WEEKEND CLUB GAA PREVIEWS
TOMORROW CONNACHT CLUB SFC FINAL Ballintubber (Mayo) v Corofin (Galway) MacHale Park, 2.00
In one sense, the odds — Ballintubber are 5/1 outsiders — do not tally with reality given that when it comes to Galway and Mayo there is usually little to choose. That was also the case last year when Castlebar pushed Corofin hard in the Connacht final, and even managed to beat them three years ago. Safe to say, if it was Castlebar who reached the final, the market would take a different view but Ballintubber have proved time and again in winning four Mayo titles this decade that they are more than Mitchels’ equals. They also have arguably the club game’s most in-form player in Diarmuid O’Connor, and they will bring the kind of defensive structure that will ask hard questions of the champions. But with the Burkes, Ian and Daithi — both of whom missed the semi-final mauling of Clann na nGael — they look good to win an incredible fourth provincial title in five years.
Verdict ................................................ Corofin MUNSTER CLUB SFC FINAL Miltown-Malbay (Clare) v Dr Crokes (Kerry) Gaelic Grounds, 1.30 There was no doubt about the chill that went down Miltown-Malbay spines when they heard the result from the other semi-final as Dr Crokes savaged Cork champions St Finbarr’s by 21 points. Tradition and form is on the Kerry team’s side — this is their seventh provincial final appearance this decade and they are hunting down a fifth title — while their strength in depth is underlined by the fact that Colm Cooper is an impact sub, but one still with an eye for the posts. Miltown-Malbay manager Michael Neylon hailed the Kerry champions as a ‘juggernaut’ but his charges can’t afford to get caught in the headlights or this will turn very ugly. In Eoin Cleary, their
deadly fast and accurate centre-forward, they have one player who would walk onto the Crokes team, but there is not enough in one individual’s menace to faze the Killarney men.
Verdict ........................................... Dr Crokes LEINSTER CLUB SFC SEMI-FINALS Mullinalaghta (Longford) v Éire Óg (Carlow) Pearse Park, 1.30 This has the potential to be a red letter day for Longford football as Mullinalaghta seek to become the first club from the county to reach the Leinster final. And it says much about the strides they have taken under Mickey Graham that if they deliver it will not be seen as a surprise. Their defeat of a fancied Rhode team — albeit the latter played with 14 men for the majority of the game — reminded that they have both the resilience and the quality to contend at this level, with the likes of Shane Mulligan, and the McGivneys, David and James, driving them on. Éire Óg have a proud history as five-time winners, but Carlow club football has slipped a long way back since they won the last of those in 1998. Their win over Newtown Blues represented the first win by a Carlow club in 10 years and turning that into two back-to-back victories looks like far too big an ask.
Verdict ..................................... Mullinalaghta Kilmacud Crokes (Dublin) v Portlaoise (Laois) Parnell Park, 2.00 It is a measure of Dublin’s dominance that should Crokes lose this, it will be the first time in 32 years that the capital would not have a representative in backto-back finals. The chances are this won’t be the case. Even in the absence of Cian O’Sullivan, they cruised to a 16-point win over Dunboyne last time out, which was hardly a surprise given the sensational scoring form of Paul Mannion, who struck for 2-6. But they will get nothing easy here against a Portlaoise side who are seeking to reach the final for the fourth time this decade and have firepower of their own in the boots of Paul Cahillane. Still, history and form suggests that this will be Kilmacud’s day.
Verdict ............................... Kilmacud Crokes