National Football League Previews

IAN O'RIORDANpreviews this weekend's NFL games

DIVISION ONE

Today

(all 7.30pm unless stated)

Cork v Dublin, Páirc Uí Rinn: It’s getting harder all the time for Pat Gilroy to play down the significance of Dublin’s league form. First they beat Kerry in Killarney for the first time in 28 years. They handled Derry easily enough, and then they beat Mayo in Castlebar for the first time in 18 years. Last Saturday they wore down Monaghan, and now Gilroy’s team stand top of the Division One.

Tonight the challenge is to beat Cork on their own turf in the league for the first time since 1981 (Dublin did beat them in the All-Ireland semi-final replay in Cork in 1983). Already safe from relegation, another Dublin victory would leave them on the doorstep of a league final, and that’s the sort of early season consistency Dublin football has been lacking for much of the last decade.

While still coming to terms with the loss of captain Paul Griffin for the rest of the season with a torn cruciate, Gilroy has made three changes, starting the St Vincent’s pair of Paul Conlon and Hugh Gill in defence, with Michael Savage deputising in goals for Stephen Cluxton.

Cork have conceded an average of 2-12 per game, including 3-9 in their first loss to Tyrone last weekend. Nicholas Murphy is named at centre forward, while Ger Spillane and Eoin Cadogan come into the defence, and despite Dublin’s fine early season form, Cork still look the little more robust, to keep intact their winning record on home turf.

Sunday

(All games 2.30 unless stated)

Galway v Tyrone, Pearse Stadium: As Galway manager Joe Kernan said during the week, you just can’t plan for injuries. The loss of his two star attackers Seán Armstrong (who pulled a hamstring against Cork two weeks ago) and then Michael Meehan (who sustained a small tear to his medial knee ligament against Kerry last Sunday) has left an unmistakable void in his forward line, and it won’t easily be filled.

Tyrone travel west with their tails up again having recorded a first win of the campaign over Cork last Saturday night. Still no sign of Seán Cavanagh in the starting line-up, but Mickey Harte has re-jigged things again, with John Devine back in goal, Ciarán Gourley back in defence, and Joe McMahon back from suspension. Colm McCullagh gets his first start this season and with Owen Mulligan unavailable, his place at corner forward goes to league debutant Jason McAnulla.

Galway’s solitary win to date, over Monaghan, already seems like a long time ago, and it’s hard to see how they’ll get past Tyrone without either Armstrong or Meehan – particularly as their game collapsed against Derry last Sunday once Meehan left the field injured. Kernan has called for more fight, and while he might get that, he’s unlikely to get the result.

Kerry v Mayo, Tralee: Last weekend Jack O’Connor described the process of rejigging his team after so many retirements, defections and so on as “fun”. The way they went about beating Galway last Sunday certainly looked like fun. Colm “Gooch” Cooper, Declan O’Sullivan, and substitute Bryan Sheehan suggested there is still ample talent in this Kerry team to retain their All-Ireland title.

The second half in particular was one-way traffic, and while that was as much to do with Galway’s ineptitude, Kerry are definitely moving in the right direction. Newcomers like David O’Callaghan, Adrian O’Connell and Anthony Maher are fast looking the part. No wonder O’Connor describes the process as fun.

Mayo at least got back to winning ways against Derry last Saturday night, after some horrendous shooting against Dublin the week before. Their performance was also far more convincing that their 2-12 to 1-12 scoreline and, with seven different players contributing a score, manager John O’Mahony can be reasonably optimistic about the trip to Tralee. It’s just with Cooper, O’Sullivan and Kieran Donaghy still showing an insatiable hunger for the game, Kerry are the ones likely to keep moving up the table.

Monaghan v Derry, Scotstown: Monaghan may have had their chances to beat Dublin last weekend but that doesn’t alter the importance of this meeting with Derry. Another defeat for Séamus McEnaney’s men would leave them hanging off the bottom of Division One, with two tough assignments against Mayo and Kerry to come.

Likewise, Derry’s home defeat to Mayo last Saturday has brought the pressure on to Damien Cassidy, who also boasts the one solitary win, over Tyrone, back in the opening round.

Monaghan had plenty of possession against Dublin the last day, but rarely used it to full advantage. There is probably more scoring potential in Derry and if they put all that to good use tomorrow afternoon they can add to Monaghan’s woes.

DIVISION TWO

Today

(all 7.30pm unless stated)

Down v Armagh, Newry: More than simply a top of the table clash, or indeed a simple case of good old neighbourly rivalry here, as there’s an added sub-plot. This is the game that marks Paddy O’Rourke’s first return to the Down grounds since taking over as Armagh manager – and no doubt the 1991 Down All-Ireland winning captain will get an interesting reception.

Plus O’Rourke comes up against former Down team-mate James McCartan, who has settled extremely well into his position as Down manager, winning three and drawing one of his four games to date. It’s still a little early to say these are the two teams most likely to be promoted, but whoever wins tonight will be primed for Division One.

O’Rourke has named an unchanged team which comfortably beat Kildare last weekend, with seven points to spare, and there’s no doubt he has restored confidence in the Armagh camp.

Down had a two-point win away to Donegal last weekend, where once again Martin Clarke proved just how important his return from Australian Rules is to their overall prospects this year. It’s bound to be tight, but with home advantage Down should just sneak it.

Meath v Laois, Páirc Tailteann: Just when it seemed Meath were establishing some consistency they went down to Thurles last Sunday and lost to Tipperary. That’s not quite the shock result it would have been two or three years ago, given Tipperary’s huge progress within that period, but it was definitely a setback to Meath’s ambitions for promotion.

Laois, in contrast, had one of their better wins of the campaign under Seán Dempsey to date, comfortably beating bottom-placed Westmeath, with MJ Tierney hitting 0-13 of their 0-24 total – which is excellent scoring at any time of the year. With both teams on four points there’s a lot at stake here, as the winners can still press for promotion, while the losers will be in danger of the drop.

In fairness Meath did miss at least two clear-cut goal chances against Tipperary, so manager Eamonn O’Brien won’t be hitting the panic buttons just yet. Meath remain a formidable challenge on home turf and with that should take the points.

Tipperary v Donegal, Thurles: These are happy days for the Tipperary footballers. They were given a standing ovation in Semple Stadium last Sunday after their win over Meath and, on Thursday night, the under-21 footballers booked their place in a fourth successive Munster under-21 football final.

They may not yet survive in Division Two, but they’re certainly not going down without a fight. John Evans has instilled a real winning attitude into the Tipperary players, although that may not be enough to see them get past Donegal.

Sunday

Kildare v Westmeath, Newbridge: From day one of his appointment as new Westmeath manager, Brendan Hackett said the season would be all about rebuilding. Still, he hardly anticipated it to be as painful an experience as this. Tomorrow, he heads to Newbridge still seeking his first win of the campaign, and unless they come up with something very special, it’s unlikely they’ll pull it off.