(Saturday): ULSTER SFC QUARTER-FINAL REPLAY: Armagh v Monaghan, Clones, 5.30 (Extra-time if necessary) It gets more and more tempting to write off Armagh as over the hill and in decline after what happened in Clones last Sunday. Despite a slow start, they were up 0-9 to 0-5 on 63 minutes, ideally placed to close out the deal and continue the defence of their Ulster title.
Instead, Monaghan's more youthful legs, coupled with overflowing enthusiasm, saw them deservedly close down that deficit in the closing minutes, before Paul Finlay's deft free in injury-time left the scores at 0-10 apiece and thus forced the replay.
Surely the old Armagh wouldn't have allowed that? And yet there was actually little evidence to suggest Armagh are on the way down. The wet, slippery conditions didn't suit Steven McDonnell and Ronan Clarke, and it was Oisín McConville - one of the so-called veterans - who produced the goods when needed, hitting five points in what was a man-of-the-match display.
At 33, Kieran McGeeney mightn't have the engine he once had, yet despite his debatable positioning at midfield, his influence on Armagh's game grew with the passing of time.
Part of the enduring Armagh legend is their reputation for punishing teams in replays. In fact they haven't lost a replay in the Ulster championship since 1993, when Donegal got the better of them. And while Monaghan famously shocked them in 2003, when their paths crossed again a year later Armagh handed them a 15-point beating.
Monaghan are sure to make another good contest of it. Hugh McElroy starts instead of James McElroy having finished so well the last day, and drier conditions are sure to suit Tomás Freeman. They have the pace to match Armagh, and probably the firepower too, but Ulster football still swings on the physical element, and that's where Armagh will ultimately prove unstoppable.
ARMAGH: C McKinney; A Mallon, T McEntee, E McNulty; A Kernan, K McKeever, P Duffy; K McGeeney, P McGrane; P McKeever, B Mallon, M Mackin; S McDonnell, R Clarke, O McConville.
MONAGHAN: S Duffy; D McArdle, J Coyle, C Flanagan; D Freeman, G McQuaid, V Corey; E Lennon, D Clerkin; P Finlay, S Gallogly, H McElroy; T Freeman, R Ronaghan, R Woods.
Sunday
CONNACHT SFC QUARTER-FINAL
Galway v Sligo, Pearse Stadium, 2.0, Live RTÉ
Two teams apparently moving in different directions. Sligo didn't have the happiest league campaign whereas things seemed to improve for Galway the nearer to summer they got. In a bid to wring more scores out of themselves and take the burden off Mark Breheny, Sligo give a start to 18-year-old David Kelly in the right corner with last year's fringe player Kenneth Sweeney coming in for a start on the left.
Galway are in the happy position that having lost a key player like Pádraic Joyce to an Achilles' tendon problem they still gather in Salthill with a sense of optimism and still field a front six with the potential to wreak havoc. Michael Donnellan , captain for the summer, lines out at centre forward between Niall Coleman and Joe Bergin, two regular midfielders who move to the wing forward positions. With Paul Clancy and Paul Geraghty at midfield Galway will be expecting to be almost unbeatable under kick-outs.
Sligo looking at that familiar road through the qualifiers. Galway looking ahead to Mayo.
GALWAY: A Keane; K Fitzgerald, F Hanley, D Meehan; A Burke, D Blake, M Comer; P Clancy, P Geraghty; N Coleman, M Donnellan, J Bergin; D Savage, M Meehan, S Armstrong.
SLIGO: P Greene; R Donovan, N McGuire, C Harrison; J Davey, P McGovern, P Doohan; B Egan, S Davey; E O'Hara, B Curran, A Marren; D Kelly, M Breheny, K Sweeney.
LEINSTER SHC QUARTER-FINALS
Laois v Offaly, Portlaoise, 4.0
One consequence of the new hurling structures has to been to create a sort of groundhog day scenario for teams like Laois and Dublin. One, maybe two days in the sunshine of the Leinster championship and then banished to the qualifiers as they get sucked ever closer to the abyss of relegation qualifiers.
For what in terms of the history of hurling will be seen as a brief moment Wexford were in tail spin and Offaly were declining and it looked as if the number two spot in Leinster might be open for a county which got its act together. That door seems to have slammed shut with Offaly's impressive league campaign.
