This weekends predictions

future_plans

Disappointing enough start yesterday I thought.

Predictions for this weekend? Should be a couple of close encounters.

18 May 2008 Kildare v Wicklow Croke Park
18 May 2008 Carlow v Meath Croke Park
18 May 2008 Antrim v Cavan Casement Park
18 May 2008 Galway v Roscommon Pearse Stadium

Can't see any upsets. Wicklow's league form was abmismal. Kildare's form was far better against much stronger opponents. Meath should easily beat Carlow.

Antrim Cavan could be interesting and can't see Roscommon troubling Galway.

aidan24326

Kildare v Wicklow- should be Kildare. Even though they weren't up to much in the league, I'd expect them to have enough to get past Wicklow, who haven't really progressed. Kildare by about 6 I reckon.

Meath v Carlow- Meath easily. Carlow are one of the poorest teams around and if Meath are going to do anything this Summer they should be making short work of Carlow, even allowing for injury problems. Meath by 10 or more.

Antrim v Cavan- Cavan were the worst team in divison 2 and while they might beat Antrim on Sunday, that's almost certainly as far as they'll go. In Casement, if Antrim are up for this they could pull off what would only be a minor surprise at this stage. Cavan to scrape home but this is really a battle of the two weakest teams in the province.

Galway v Roscommon- Roscommon often tend to up their game against Galway, so there shouldn't be any complacency from the Galway team. On top of that, Ros aren't as bad as some of their league form would suggest and with a new manager and a fresh start, they might just be up for this.

But in spite of me trying to talk them up, there is still a significant gap in class between the teams and if Galway play anywhere near their best there can really only be one result.

The margin is hard to predict though. It depends what sort of Roscommon team show up, if they continue where they left off in the league Galway could well hammer them. I don't know how much the new manager has got them back on track or what the vibe is like in the camp, so the percentage call would be Galway by 6 or 7.

Pride Fighter

Antrim v Cavan = Cavan by 3 points
Seanie Johnston is the reason why
Meath v Carlow = Meath by 8 points
Carlow have improved a little this year and wont be trashed by more than 10 points IMO
Galway v Roscommon = Galway by 8 points
Michael Meehan, Padraig Joyce, the team is full of class, an outside bet for an AI
Kildare v Wicklow = Kildare by 4 points
Wicklow will give them a tough game but Kildare will have too much in all areas and should narrowly win

kerry4sam

future_plans wrote: »

Disappointing enough start yesterday I thought.
Predictions for this weekend? Should be a couple of close encounters.
18 May 2008 Kildare v Wicklow Croke Park
18 May 2008 Carlow v Meath Croke Park
18 May 2008 Antrim v Cavan Casement Park
18 May 2008 Galway v Roscommon Pearse Stadium

In the Football Championship thread i'm going for:

18 May 2008 Kildare v Wicklow Croke Park - Kildare 6points
18 May 2008 Carlow v Meath Croke Park - Meath 4points
18 May 2008 Antrim v Cavan Casement Park - Antrim 4points
18 May 2008 Galway v Roscommon Pearse Stadium - Galway 9points

rumplestiltskin

i think that roscommon can run galway close this sunday.they have nothing to lose and will be very fired up. also dont expect meath to hockey carlow

aidan24326

rumplestiltskin wrote: »

i think that roscommon can run galway close this sunday.they have nothing to lose and will be very fired up. also dont expect meath to hockey carlow

I agree with you that Roscommon might, just might put it up to Galway. They've been known to do it before and are dangerous to write off.

But even without the suspended players Meath will be too strong for Carlow.

blackbelt

I think Wicklow and Kildare will be a close match.Remember 2005?

I just have this sneaky suspicion that Kildare will make hard work of it and there will only be 2 points in it.Don't let Wicklows league form write them off as whipping boys.These two teams are known to be a complete different proposition in the championship.

Meath to win by 5 points.Moving Geraghty back to the full backs is a radical change and the 5 players missing will weaken Meath but Carlow unfortunately are no great shakes and I wouldn't be expecting them to pull an upset at this stage even with Meaths problems.

Galway v Roscommon should be closer than a lot of people think but Galway should come out reasonably comfortable.

Antrim v Cavan...I'd go with Cavan marginally.If Cavan are to win,they'll win by 2 points.It will be close.Two average teams.Cavan will probably rely on Johnston too much.

foreverchanges

Kildare v Wicklow : Kildare by four, but have to pick up the form after a shocking league campain.

Carlow v Meath: The royals to come through by five after getting a good run for 45-50 minutes by Carlow

Antrim v Cavan: Cavan by three, the Breffini men should have just enought

Galway v Ross: Galway by two. Going on all form and tradition the herring chokers should win easy, but Ross will be going all out to show that they're not as bad as the league showed

kevmy

18 May 2008 Kildare v Wicklow Croke Park - Kildare 5points
Kildare were unlucky in a way playing in a league ahead of themselves a year or two ahead of where they are. However they are ones of those teams who won't make things easy for themselves. They'll be more than 5 points better but it won't show
18 May 2008 Carlow v Meath Croke Park - Meath 6points
Meath to pull away in the last 20 mins. Still I think Meath were a little lucky last year and the squad isn't that deep. They're lucky it's only Carlow

18 May 2008 Antrim v Cavan Casement Park - Cavan 2points
Tight Ulster game here. Cavan to be on the right side of it but no beautiful football

18 May 2008 Galway v Roscommon Pearse Stadium - Galway 5points
Ros to come out blaring, Galway to get on top and be coasting with 10 mins left when a mini revival by Ros will put some respectability on it.

patmac

18 May 2008 Kildare v Wicklow Croke Park - Kildare 3points
Going to be tighter than people think it will be interesting to see if Micko's team has improved any, but Kildare should win.

