IT’S NOT NICE to have to start a preview with a word about the referee but it is necessary. Given the intensity Donegal play with and given how they pack hunt, Marty Duffy may be less suited to their style than any other whistler in the land. Expect many, many frees, but even that won’t save the visitors to Ballybofey, a place Donegal haven’t lost a game in six, a record going back to when Down hobbled past them in extra-time in 2010. That’s a very decent league and championship record, but it isn’t all location, location, location when it comes to why we think Jim McGuiness and his players will emerge.
At the start of the season we talked about the collapse of the middle-tier of teams in Gaelic football and what highlighted that to us more than any other side was Derry. They are completely anonymous, a bland team that not only don’t scare the opposition, but a side the opposition doesn’t even take notice of anymore. The teamsheet for this one doesn’t include Eoin Bradley, but even if he were to start beside Paddy, forming the most dangerous inside forward line in Ulster, it says a lot about the amount of passengers elsewhere that we still don’t rate them all as a group.
Derry have the worst midfield in the province, their half-forward line has made promises that turned out to be lies, they don’t have the foot-passing ability form deep to feed the inside-forward line, all of which plays right into Donegal’s giant hands. The home team can focus their pack defence deep, can push out quick and they can break at pace. Against Cavan we saw how they have adapted from a high-energy defensive system to an even higher-energy counter-attacking system. Derry won’t live with that and while there are concerns surrounding both Michael Murphy and Rory Kavanagh, it won’t be enough to close the gap.
Verdict: Donegal by four.
Donegal: TBC
Advertisement
Derry: B Gillis; J McCamley, C McKaigue, SL McGoldrick; B McGoldrick, M Craig, E Scullion; J Diver, M Friel; G O’Kane, M Lynch, E Lynn; C Gilligan, P Bradley, E McGuckian.
Referee: M Duffy (Sligo)
Leinster SFC Quarter-Final Replay
Carlow v Meath
O’Connor Park, Tullamore, 7.00
Luke Dempsey can criticise whoever he wants when it came to Carlow being written off for the drawn encounter, but the basis of such predictions was his team’s own efforts this season. Anyone who studied the form would have said they would do well at midfield and not just thanks to Brendan Murphy but also because of the blossoming of Darragh Foley beside him but after that there were so many question marks. Some were over there ability to get enough scores, more were over a full-back line that was a disaster waiting to happen in the eyes of so many who had watched them regularly across winter and spring.
But if they are to be complemented on upping their game hugely and on their courage and guts to fight back and get a draw last Sunday when a narrow loss could have been settled for, Meath must too factor into the result too. Colm O’Rourke’s face turned a mix of purple and red when he was told the result and little wonder. Everyone expected so much of the burden to be lifted off Banty’s players after the Wicklow result and thought could up it to another level. Now it’s looking more and more like they don’t have another level.
And still, in the back of our minds we expect them to bounce back and win well here. Brendan Murphy is a doubt through concussion and that’s huge but on the other side of the fence, Graham Reilly is still looking an All Star, Joe Sheridan is dangerous and for some unknown reason we believe Cian Ward and Brian Farrell have enough muscle memory between them to perform like they were once capable of. If those players can’t impress us here at a second time of asking, they shouldn’t be on the teamsheet come the Kildare game. But sorry Luke, there will be a Kildare game.
Verdict: Meath by six
Carlow: TBC
Meath: D Gallagher; D Keoghan, K Reilly, B Menton; D Tobin, S McAnarney, M Burke; C Gillespie, B Meade; A Forde, D Carroll, G Reilly; B Farrell, J Sheridan, C Ward.
Referee: D Fahy (Longford)
Leinster SFC Quarter-Final
Kildare v Offaly
O’Moore Park, Portlaoise, 4.00
We predict a riot. When the opposition’s best hope is that a Kieran McGeeney-trained side enters a game arrogant and under prepared, then they simply don’t have a hope and that’s before we even get to form, physicality, ability, match-ups and anything else you care to mention. If the gap by the end is under 10 points it’ll be a good start for Tom Coffey because his are a side that haven’t even had a chance to be in transition as they’ve turned over managers like they’ve turned over possession against decent teams.
