Football Previews

Tomorrow

Railway Cup SF Final

Ulster v Leinster, Clones, 3.0

As a metaphor for the times, the Railway Cup has been sharp enough this decade. Ulster's dominance earlier in the 1990s prefigured the northern counties' domination of the All-Ireland championship.

More recently, Leinster's run of success reflects the success of Dublin and Meath and if the sequence is flawed by Munster's failure to translate Kerry's supremacy last year into a title, there is nothing unusual about that historically and tomorrow's opponents have had the field to themselves in uninterrupted duopoly over the last 16 years.

Leinster have to be favourites to record a three-in-a-row. The Railway Cup is a simple enough competition and rewards enthusiasm, efficient organisation and good coaching. Matt Kerrigan's tenure has produced all these ingredients. Personnel has changed since last year but the team work is still impressive and with the depth of talent at his disposal, Kerrigan has been able to draft in two of the best defenders of last year's championship, Offaly's Cathal Daly and Finbar Cullen, as newcomers.

The holders' centrefield pairing is formidable but in Jarlath Burns and an in-form Anthony Tohill, both Niall Buckley and John McDermott will be tested.

Ulster field an unusually inexperienced combination but will hope to have developed cohesion over the course of their replayed semi-final in which the attack delivered under pressure with the five unanswered points that nearly won the match in ordinary time. Leinster's defence looked sound for most of the semi-final in Killarney but buckled a little under the combined pressure of Munster's centrefield and halfback revival in the second half.

More worryingly for the northerners was their defence which played it a bit loose in the latter stages. Such lassitude would be disastrous against the Leinster attack which is physical enough to compete aggressively and penetrative enough, Tommy Dowd and Kevin O'Brien in particular, to cause a lot of trouble.

The deficiencies exposed by Munster's second-half revival may encourage Ulster but any sober assessment of the semi-finals says the Cup in the east.

National Football League

Section A

Mayo v Carlow, Charlestown, 2.30

This match, postponed during the Carlow rebellion, is important for both sides. Mayo are in with a real chance of reaching the play-offs while Carlow need an edge to avoid returning to Division Four.

Paddy Morrissey is an interesting choice as Carlow manager (Tipperary's progress under him last year went largely unobserved) but for tomorrow, the home team's inclusion of 13 All-Ireland finalists (allowing for the unhappy nature of that experience) stacks the deck too much against the visitors.

The GAA issued the following statement yesterday:

"Joe McDonagh, president of the GAA, expressed his shock and sadness at the tragic death of former O'Donovan Rossa and Cork footballer Mick McCarthy. McDonagh said that Mick was an outstanding exponent of the game, an exemplary sportsman who always gave 100 per cent to his club, county and indeed the GAA.

He expressed his sincere sympathy to Mick's wife Helen and to his family. Joe McDonagh will attend tomorrow's funeral."

Waterford (SH v Kilkenny): S Brenner; S Frampton, S Cullinane, M O'Sullivan; J O'Connor, F Hartley, P Queally; G Gater, T Browne; D Shanahan, K McGrath, B O'Sullivan; D McGrath, J Meaney, P Flynn.