Alan Egan isn't playing due to a shoulder injury but teenagers Joe Bergin and Paul Cleary start. While they may not be the Theo Walcott and Wayne Rooney of the game they are more than enough to lift the spirits and to suggest we might yet squeeze a few more years' enjoyment out of the miracle of Offaly hurling.
Laois will offer stern physical opposition as befits a midlands derby but the touch, the class and the upward graph all belong to the Faithful just now.
OFFALY: B Mullins; B Teehan, P Cleary, D Franks; K Brady, R Hanniffy, D Tanner; G Hanniffy, G Oakley; B Murphy, M O'Hara, M Cordial; B Carroll, J Bergin, A Hanrahan.
Dublin v Westmeath, Portlaoise 2.10
All depends on how you look at it. Are Dublin and Westmeath readying themselves for a glorious uprising some season soon or just squabbling over who gets to be pulped by Kilkenny in the next round?
Tommy Naughton's Dubs can claim to be a little further along the path to liberation from mediocrity than Westmeath can. Underage results have been impressive, development continues and three of last year's minor stars get a start tomorrow.
Westmeath were beaten by seven points when the sides met in the league semi-final and haven't taken giant steps since their Christy Ring Cup heroics of last season. Still Séamus Qualter's enthusiasm and a core of decent, thoroughly bonded players means that nothing can be taken for granted.
Westmeath field 12 of their Christy Ring Cup side including the prolific Andrew Mitchell. Christo Murtagh at full back will be as interesting a test as Dub's full forward Kevin Flynn has had during these few free-scoring months he has enjoyed.
Dublin leave a vacancy at corner forward and depending on fitness Alan McCrabbe, Peadar Carton or Mossy McGrane will claim the jersey. Neither team is the finished article but Dublin should have a little bit too much about them to get caught.
DUBLIN: G Maguire; P Brennan, K Ryan, T Brady; M Carton, R Fallon, T Moore; D Sweeney, J McCaffrey; S McDonnell, L Ryan, D Curtin; K Dunne, K Flynn, AN Other.
WESTMEATH: M Briody; C Jordan, C Murtagh, P Greville; J Shaw, D McCormack, N Gavin; B Connaughton, E Loughlin; G Gavin, B Murtagh, A Mitchell; B Kennedy, D McNicholas, J Clarke.
MUNSTER SFC QUARTER-FINALS
Kerry v Waterford, Killarney, 3:30
If they're feeling a little glum in the hurling areas of Waterford, spare a little thought for the footballers for whom championship wins are but a vague memory. Despite a final day win away to Cavan in the league, Waterford finished second last in Division Two B. The side that won the Munster under-21 championship three seasons ago show no signs of cashing in on their talent.
For Kerry a championship first-round game in Killarney is a chance for Jack O'Connor to present his summer line-up to his constituents. Waterford have explicit plans for Shane Briggs, who will be taking care of Colm Cooper and what will be interesting is whether the arrival of Bryan Sheehan will take the pressure off the Gooch and give Kerry the spread of options they need.
More of an afternoon for the cognoscenti to rub their chins and draw early conclusions about the state of things in Kerry than for people looking for an exciting time.
KERRY: D Murphy; A O'Mahony, M Ó Sé, T O'Sullivan; T Ó Sé, S Moynihan, M Lyons; D Ó Sé, K Donaghy; P Galvin, E Fitzmaurice, E Brosnan; C Cooper, D O'Sullivan, B Sheehan.
WATERFORD: T Wall; E Walsh, J Phelan, S Briggs; B Wall, E Rockett, P Ogle; A Ahearne, M Ahern; A Hubbard, K Power, G Power; S Cunningham, G Hurney, J Ryan.
Limerick v Clare, Gaelic Grounds, 3.30
It's still just two years since Limerick came within Darragh Ó Sé's fetching of the ball from winning the Munster title, and yet their stock in the province seems to have dropped enough to make this another of the open games of the weekend.
The shift back to hurling by most of Limerick's dual players doesn't appear to be the handicap first suggested, and the injuries to Stephen Kelly and Eoin Keating are probably more costly. Muiris Gavin also misses out through injury.
