Predicting the 12 biggest club games on a bonanza of a provincial GAA weekend

Niall McIntyre

There are 12 big provincial clashes, in hurling and football, taking place in all corners of the country this weekend.

The football takes centre stage this time around, with the Connacht and Ulster championships throwing up some eagerly anticipated clashes.

The meeting of Westport-Moycullen vies with Glen-Errigal Ciaran for top billing though, given what the Monaghan men did to Crossmaglen Rangers last weekend, the meeting of Ballybay Pearse Brothers-Kilcoo is right up there as the tie of the round too.

The added spice of the Jerome Johnston saga certainly adds to that one as well. Sunday will be a feast of football with Westport taking on Moycullen, neither club having played a Connacht senior championship club game before. Galway vs Mayo always brings out an extra edge too.

That one’s live on TG4 and it’s followed straight away by Glen vs Errigal Ciaran. Glen are fancied by quite a few to win Ulster this year – John McEntee tipped them to this writer on Wednesday – though Errigal Ciaran can’t be discounted, especially with the two Canavans, Ruairi and Darragh, in such a rich vein of form.

Elsewhere, the headline hurling clash is arguably the meeting of Shinrone and Naas on Saturday while all three Leinster clashes on Sunday are intriguing in their own right.

See our predictions below.

Saturday

Connacht club SFC quarter-final

St Kiernan’s (London) v St Mary’s Kiltoghert (Leitrim), Ruislip, 1.30

Verdict: St Mary’s Kiltoghert

Munster club SFC quarter-final

Nemo Rangers (Cork) v Clonmel Commercials (Tipperary), Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 7.15 – RTE2

Verdict: Nemo Rangers

29 November 2015; Michael Quinlivan, Clonmel Commercials, celebrates scoring the winning goal. AIB Munster GAA Senior Club Football Championship Final, Nemo Rangers v Clonmel Commercials. Mallow GAA Grounds, Mallow, Co. Cork. Picture credit: Piaras Ó Mídheach / SPORTSFILE