Gaelic Games: Sunday’s provincial football previews

Ulster SFC quarter-final 

Donegal v Fermanagh Ballybofey, Sunday, 2.00 On TV: RTÉ 1
There is something undeniably heartening about the staying power of Rory Gallagher's Donegal panel. Walking out of Croke Park the day they reached Valhalla in 2012, you wouldn't have got many takers for the idea that all but two of their starting 15 would still be on the go come the 2016 championship. One of their key attributes back then, after all, was experience.

Yet here they are. Still plugging on four years later, attempting to reach their sixth Ulster final in a row.

From the 2012 team, only Paul Durcan and Ryan Bradley aren’t involved this year, both of them working abroad. As the Donegal Sports Hub pointed out last week, this will be the county’s first championship game without Durcan in the stopper’s gloves since 2009.

Neil Gallagher won’t play either, not having shaken off an ankle problem. That ought to present Fermanagh with an edge around the centre where Eoin Donnelly is the form midfielder in Ulster.

Pete McGrath’s side won’t have Ryan McCluskey back and though their collective progress means that isn’t quite as crushing as it would have been in the past, they could still do with their classiest operator.

McGrath will be in no doubt what he’s up against here and his best hope is that the likes of Ryan Jones, Sean Quigley and Tomás Corrigan bring their shooting boots from distance to draw Donegal out. Donegal’s style hasn’t changed significantly under Gallagher and they’re irresistible when they get it right. Hit that groove here and Fermanagh are in trouble. Hit it not and we’ll be in for the closest game in Ulster so far.

Which wouldn't be hard, obviously. But as Gallagher remarked during the week, you can write all the obituaries you like for this Donegal side – the one thing they know better than anyone else is how to win Ulster Championship matches.
Last meeting: July 30th, 2006, All-Ireland qualifier, Brewster Park, Donegal 0-11 Fermanagh 0-8.
Odds: Donegal 1/4, Fermanagh 4/1 and the draw 9/1.
Injuries: Neil Gallagher is out for Donegal, Ryan McCluskey is missing for Fermanagh. Seán Quigley had an Achilles problem recently but is okay to start.
Just the ticket: Stand €25/£20, terrace €15/£12; Under-16 €5/£5
Verdict: Donegal by three.

Leinster SFC quarter-finals

Louth v Meath Parnell Park, Sunday, 3.30 
It will be a while before this fixture shakes off the nagging legacy of the infamous provincial final of six years ago – and for added topicality Meath have been ensnared in another controversially concluded final – but this promises to be an interesting contest.

Meath are on the rebound from last year’s championship calamity, a first ever defeat by Westmeath, and a frustrating league campaign but they remain the most plausible claimants to the (admittedly underwhelming) status of next best in Leinster after Dublin.

They look reasonably equipped for this with enough quality scattered throughout the team from captain Donal Keogan at the back, the potential of centrefielder Harry Rooney as well as the influence of Graham Reilly’s mobility and the happily recovered Cillian O’Sullivan in the middle third topped off with Michael Newman’s reliability in kicking scores.

Louth though are in about as good shape for the challenge as they could be. Colin Kelly’s team weren’t generally expected to get promotion out of Division Four and they not only achieved that but won the divisional final. Last month they weathered a respectable comeback by Carlow and still saw them off comfortably in the finish.

They have some decent forwards in Ryan Burns, Conor Grimes and Jim McEneaney, who gave Meath plenty of trouble in the – not admittedly laboratory conditions – O’Byrne Cup last January.

Meath have a tendency, as they showed that day as well as during the league, to tune out of matches and can’t afford to leave too much to chance in this.

Overall though they look a bit too strong for their neighbours whose 10-point win against Carlow was qualified more than somewhat by the concession of three goals and a certain vulnerability when run at in defence – not a great recommendation against Reilly.

The "prize" for the winners is a crack at Dublin in Croke Park and Meath look more likely both to make something redemptive out of that opportunity as well as to avail of it.

Last meeting: 2011 All-Ireland qualifier round one, Breffni Park, Meath 5-8, Louth 2-8.
Odds: Meath 2/9, Louth 4/1 and 10/1 the draw. Just the ticket: Stand €25, and terrace €15. Juveniles €5 and €3. Concessions available for students, senior citizens and families.
Verdict: Meath to win.

Westmeath v Offaly Cusack Park, Mullingar, Sunday, 3.30 
Last year's Leinster finalists Westmeath spent the league campaign being viewed as "too good to go down" to Division Four before being subjected to that very indignity. The cumulative momentum of hurtling from the top of the league to the bottom in successive seasons doesn't help coming into the championship against a team that's turned a corner of sorts.

Considered in the context of a tightly contested series over the past couple of years Offaly’s big win over Longford carried more significance than just the ending of a nine-year quest for a championship win.

Taken in tandem with an encouraging league campaign at the end of which promotion was narrowly missed it suggested that the county are making progress under Pat Flanagan, who will also be well attuned to the opposition who he managed a couple of years ago.

