This is the weekend we’ve all been waiting for.
There’s an absolute bonanza of GAA games taking place this weekend. The ever reliable Munster championship boils down to two games on Sunday. Seven football counties will see their seasons ended by Saturday evening, and there are also a host of other ferociously contested games, including the clash of Laois and Carlow in Croke Park, which could be the start of a rivalry for the ages.
This is peak summer championship GAA and the action is coming thick and fast from all corners of the country. A few euro on a long shot accumulator is always a good way to ramp up the excitement for a GAA weekend like this one and we’ve made your job an awful lot easier by chalking down our selections for the weekend.
What we’ve come out with is a 103/1 seven-fold accumulator via Paddy Power’s odds. You can thank us on Sunday night.
Wexford +4 against Kilkenny @ 5/6
Wexford’s loss to Galway last weekend was undoubtedly the most disappointing performance since Davy Fitzgerald ventured down to the sunny south east last year.
He won’t stand for that, Wexford won’t stand for that and if there’s any man to spark a reaction from his troops it’s the Clare man.
Kilkenny won the league game between the pair en route to the league title this year, but that broke a streak where Wexford had clinched four wins in a row over them.
Overlooking Wexfordhttps://t.co/J0YkQVCQsh
— GAA JOE (@GAA__JOE) June 7, 2018
Wexford’s odds of 11/4 to win this one, albeit away from home in Nowlan Park, are insulting. The +4 handicap is enticing.
Clare +2 against Tipperary @ 10/11
Tipperary have stuttered their way through an underwhelming campaign so far and they couldn’t possibly be coming into this game in a more vulnerable position. Their whole back line is in disarray, their forwards haven’t fired.
Clare are as well placed as they’ve ever been to emerge from the post 2013 All-Ireland slump that has lasted way longer than it should have. One thing’s for sure and that’s that the Semple Stadium showpiece will be watertight. Clare’s handicap is the value bet.
Down +4 against Donegal @ evens
Down are a championship side. They showed that last year when they defeated Monaghan against all the odds. Donegal play decent, free-flowing football but they are as a result, often weak at the back.
There is a kick in the Mourne men and the +4 handicap is an insult to Connaire Harrison and co.
Tyrone -3 against Meath @5/6
Meath were a shambles against Longford. They’ve shown nothing to suggest that their slump in the League and indeed, slump of the last few years is about to be reversed here.
Tyrone disappointed against Monaghan but Mickey Harte will be absolutely desperate to get the ball rolling for their campaign here.
London 6/4 to beat Louth
Colm Parkinson, Stevie McDonnell and Conan Doherty all tipped the exiles to topple a down in the dumps wee county this weekend. Their reasoning being that Louth’s poor run of form will be extremely hard to reverse, especially in a hostile Ruislip atmosphere.
“I think that might be a step too far,” said Colm Parkinson.
“The year that Louth have had, I’m going to go for London,” said McDonnell.
“Me too,” said Doherty. “Morale is just too bad and that’s very hard to reverse,” he added.
Waterford +2 against Limerick evens
For some reason, the bookies love to write off this Waterford team. Last weekend against Tipperary, they were priced at the sky high odds of 6/1 prior to throw in. The handicap was eight points in most places and after 52 minutes they were 19 points the other side of that handicap.
Only for a systems fault in the Gaelic Grounds they would have overcame the odds there. Here, they’re up against an impressive Limerick outfit.
That’ll prove another test entirely but with last year’s All-Ireland finalists needing a result so as not to be knocked out of the championship, expect this one to be tighter than many expect.
Laois 8/13 against Carlow
The Croke Park showpiece promises to be a cracker. Neighbouring counties, the rivalry is fierce here. Indeed, the closest town to many of Laois’ players from the south of the county, is Carlow. This is a grudge clash and there’s a lot riding on it.
Carlow are rising but in a game that will see two similar styles face off, Laois’ superior attacking unit, with the twin threat of Donie and Paul Kingston, the nous of Ross Munnelly and the power of Evan O’Carroll should shade it.
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