Weekend Gaelic games previews

(All throw-ins 2.0 unless stated)

Saturday

Walsh Cup - Round Three

Antrim v UCD, The Dub, Queen's
Not a lot at stake, since these sides have both lost against Laois and Dublin already. Antrim are slowly piecing themselves together again after last year's disaster and the return of Liam Watson has been a boost. UCD's best performer so far has been Oisín O'Rorke and the student will need another gaudy return from him to get anything here.

Sunday

McKenna Cup semi-finals

Fermanagh v Tyrone, Clones
Fermanagh are the buzzy team of the moment with momentum and optimism seemingly carried over from 2015. Which makes them precisely the kind of side Tyrone take singular pleasure in putting in their place. Lee Brennan, Richie Donnelly and Hugh Pat McGeary are the coming men for Mickey Harte as Tyrone look for their ninth McKenna Cup under him.

Cavan v Derry, Athletic Grounds
One aspect of this year's McKenna Cup has been the return of exiled mainstays – for Cavan, Seánie Johnston and Eugene Keating have been tiptoeing back onto the scene; for Derry, James Kielt is back in harness after a blow-up last summer. Conor Kearns looks an interesting find for Derry, with five points from play midweek.

O'Byrne Cup semi-finals

Longford v Dublin, Pearse Park
Jim Gavin has kept most of his first 15 in civvies and still used 29 players so far, with Cuala forward Con O'Callaghan the brightest spark. Longford's decent start to the year is about to go downhill in a hurry.

Louth v Meath, Drogheda
Two late goals last Sunday kept Meath's pre-season going but the main good news so far for them has been the gradual clearing of a desperate injury list. Louth are building from a low base, although Jim McEnaney's return from Australia has been a big help.

FBD League- Round Three

Roscommon v Mayo, Castlebar; IT Sligo v NUIG, Connacht GAA Centre; Leitrim v Sligo, Ballinamore; Galway v GMIT, Tuam Stadium
Three suggested venue changes later, the game of the day will go ahead in Castlebar, with the Roscommon County Board sheepishly confirming plans for a new Hyde Park pitch in the wake of all the to-and-fro. The winner of (what is now) Mayo v Roscommon will almost certainly meet Galway in the final, as their game against GMIT looks a formality.

McGrath Cup - Round Three

Tipperary v Kerry, Tipperary; Limerick v Waterford, Rathkeale
With Clare and Cork already in the final, these are dead rubbers.

Walsh Cup - Round 3

Offaly v Kilkenny, Birr; Laois v Dublin, Rathdowney; Carlow v Wexford, Netwatch Cullen Park; Meath v IT Carlow, Dunganny; Westmeath v Galway, Cusack Park; DCU v NUIG, St Clares

In Group 1, Offaly are certain of a semi-final place, barring a double-digit hammering from Kilkenny's under-21 team.

Group 2 has a winner-goes-through clash between Dublin and Laois to sort out. Ger Cunningham has been putting out reasonably strong teams so far for Dublin, with Laois comparatively experimental.

Meanwhile, Wexford are well on top in Group 3, with two wins from two and a healthy points difference of +21. It would be a surprise if they didn't make it three from three against Carlow. Liam Dunne has played six debutants over the first two games, including the hardy former football defender James Breen.

Finally, Group 4 is in Galway's hands as they get their feet under them with new manager Michael Donoghue at the helm. They ought to have too much for Westmeath, whose only win came against struggling DCU.

Likely semi-final line-up: Wexford v Offaly; Dublin v Galway.

Munster Senior Hurling League

Waterford v Clare, Carriganore; Cork v Limerick, Mallow

Clare seem to be a bit further down the road than everyone else so far and they will almost certainly throw another win on the pile here against Waterford, with Derek McGrath still content to look at a good handful of fringe players ahead of the league.

Kieran Kingston is mixing and matching to a certain extent too with his new Cork team as well and TJ Ryan is keen to give most of last year's under-21 panel a chance to plant a flag for themselves. One notable absentee for 2016 will be David Breen, who has opted out for the year.