The best GAA weekend of the year.
The Super 8s are finally have finally arrived, the hurling is hotting up. This is the GAA bonanza we’ve been waiting all the year for.
From Croke Park to Semple Stadium to Páirc Uí Chaoimh, the three best stadiums in the country will host some cracking games.
Saturday sees the Davy Derby with Clare man Fitzgerald leading his adopted Wexford into battle against his native county. Sparks will fly Leeside.
Then on Sunday in Semple, Kilkenny and Limerick kick it all off while the Super 8s come alive in Croker with a thriller of a double header to follow.
Kildare 13/8 to beat Monaghan
The game of the weekend, without a shadow of doubt. Two of the most physical teams in the country go shoulder to shoulder in Croker’s wide open spaces.
Malachy O’Rourke’s Farney are marginal favourites but the nod is given to Cian O’Neill’s rising Kildare army. So irresistible against Fermanagh last weekend, the same opponents who dethroned Monaghan in Ulster, the Lilywhites appear to have struck the perfect balance between defence and attack in a system that mirrors Dublin’s.
They’ve beaten Mayo, they won’t fear Monaghan. They have what it takes to beat them.
Galway 3/1 to beat Kerry
If these teams were to meet three times, Galway would surely win once. Kevin Walsh’s side made a habit of defying the odds all the way to the League final when everybody was giddy to write them off every step of the way.
There’s no denying it that the Kingdom are justified favourites going into this one, but at the same time, there are still question marks hanging over their defence – porous in the League and untested in Munster.
Ian Burke and Comer inside can exploit this.
3/1 is disrespectful to the Tribesmen. We’re having it.
Roscommon 5/2 to beat Tyrone
A liquid attack against a rigid defence.
The guile of Roscommon against the structure of Tyrone. The Rossies were absolutely lethal against Armagh last weekend and though this will be a different challenge entirely, that victory will serve them well here.
Enda Smith is on fire in the middle of the field while the two Murtaghs are doing damage up top. Tyrone have recuperated admirably after that Monaghan defeat, but they still have plenty of question marks over them.
We’d give Mcstay’s men a fighting chance, more than a 5/2 shot’s chance.
Kilkenny hurlers +1 5/6 against Limerick
This one will go all the way down to the wire. The Cats will be reeling on the back of their Leinster final loss to Galway while Limerick are aiming to get back on the explosive path they set for themselves early on in Munster.
With Richie and Colin Fennelly back and expected to start, Kilkenny will be a dangerous animal. It’s their third game in as many weeks and that might be a struggle, but we reckon they’ll get some sort of result.
Donegal +7 at 5/6 against Dublin
The men from the hills were flawless in Ulster and though the loss of Paddy McBrearty is damaging, they’ve enough quality forwards to ensure that it’s not fatal. Cian Mulligan may replace him, while Langan, Brennan, Thompson and co. have all been impressing.
Dublin, meanwhile, looked vulnerable against Laois and if they’re similarly slow to start here, Bonner’s men will punish them. They should cover the +7.
It all works out at the whopping odds of 123/1. Worth one.
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