After this game it’ll be five years since they won a Leinster championship match and while underage isn’t the be all, they certainly aren’t helped by inadequate and antiquated structures that have seen them fail to win a provincial under-21 title since 1995 and provincial minor title since 1989. But if the future needs to start somewhere, it might as well be here and quite a few vertebrae on the spine of this team are brand new with John Moloney at three, Michael Brazil at six and Daniel Currams at 11 all making their championship debuts. It’ll be a day they won’t forget and not in a good way.
Some have suggested that the Offaly team won’t line out as named with Alan McNamee dropping to the bench, Niall Smith moving to midfield, Graham Guilfoyle moving to the half-forward line and Niall McNamee playing with Ken Casey in a two-man full-forward line. That would be an improvement but it won’t get Offaly’s losing margin down to single figures as Kildare will go through them down the middle, around them down the flanks, Tomás O’Connor will dictate matters close to goal, Mikey Conway will dictate matters around the 40 and Eoghan O’Flaherty, John Doyle, James Kavanagh and Alan Smith will have a bog bundle of scores between them. See why we predict a riot now?
Verdict: Kildare by 11
Kildare: S Connolly; A MacLochlainn, H McGrillen, P Kelly; E Bolton, M O’Flaherty, O Lyons; M Foley, P O’Neill; J Doyle, E O’Flaherty, A Smith; J Kavanagh, T O’Connor, M Conway
Offaly: A Mulhall; S Sullivan, J Moloney, S Pender; B Darby, M Brazil, E Rigney; Al McNamee, R Dalton; R Brady, D Currams, N Smith; K Casey, G Guilfoyle, A Sullivan
GAA throw-in: here are your weekend's football previews
Ulster SFC Quarter-Final
Donegal v Derry
Saturday, Ballybofey, 5.00
Live, RTÉ Two, 4.40
IT’S NOT NICE to have to start a preview with a word about the referee but it is necessary. Given the intensity Donegal play with and given how they pack hunt, Marty Duffy may be less suited to their style than any other whistler in the land. Expect many, many frees, but even that won’t save the visitors to Ballybofey, a place Donegal haven’t lost a game in six, a record going back to when Down hobbled past them in extra-time in 2010. That’s a very decent league and championship record, but it isn’t all location, location, location when it comes to why we think Jim McGuiness and his players will emerge.
At the start of the season we talked about the collapse of the middle-tier of teams in Gaelic football and what highlighted that to us more than any other side was Derry. They are completely anonymous, a bland team that not only don’t scare the opposition, but a side the opposition doesn’t even take notice of anymore. The teamsheet for this one doesn’t include Eoin Bradley, but even if he were to start beside Paddy, forming the most dangerous inside forward line in Ulster, it says a lot about the amount of passengers elsewhere that we still don’t rate them all as a group.
Derry have the worst midfield in the province, their half-forward line has made promises that turned out to be lies, they don’t have the foot-passing ability form deep to feed the inside-forward line, all of which plays right into Donegal’s giant hands. The home team can focus their pack defence deep, can push out quick and they can break at pace. Against Cavan we saw how they have adapted from a high-energy defensive system to an even higher-energy counter-attacking system. Derry won’t live with that and while there are concerns surrounding both Michael Murphy and Rory Kavanagh, it won’t be enough to close the gap.
Verdict: Donegal by four.
Donegal: TBC
Derry: B Gillis; J McCamley, C McKaigue, SL McGoldrick; B McGoldrick, M Craig, E Scullion; J Diver, M Friel; G O’Kane, M Lynch, E Lynn; C Gilligan, P Bradley, E McGuckian.
