In Pictures: A preview of the weekend’s GAA action
By Stephen Barry
The Leinster Senior Football procession takes centre-stage this Sunday, with few doubting Dublin’s progress to another final. Kildare stand in their way, while Meath or Westmeath will make up the final pairing.
Donegal’s path to Ulster glory is also clear, although Derry will be gunning to choke their attack this Saturday. Meanwhile their vanquished opponents, Tyrone, Armagh and Down, all start along the long road back to Croker.
Here are the storylines of the weekend’s GAA action…
Please God, make it stop! With an average winning margin of 11 points during a five-year Leinster winning streak, the Dubs have handed out hammerings to all challengers and it has only gotten worse.
That’s a bad omen for Kildare, who suffered enough when they last met in 2013… 4-16 to 1-9 was the score that day.
Dublin had four different goal-scorers back then and 10 players have got in on the green-flag act in their last seven Leinster games. If they flex their muscles on Sunday, it may be another matter of ‘how much?’
22 games, 0 wins. History says Westmeath will struggle against their Meath neighbours, with Dessie Dolan’s infamous missed free in 2003 their closest call.
Despite the weight of history, Westmeath have hope. 3-14 against Louth and 1-21 against Wexford are substantial totals, plus they have yet to concede a Championship goal.
Meath haven’t showed themselves to be any great shakes, conceding 3-12 to Division 4 strugglers Wicklow. Graham Reilly has admitted the Royals are “miles off” Dublin and will face a tough test to earn further comparison.
Donegal are going for a five-in-a-row of Ulster finals and five consecutive wins against Derry. Plus they already have victories against Armagh and Tyrone behind them – something they have never achieved before in one year.
They only lost by three points last year, you know. 12 months ago Derry were League runners-up and Ulster contenders. Since then they lost to Longford in the Qualifiers and finished bottom Division 1.
Leo McLoone has scored a goal in both of their last two meetings, an example of the wide variety of threats that Donegal possess. It may be just too much for Derry’s packed defence to shut down.
Tyrone got to the All-Ireland semi-finals in 2013, despite losing their Ulster first round to Donegal. They also came through every round on their way to Sam Maguire in 2008. Some consolation so as they welcome Limerick on Sunday.
There are three other Qualifiers on Saturday: , two years after Armagh held the Aughrim-based side to 0-2; , with Down attempting to recover from their narrow Derry defeat; and , with both teams out to extend their summer.
