Bank Holiday Bonanza

One of the best weekends of the year looms into view as we approach the August Bank Holiday. As has become traditional at this stage, this weekend marks the All Ireland Football quarter finals slot on the calendar. 3 of the 4 quarter finals are down for decision in headquarters, and while Tyrone and Roscommon are 'only' contesting a Round 4 qualifer they fill out the 4th slot in the program over the weekend.

Saturday sees Tyrone and Roscommon open the proceedings and, when they sort out who will be playing Dublin in the last quarter final, Kildare and Donegal will meet in a fascinating battle to decide the first semi finalist of 2011.

Sunday sees the Munster contingent descending on Croke Park, with Kerry and Limerick renewing rivalries before Cork take on Connacht Champions Mayo in the final game of the weekend.

I'm heading for Croker on Saturday, all going well, and I'm looking forward to two interesting tussles.

Last weekend I went 4-2, and paid the price for trusting Galway hurlers and Wexford footballers. Overall I'm 33-10 at this stage, which is okay, but not great. Let's see how this weekend goes.

Again, for all the betting news, take a look at Starbets.ie

All Ireland Senior Football, Round 4 Qualifier

Saturday July 30th.

Tyrone v Roscommon.  4pm. Croke Park (Ref. Maurice Deegan)

Tyrone were comfortable enough in their disposal of Armagh in the delayed 3rd round tie played at Omagh last weekend, notwithstanding a penalty miss by Armagh, and will be favoured heavily to take care of Roscommon in the Round 4 game. Victory here would set up Tyrone for a mouth watering tie with Dublin in the quarter final, but they need to be mindful of counting chickens before they hatch.

Roscommon are no bad side and, while on all indications they shouldn't beat Tyrone, they will be hell bent on giving the Red Hands their bellyful of it. Donal Shine and Senan Kilbride are two good forwards (if Kilbride recovers from a knock) while Cathal Cregg gives them good support. The midfield is big and if it becomes a battle of the air then Roscommon will be fine.

The problem may be that Tyrone tend to do very well against 'orthodox' teams, and Roscommon are in that bracket. you wouldn't be shocked to see Joe McMahon quieten Shine, and Ricey or Gormley to do a number on Kilbride. If that happens, Tyrone have the forwards to win this game, and with Peter Harte in the form of his life the new Tyrone seem to be developing nicely.

Verdict. Tyrone by 6.

All Ireland Senior Football Quarter Finals

Saturday July 30th.

Donegal v Kildare. 6 pm. Croke Park (Ref. David Coldrick)

This is a really intriguing battle as two of the best young managers in football come head to head. Kildare are fuelled by immense belief in themselves, and a belief in their preparation and conditioning. Donegal seem to have completely bought into Jimmy McGuinness' tactical approach of swarm defense and swift counter attack. Derry played into Donegal's hands in the Ulster Final, while Kildare struggled a little bit against a massed Dublin defense in the Leinster Semi Final, once Eoghan O'Gara went off.

Kildare have a couple of options they could try in this situation, from Tomás O'Connor as a target man on the edge of the square a lá versus Laois, to using their physique to try and burst past the defensive wall, to kicking long range points such as those that we've seen from Callaghan, Doyle, Kavanagh, Bolton and others.

Donegal will be determined to hold their ground, protect against goals being scored, and hitting Kildare on the break. That's easier said than though, however, and I think Mick Foley and Hugh McCrillen may be extremely important in this game.

On the basis that this Donegal team may not have the same experience of Croke Park, and that Kildare have enough options to find some success, I'l go for the Lilywhites to advance, just.
Verdict. Kildare by 2

Sunday July 31st

Kerry v Limerick. 2pm. Croke Park. (Ref. Pat McEneaney)

Sunday's opening game in Croke Park is a rematch of an early Munster Championship tie, where the Kingdom ran riot against a Limerick team struggling to come to terms with the loss of John Galvin. Bossed around in the middle of the field, Limerick simply couldn't cope with the movement and pace of the Kerry attack and while they managed 3 goals of their own, it couldn't gloss over an absolute tanking on the day.

However Limerick, to their eternal credit, have refused to curl up and go away. They bounced back against Offaly, saw off Waterford and then had a great comeback win over Wexford to book their tickets for Croke Park and this opportunity for Revenge.

Kerry people will tell you they're wary of Limerick, but they are not really. They'll expect at least an 8-10 point win on Sunday, but that may not transpire. Stephen Lucey is back in harness, and he may well be the man to put the clamps on Kieran Donaghy. Stephen Lavin may pick up Gooch, and Limerick will try to mitigate the damage that Kerry can do by competing better out the field. Stephen Kelly is in great form, and Ian Ryan and Ger Collins are in scoring fettle, so Limerick are probably in a better place than they were in the first encounter.

You cannot get away from the fact, though, that Kerry have an unbelievable forward line, and with Paul Galvin back and Tomás O'Sé coming into the half back line as well, they've just become a lot stronger in the middle third as well. Declan O'Sullivan has been flying, and he may well be the forward that Limerick can't legislate for. If the early ball in is not working, O'Sullivan is adept at carrying and laying off or scoring himself. Darren O'Sullivan has pace to burn, and it's hard to see Limerick getting enough scores to outscore these forwards.

I don't think it will be as bad, or as low key, as the game in early summer but I think Kerry will be comfortable winners
.
Verdict. Kerry by 7.

Cork v Mayo. Croke Park. 4.00 pm (Ref. Rory Hickey).

Of all the provincial champions, Mayo seem to be the ones most written off by media and spectators alike. Donegal are given a good chance against Kildare, Dublin will probably be favourites against Roscommon or Tyrone, while Kerry are, well, Kerry. Mayo though seem to suffer from the fact that two of their wins came in conditions more suited to the Oxford Cambridge Boat Race, and from the fact that, bluntly, they come from Connacht.

Leinster teams do not have a vastly superior record, compared to Connacht, yet teams like Dublin, Kildare, Meath, Laois etc always seem to be 'fancied' or tipped to do well, regardless of past indicators. Connacht teams, meanwhile, seem to have to scale great peaks to be thought about in the same terms. Mayo probably have contributed to that themselves as they lurch from the sublime (Tyrone, Dublin) to the ridiculous (Kerry x 2, London) in terms of performance.

There are footballers west of the Shannon though, and Mayo own a fair few of them. They won't be in awe of Croke Park, and probably won't be fazed by the thoughts of playing Cork. Cork are not Kerry after all. Cillian O'Connor may be the answer to their free taking dilemma, while Andy Moran and Alan Dillon will get through a power of work, and if the likes of Freeman can chip in with a few scores, then that'll see them well on their way to an upset.

A lot will depend, as always against Cork, on how the middle of the field goes. And in this area it is hard to see how the Mayo men will match up. The O'Shea brothers were grand against Galway, but Seamus dropped his level against the Rossies, and unless they both (and probably Ronan McGarritty) play the game of their lives it's hard to see them breaking even or better out there.

That being the case, lads like Paddy Kelly, Paul Kerrigan and Donnacha O'Connor have been making light of the big absences in the forward line. Kelly and Kerrigan are fliers while O'Connor has matured into a clinical and deadly finisher. If it is a thing that Mayo can take O'Connor out of the game, and find pace to stick with Kelly and Kerrigan, then they'll have a great chance. The rest of the Cork forwards are unlikely to go off on you, so that has to be plan A for Mayo.

All that being said, I cannot see a situation, other than the one Cork managed to contrive against themselves in Killarney, where the Rebels are not dominant in the middle of the field, and that leads me to predict a comfortable Cork win.
Verdict. Cork by 5.