Today’s Previews
CONNACHT SFC
London v Sligo, Ruislip, 3.30 Referee: B Cassidy (Derry) London manager Ciarán Deely claimed this week that this represents the best prepared London team to ever play in the Connacht Championship
Given his professional background – the Wexford sports science graduate works full-time with QPR’s academy – there is no reason to doubt that assertion, while last month’s visit to the London camp by Harry Redknapp shows he is not shy in using his contacts in the professional game.
And London are coming off their highest ever finish in the Allianz League – they finished fourth in the bottom tier – but that position owed as much to circumstances as form. They won just one game – against Wicklow – and received a walkover from Leitrim.
The reality, though, is that they were playing at a lower level to a Sligo team who had a close season underscored with simmering discontent. Niall Carew walked away after hearing of dressing room unhappiness at his reappointment for a fourth term, but the Yeats men found their feet quickly enough under Cathal Corey to retain their Division 3 status.
They are a team backboned by experience – Ross Donovan, Charlie Harrison and Adrian Marren are survivors from that the 2007 Connacht Championship winning team – but, more importantly, they will use the defeat they suffered on their last visit here in 2013 as a motivational tool.
It is hard to see that happening again.
Verdict: Sligo
New York v Leitrim, Gaelic Park, 2.15
Ref: D O’Mahoney (Tipperary) This marks the 20th anniversary of New York’s entrance into the Connacht Championship and also the Exiles’ best opportunity for a first win.
The market knows that, too – the home team are 11/8 to win which is the first time in the history of this fixture that New York have effectively been given a 50/50 chance of gaining a much sought after victory.
They have come close in the past, famously taking Leitrim to extra-time in 2003, while two years ago they came within a point of Roscommon.
And Leitrim will always represent the best chance of a home-grown scalp for the men from the Big Apple, not least after coming off an Allianz League campaign in which they played just five games
Still that is the kind of preparation New York manager Justin O’Halloran can only dream about – their only game in the build-up was a less than intense challenge last month against Corofin – and lack of match practice has been their downfall in the past. In their two visits since that 2003 scare, Leitrim have defied their alleged vulnerability to win this fixture by an aggregate of 31 points.
But if New York can hit one of their hot days, the class of Jamie Clarke will push Leitrim hard, but just not hard enough.
Verdict: Leitrim
JOE McDONAGH CUP SH
Carlow v Kerry Netwatch Cullen Park
Referee: J Heffernan (Wexford) Carlow only conceded three goals in their Allianz League Division 2A campaign, the lowest of the group. Kerry are key to the relegation process from the Liam MacCarthy Cup, so plenty of eyes will be on their progress.
Verdict: Carlow