In An Exceptional Late Rally

Longford had 5 points to spare over Carlow when the sides met in round five of the league, beating them 1-19 to 1-14, so it is slightly unexpected to see them as huge as 7-4 to win Saturday's final.


In an amazing late rally, Longford originated from 11 points down to beat Wicklow by a point last weekend, sealing promotion and a slot in the Division 4 final, and they look overpriced to continue their events.


Down vs Wexford


7.15 pm Saturday, TG4


The only last that looks cut and dried this weekend is the 3 decider where Down can show a level above surprise packages Wexford.


Westmeath were on their way to the last, holding a two-point lead with only seconds remaining last weekend, however a late smash-and-grab raid from Wexford courtesy of a Sean Ryan goal secured the unlikliest of promos.


The celebrations were wild at the last whistle and rightly so, however Mark McHugh and his Wexford side could be in for a rude awakening at head office this weekend. It will not be easy boiling down from such a huge high.


Down have actually currently hammered them by ten points - 1-29 to 1-19 - on their home patch and some flatware will be a huge offer for the Mourne males, who will have goals of making an effect in the Ulster championship. Wexford look set to be whipping kids in the Leinster one.


Wexford conceded 2-17 to Clare in round 6 and 1-18 to Westmeath last weekend having been rather tight defensively prior to that and it is tough to imagine them keeping Pat Havern and Odhran Murdock quiet. Those are 2 quality assaulters who will relish getting back to Croke Park.


Down could win this by a double-figure margin and backing them to defy a five-point handicap looks the finest bet of the weekend. They might net a couple of objectives along the way.


Cork vs Meath


1.45 pm Sunday, TG4


Cork and Meath clashed in 3 All-Ireland finals within the area of 4 years between 1987 and 1990 and once again in 1999. There was a substantial competition in between the two counties in those days but current years have actually been barren for both sides.


Meath have actually emerged from nowhere under Robbie Brennan and reached in 2015's All-Ireland semi-final, while Cork could, and most likely should, have beaten Kerry in in 2015's Munster champion.


There were simply two points in between the sides when they met at Pairc Ui Rinn in round 4 when a scoring surge at the end of the very first half put the hosts in an incredible position and they handled to hang on at the end of the game.


Meath have considering that beaten Kildare by 14, Tyrone by five and Offaly by 10, so it's not a surprise to see them head into the Division 2 decider as slight favourites.


Both these groups play an appealing brand name of football and Meath have actually scored at least one objective in each of their last 6 getaways. Indeed, they have actually got 10 of them in that time and might have got more had they gone searching for them late in their current tussle with Offaly.


Cork have stopped working to find the internet in two of their last three getaways, however Chris Og Jones will delight in the possibility of playing at Corke Park and his rate has the prospective to trigger the Meath rearguard all sorts of problems.


You can get odds-against about 3 or more goals in the game which looks worth as it looks more like an odds-on shot.


Donegal vs Kerry


4pm Sunday, TG4


The Division 1 league final is an unusual types. Generally teams do not really seem to care whether they win it or not as their sole focus is on the upcoming champion project so it will be interesting to see what sort of method Jim McGuinness and Jack O'Connor take this year. Will they wish to issue statements of intent, or will it be another round of shadow boxing?


The very best guess looks to be that McGuinness might want to set a marker for the summer season and will throw the cooking area sink at it. If he does, that will imply making life really tough for David Clifford and co up front for Kerry. If Donegal are going to treat this like a championship clash, which appears more than likely, the structures will be dug at the back. An open, high-scoring shootout is no excellent to them. Kerry would win that every day of the week and twice on Sunday. They need to keep it tight and turn it into a fight.


Donegal managed to keep Kerry to 1-18 when the sides fulfilled in round 2 and the total points line looks too high at 46.5.


Last year's final produced a total of only 36 points as Kerry walked previous Mayo by a scoreline of 1-18 to 1-12 and if either team gets to 21 points this year it ought to suffice, too.


The worst-case circumstance for these sides heading into the championship is a hammering and it is hard to see McGuinness enabling that to happen to Donegal. Nor Jack O'Connor to Kerry. This will be tight, and while in 2015's champions Kerry may have a minor edge in advance, it is hard to be adamant that they will defy a two-point handicap.


Donegal have actually taken their foot off the throttle in current years and yielded 2-20 to Roscommon and 3-15 to Monaghan in the last two rounds. But prior to those two video games their typical concession was under 19 points per game and they kept tidy sheets against Dublin, Mayo, Armagh and Galway. That is a huge achievement under the new guidelines and Kerry will do well to create a substantial score in the decider against such a well-drilled defensive unit.


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