Referee: M Duffy (Sligo)
Leinster SFC Quarter-Final Replay
Carlow v Meath
O’Connor Park, Tullamore, 7.00
Luke Dempsey can criticise whoever he wants when it came to Carlow being written off for the drawn encounter, but the basis of such predictions was his team’s own efforts this season. Anyone who studied the form would have said they would do well at midfield and not just thanks to Brendan Murphy but also because of the blossoming of Darragh Foley beside him but after that there were so many question marks. Some were over there ability to get enough scores, more were over a full-back line that was a disaster waiting to happen in the eyes of so many who had watched them regularly across winter and spring.
But if they are to be complemented on upping their game hugely and on their courage and guts to fight back and get a draw last Sunday when a narrow loss could have been settled for, Meath must too factor into the result too. Colm O’Rourke’s face turned a mix of purple and red when he was told the result and little wonder. Everyone expected so much of the burden to be lifted off Banty’s players after the Wicklow result and thought could up it to another level. Now it’s looking more and more like they don’t have another level.
And still, in the back of our minds we expect them to bounce back and win well here. Brendan Murphy is a doubt through concussion and that’s huge but on the other side of the fence, Graham Reilly is still looking an All Star, Joe Sheridan is dangerous and for some unknown reason we believe Cian Ward and Brian Farrell have enough muscle memory between them to perform like they were once capable of. If those players can’t impress us here at a second time of asking, they shouldn’t be on the teamsheet come the Kildare game. But sorry Luke, there will be a Kildare game.
Verdict: Meath by six
Carlow: TBC
Meath: D Gallagher; D Keoghan, K Reilly, B Menton; D Tobin, S McAnarney, M Burke; C Gillespie, B Meade; A Forde, D Carroll, G Reilly; B Farrell, J Sheridan, C Ward.
Referee: D Fahy (Longford)
Leinster SFC Quarter-Final
Kildare v Offaly
O’Moore Park, Portlaoise, 4.00
We predict a riot. When the opposition’s best hope is that a Kieran McGeeney-trained side enters a game arrogant and under prepared, then they simply don’t have a hope and that’s before we even get to form, physicality, ability, match-ups and anything else you care to mention. If the gap by the end is under 10 points it’ll be a good start for Tom Coffey because his are a side that haven’t even had a chance to be in transition as they’ve turned over managers like they’ve turned over possession against decent teams.
After this game it’ll be five years since they won a Leinster championship match and while underage isn’t the be all, they certainly aren’t helped by inadequate and antiquated structures that have seen them fail to win a provincial under-21 title since 1995 and provincial minor title since 1989. But if the future needs to start somewhere, it might as well be here and quite a few vertebrae on the spine of this team are brand new with John Moloney at three, Michael Brazil at six and Daniel Currams at 11 all making their championship debuts. It’ll be a day they won’t forget and not in a good way.
Some have suggested that the Offaly team won’t line out as named with Alan McNamee dropping to the bench, Niall Smith moving to midfield, Graham Guilfoyle moving to the half-forward line and Niall McNamee playing with Ken Casey in a two-man full-forward line. That would be an improvement but it won’t get Offaly’s losing margin down to single figures as Kildare will go through them down the middle, around them down the flanks, Tomás O’Connor will dictate matters close to goal, Mikey Conway will dictate matters around the 40 and Eoghan O’Flaherty, John Doyle, James Kavanagh and Alan Smith will have a bog bundle of scores between them. See why we predict a riot now?
Offaly: A Mulhall; S Sullivan, J Moloney, S Pender; B Darby, M Brazil, E Rigney; Al McNamee, R Dalton; R Brady, D Currams, N Smith; K Casey, G Guilfoyle, A Sullivan
Referee: P O’Sullivan (Kerry)
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Are you ready? Carlow GAA Derry GAA Donegal GAA GAA GAA Throw-in Kildare GAA Leinster SFC Meath GAA Offaly GAA Previews Team news Ulster SFC