Down this weekend, but as they showed against Mayo and Kerry last year, home advantage seems to be worth an extra five or six points on the scoreboard to the Longford footballers.
Glen Ryan’s men may struggle away from the tight confines of Pearse Park and in Down, they have drawn one of the toughest teams in the qualifiers. The Mourne men impressed against Donegal and for a half against Tyrone and if they can keep the supply line to their potent forward line flowing, they should progress without much difficulty.
Down have named the same side that lost out to Tyrone in the Ulster semi-final three weeks ago.
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.
Longford: (to be announced)
Odds:
Down 4/11, Longford 5/2, Draw 9/1
JOE Prediction:
Down to progress with six or more points to spare.
