Big games this weekend...
Football
Qualifiers - Phase 2
10 Jul 2010 Galway 2:00 Wexford - Pearse Stadium, Galway
RTE Live
10 Jul 2010 Offaly 5:00 Waterford - Tullamore
10 Jul 2010 Westmeath 5:00 Derry - Cusack Park, Mullingar
10 Jul 2010 Dublin 6:00 Tipperary - Croke Park
TV3 Live
10 Jul 2010 Cork 7:00 Cavan - Páirc Uí Chaoimh
10 Jul 2010 Down 7:00 - Longford Newry
10 Jul 2010 Kildare 7:00 - Leitrim Newbridge
11 Jul 2010 Fermanagh 4:00 Armagh Enniskillen
Leinster Championship Final
11 Jul 2010 Louth 2:00 Meath - Croke Park
RTE Live
Hurling
Qualifiers Phase 2
10 Jul 2010 Dublin 4:00 Clare - Croke Park
RTE Live
10 Jul 2010 Offaly 7:00 Limerick - Tullamore
Munster Championship Final
11 Jul 2010 Cork 4:00 Waterford - Semple Stadium
RTE Live
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So lads, who's bricking it & who's confident of progressing?
I'd say the Derry lads i.e Crerand Legend & PJ are none to confident, due to never knowing what Derry team are gonna turn up. Westmeath will give them a game alright & I can see extra-time in that match!
I see Galway's Michael Meehan's out of the game against Wexford:
RTÉ Sport: GAA - Michael Meehan ruled out for Tribesmen thats a big loss to the Tribesmen, but I think they'll just about squeeze past Wexford - possibly another extra-time finish!
Down - Longford is a game i'd like to see actually. Always a big atmosphere in Newry for Down games. Its pretty intense because of their successful teams of the 60's & the 90's, so the faithful want those glorydays back & want it back probto. Longford are loving their football at the moment & are hungry as feck. Down on the otherhand have bigger fish to fry, but will they be up for the game & this backdoor route to the larger lough - thats the question. Paul Barden of Longford is struggling with a groin strain so he might be out
Hoganstand.com - GAA Football & Hurling - that'll be a big loss for Longfords chances if he is!
Fancy Down to win but I wouldnt be surprised if Longford took it by 1pt. Newry to have riots if that happens
Its about time they had a Dublin Hurling & Football double-header at Crokers. It'll show the fans that turn up at 4pm / 4.15pm
for the Hurlers, that those lads have more committment than their "illustrious" sponsorship showered Footballers.
It might not be a good thing for the Footballers tho - they might get showed-up & the fans will not only boo them off the pitch - they'll encorporate the Liverpool way - chuck their own shit at them as they depart the pitch at half-time & full-time
Both the Footballers & the Hurlers should prevail to the next round or the shit will hit the fan onroute to hitting the player
Fermanagh & Armagh in lovely Enniskillen - thats a nice way to spend the Sunday afternoon, thats if you duct-tape those Armagh nutcase fans & tie the feckers up
They'll get back in their hoardes to get themselves ready for the Annual 12th of July battles & maybe get some practice in on the way back too!
Fancy Cork to give Cavan a bittuva hammerin. They risk losing even more momentum in their Championship quest & the more knocks you get the harder it is to recover mentally. This game will tell us where Cork are physically & emotionally due to recent disappointments. I'd love another crack at them so I hope they stay in the game until then!
Offaly - Waterford are the type of games I like to watch because you get exposed to some lovely footballers that you havent come across before. Tight one to call tho, given that Waterford beat Clare by 4pts in the Munster Provincial & Offally beat Clare by 3pts in the 1st round of the qualifiers - in what looked a great game 2-18 to 1-18. Could a one score game - my moneys on a goal to separate them!
Kildare - Leitrim. Well, after the Lillies are a little settled down now, following the death & burial of Dermot Earley, they should be well up for this game more so than the good result achieved against Antrim - one that i was delighted to see Liam "Baker" Bradley's smug fecking grin wiped off. Cant stand the cnut
Kildare should win this handy enough, but interestingly enough Mickey Morans made 6 changes (3 in the full-forward line) to the side that got beat by Roscommon in the Connaught Championship Semi's. They lost that game by 5pts, so maybe Mickeys got the hump with some of the players & is hatching a different plan. Best of luck Leitrim - you'll need it lads
Best of luck to Waterford & Cork in the Munster Hurling Final. Should be a good game. Will be interesting to see if Cork can follow up their impressive performances against Tipp & Limerick. Those winning margins were 10pts against Tipp & 13pts against Limerick, so they're in the groove. In Corks case, sometimes it can help with playin the extra game in the Provincial because if you get a good result you can gather great momentum very early, and thats what they did with those two results onroute to the final. I fancy Cork to win this pretty well - by 6pts+.... hope its a good game!
Best of luck to Offaly & Limerick too. Fancy Offaly for this one. They took Galway to a Leinster Semi replay & only lost by 2pts, so they're not a bad side regardless of Galways poor showing against the Cats last weekend. 7pts winning margin didnt do that game justice - Kilkenny were taking it easy on them. Hard bunch of feckers too!
And last of all its the Leinster Championship Final & we're graced with the "Wee County" making their first appearance in the Final since 1960 - feckin great stuff & the very best of luck to them. Meath will be hard opposition & I fancy them to take the title & they could very well win in high numbers. But the Louth players have pride & some quality to back it up, so Meath wont get it all their own way.
Louth's point-scoring Mid-fielder Paddy Keenan will have to be on form for this one & I expect him to. His partnership with Brian White has been solid & they've deserved all the praise thats been bestowed upon them in recent matches against Kildare & Westmeath. Although you can guarantee Meath will be laying down a marker on each of them very soon after throw-in. I hope they get in there first & rattle the feckers!
I'm not a fan of Meath, following physical hammering in previous years to my County - not gonna mention the wars, but they've a well-earned reputation for encouraging opposition players to leave the pitch either on foot or stretcher. Took a temporary liking to them recently tho
Cian Wards a massive player for Meath. He's won the lot with the Meath under-age set-up from what I hear & is held in such high regard in the County as the next big thing. He's the one to watch in this game, excellent footballer. Watch his place kicking also - he's a tremendous striker of the ball!
Anyway, i'm fecked after writing all that, but it was enjoyable at the same time. Best of luck to all the teams & enjoy the feast of Football over the weekend