One of the reasons Westmeath’s league plight was surprising was the championship form of Tom Cribbin’s team last year, which fired by John Heslin and Kieran Martin produced a stellar comeback and historic win against Meath.

Offaly though with Niall McNamee and Peter Cunnigham outstanding, have had an outing and a good result and can upset the odds here even away from home.

Last meeting: 2008 Leinster quarter-final, O'Connor Park, Tullamore, Westmeath 2-11, Offaly 1-8. 
Odds: Westmeath 4/6, Offaly 6/4 and 15/2 the draw.
Just the ticket: Adult stand €20, terrace €10. Juveniles €5 and €3. Concessions available for students and senior citizens. Verdict: Offaly to win.

Connacht SFC semi-final

Roscommon v Sligo Dr Hyde Park, Sunday, 3.30 On TV: RTÉ 1
After the feats of the league culminating in reaching the semi-finals at Croke Park, Roscommon have been down to more mundane business. The seismic shock of nearly getting beaten by New York may have been a useful corrective going into the championship and the last day's win over Leitrim was a lot more functional even if the opposition hadn't much on their side apart from home advantage.

Sligo come into this not having played at all to date in the championship but have the experience of shocking their opponents last year when Roscommon had also had an undistinguished start to their championship abroad, 12 months ago in London.

They have an experienced team with former All Star Charlie Harrison back after missing 2015 because of a cruciate injury and manager Niall Carew is bullish about the prospects of repeating last year’s result.

Roscommon though have travelled a good distance since the events of 12 months ago and although not back to full strength, the injury list is steadily clearing and Kevin McStay and Fergal O’Donnell will have picked up enough so far to steer clear of any complications.

Last meeting: 2015 Connacht semi-final, Markievicz Park, Sligo 1-14, Roscommon 0-13.
Odds: Roscommon 1/10, Sligo 13/2 and 16/1 the draw.
Just the ticket: Stand and side-line seating €25/€20, terrace €20. Juveniles €5. Concessions available for students and senior citizens. 
Verdict: Roscommon to win.

Munster SFC semi-finals

Kerry v Clare Fitzgerald Stadium, Sunday, 3.30
Nothing washes the yerra out of Kerry folk like a few consecutive defeats to the Dubs. Normally, this game would barely raise an eyebrow in the Kingdom but instead there's a discernibly antsy air around the place. Nothing to do with Clare's challenge, rather for those to come.

The flushing of the training panel with new faces and they departure of a handful of the heroes from 2014 doesn’t exactly indicate panic but it is a recognition that something needed to be done.

While no Kerry team writes off a year on the back of a league final, there’s equally no denying the sheer comprehensiveness of the beating and the distance Éamonn Fitzmaurice’s side have to make up. No point delaying a start on that work.

Even without the injured Johnny Buckley and James O’Donoghue, they will deal with Clare routinely enough.

Colm Collins’s side surely won’t be as poor as they were against Limerick and will be boosted by the availability of Cathal O’Connor alongside Gary Brennan in midfield. They will be a dangerous side in the qualifiers but this is beyond them.

Last meeting: June 22nd, 2014, Munster SFC, Cusack Park, Kerry 1-17 Clare 1-13.
Odds: Kerry 1/50, Clare 14/1 and the draw 25/1.
Injuries: Kerry are missing James O'Donoghue, Johnny Buckley, Brendan O'Sullivan and Denis Daly. Clare have Cathal O'Connor available after he crashed into advertising hoarding in the Limerick game but Enda Coughlan is a major doubt.
Just the ticket: Stand €15,terrace €15; Under-16 €5 (free into Terrace)
Verdict: Kerry by nine.

Tipperary v Cork Thurles, Sunday , 3.30

Liam Kearns has long since stopped cursing his luck in public over the defections from the Tipperary panel over the winter but in private he must surely be looking around for a cat to kick.

It’s a long time since a Cork side has turned up in the Munster championship looking this ripe for an ambush. Relegated, down on their luck, their vastly experienced goalkeeper and former captain both jettisoned since the league – Cork would be vulnerable if Tipp had their best hand to play.

Kearns has made a decent fist with what he’s been left with and in the likes of George Hannigan, Peter Acheson and especially Michael Quinlivan, they have players who will keep Cork honest. They are certainly better than the wan showing they put up against Waterford in the quarter-final.

Cork are a blank page under Peadar Healy but if they manage to find a way to keep all three of Peter Kelleher, Brian Hurley and Colm O’Neill relatively close to goal, they could be onto something. This could get nervy but they should have a bit in hand, ultimately.

Last meeting: June 21st, 2014, Munster SFC, Páirc Uí Chaoimh, Cork 0-16 Tipperary 1-11.
Odds: Cork 1/8, Tipperary 8/1, and the draw 16/1.
Injuries: Cork are waiting on Eoin Cadogan and Alan O'Connor but both are likely to start.
Just the ticket: Stand €15, terrace €5; under-16 €5 (free into Terrace).
Verdict: Cork by four.