Clare are without Rory Donnelly after he failed in his appeal against a three-month suspension going back to the league. Michael O'Dwyer takes his place at right corner forward.
After Clare famously ambushed Cork in the Munster semi-final nine years ago their position as the third best team in the province looked secure. Yet Limerick's rise in the years since has been in direct contrast to Clare's decline, and Limerick are still far ahead enough to secure the semi-final meeting with Cork.
LIMERICK: J Kiely; S Gallagher, J McCarthy, P Browne; C Mullane, S Lavin, A Lane; J Stokes, J Galvin; P Ahern, D Reidy, S Buckley; M Crowley, J Murphy, M Reidy.
CLARE: D O'Brien; P Gallagher, C Whelan, D Kelly; D Blake, B Considine, N Considine; G Quinlan, P O'Dwyer; David Russell, M O'Shea, Denis Russell; M O'Dwyer, E Coughlan, D Heddington.
LEINSTER SFC FIRST ROUND
Carlow v Wicklow, Wexford Park, 3.30
It's hard to know what to say about these two teams that mightn't come back to haunt you. The prize for victory tomorrow is a crack at Laois, a game no one has given them a chance of winning. And yet surely it's only a matter of time before one of them makes the sudden progress they've sometimes threatened.
Wicklow very nearly did that last year against Kildare. Unfortunately they seem to have slipped back since then, reflected in their bottom placing in Division Two B of the league.They still have valuable experience, however, and have reportedly prepared well over the last few weeks.
Carlow's league run was hardly any better (second last in Division Two A) and to make matters worse manager Liam Hayes has had a lengthy injury list in recent weeks. Like Wicklow, their championship defeat to Wexford last summer showed promise, and was followed with the breakthrough win over Offaly in the qualifiers.On that basis alone they'll start tomorrow's game as favourites and overall, Carlow look capable of handling the pressure.
CARLOW: J Brennan; T Smith, M Brennan, J Ryan; J Hayden, J Byrne, B English; T Walsh, P Walsh; B Carbery, M Carpenter (capt), P Hickey; A Kelly, S Rea, C Pender.
WICKLOW: R Daniels; C Hyland, D Power, B Daly; K Manning, W Callaghan, T Burke; J Stafford, J P Dalton; P Cronin, L Glynn, P Dalton; T Gill, W O'Gorman, J Daniels.
ULSTER SFC QUARTER-FINAL
Fermanagh v Antrim, Enniskillen, 3.30
The start of another championship for Fermanagh comes loaded with only slightly less optimism than that of the past couple of years. After their remarkable run to the semi-finals in 2004, last summer's defeats to Armagh and then Down rocketed them back to earth, but manager Charlie Mulgrew has admirably kept things together.
League wins over Monaghan and Tyrone were enough to ensure top-flight football for another season and progression to the Ulster semi-finals would be the least of their ambitions for now.
They won't be at full strength tomorrow, with former All Star Martin McGrath recovering from minor heart surgery, and first-choice goalkeeper Niall Tinney also missing through injury.
Antrim come to Enniskillen on the back of one of the poorest league runs in recent years, but what does carry their hopes is the excellent run of the St Gall's club to the All-Ireland final. Five of that team start tomorrow.
Club success, however, doesn't always transfer easily to the county stage. When the sides last met in the championship in 1992 Fermanagh won by a single point, and the feeling is Antrim would have to be happy enough with another result like that tomorrow afternoon.
FERMANAGH: C Breen; P Sherry, B Owens, S Goan; R Johnston, H Brady, S McDermott; L McBarron, M Murphy; M Little, J Sherry, T Brewster; E Maguire, S Doherty, C O'Reilly.
ANTRIM: P Murray; A McClean, P Doherty, D Gault; A Scullion, A Convery, S Kelly; J Quinn, M McCann; C Close, B Herron, A Gallagher; K Brady, K McGourty, M Magill.
ULSTER SHC SEMI-FINAL
New York v Derry, Gaelic Park, New York, 8.0 (Irish time)
There is little to suggest Derry will be shocked on their trip across the Atlantic. Expect Derry to take their place in the provincial final against Antrim.