18 May 2008 Carlow v Meath Croke Park - Meath 3points
Carlow had a good O'Byrne cup but poor league Meath will be unfamiliar but should squeak through
18 May 2008 Antrim v Cavan Casement Park - Cavan 2points
Both had desparate league campaigns but Antrims collapse may have a big effect on them so Cavan to win

18 May 2008 Galway v Roscommon Pearse Stadium - Roscommon 1point!
The Rossies will be a different side to the one as RTE report:
Roscommon manager Michael Ryan will hand Championship debuts to three players when his side take on Galway in Sunday's Connacht Football Championship clash.

Mark O'Carroll, Conor Devanney and Senan Kilbride will all make their Championship bow for their county.

John Rogers and Jonathan Dunning return to SFC action after an absence of two years, while Seamie O'Neill regains his midfield position after missing a number of National League games.

A number of players who played in the league, including David O'Gara, Stuart Daly and Enda Kenny are carrying minor injuries and are included among the substitutes.

Roscommon team: G Claffey; P O'Connor, A McDermott, S McDermott; J Rogers, M O'Carroll, D Hoey; S O'Neill, K Mannion; C Devaney; G Cox, C Cregg; S Kilbride, J Dunning, G Henaghan.

Rumours circulating that the team that lines out might be different as well. That coupled with Galway's inability to raise their game against so called weaker sides Sligo last year and Westmeath in 2006 this could be a lot closer than people think.

Flukey

I won't give scores, but it has to be Kildare, Meath, probably Cavan and finally Galway. I was there for the club finals, but Sunday marks the first of my Championship visits to Croke Park this year. Lots to look forward to.:)

TirEoghain

I reckon I'll be there on Sunday myself to begin my Championship appearances at Croker.

GAAman

Kildare v Wicklow- I reckon kildare might scrape it by a few points 3 max

Meath v Carlow- Meath for this one i reckon 5 in it between them by final whistle

Antrim v Cavan- Cavan should take this one but i can see it goin either way tbh

Galway v Roscommon- Galway should wrap this one up in the last 10 mins though there does be a rivalry between these two so i dont see roscommon lyin down for them

Oh and if i am wrong about any of this its the teams fault

pd101

I'll go with a draw between Kildare and Wicklow (maybe) and I can see Antrim beating Cavan but it will be a close game.

Cant see anything other than Galway and Meath wins in the other matches.

aidan24326

foreverchanges wrote: »

Galway v Ross: Galway by two. Going on all form and tradition the herring chokers should win easy, but Ross will be going all out to show that they're not as bad as the league showed

Herring chokers? That's a new one!

Only saw the Roscommon lineup today and it's potentially a stronger team than they had in the league. The midfield pairing of O'Neill and Mannion is a match for anyone and both are better than anything we have now that Bergin is crocked. I fancied Galway to win this comfortably until I saw the two team lineups. Sammon has picked a team on league form but it means a few of our better forwards sitting on the bench, Nicky Joyce and Sean Armstrong among them. I still think Galway will win but if Ros are really up for this (and they invariably are against Galway) it could be tricky.

Dapos

Predictions for the match..... PAIN!

Sorry had to say it.

Kildare, Meath, Cavan & galway to win.

Mushy

I think if the Wicklow-Kildare match is close,I think Wicklow may edge it, ever so slightly. With McGeany being an inexperienced manager come Championship season, I can see that possibly going against Kildare, if its close. If Kildare get a few points up though,then they should handily enough:(

rossie1977

last time out in the championship 2 years ago roscommon held galway scoreless until the 38th minute of the first half, they were running rings around galway and really should have been leading by alot more than 6-1 at half time

i have never seen a roscommon team so devoid of confidence and character as the one that performed in this years league, it was nothing short of disgraceful in some matches

surely only one result on sunday though

galway won't get anywhere near winning an AI imo

aidan24326

rossie1977 wrote: »

galway won't get anywhere near winning an AI imo

We don't expect to though. A semi final appearance would be improvement on the Forde years. Christ even just to get back to Croke Park would be an improvement at this stage, even for a 1/4 final.

The team that Sammon has picked for Sunday would be lucky to win Connaught never mind an All-Ireland, and believe me if Ros are back in any sort of shape they have nothing to fear from this Galway team, Joyce and Meehan aside obviously.

corigi

Well as a wicklow man myself im hoping we can push Kildare close not going to be easy but with us having a few senior players returning from injury and hopefully a dry day for our smaller faster players to exploit the space in croke park with a bit luck during the game we can do it!

blackbelt

I was thinking during the week that the Kildare-Wicklow match might provide Kildare with a bit of a scare.I am less convinced that this will be the case.Wicklow are missing Tommy Gill and thats a huge void in the team.John Doyle is lining out for Kildare which may add to Wicklows woes.If they can contain him,Wicklow should be in a tight game at least.

On the Connaught match,I'd expect Galway to win comfortably.Their forwards are just awesome.Problem with Galway is that the last two years their forwards haven't played to their capability which they seem to have been doing in the league.

wixfjord

I would expect all three favourites to win in Connacht and Leinster today but wouldnt it be great to see a scare. On antrim cavan, I think antrim might push very close cavan have two stars but are ordinary if they can be nullified.

tenandtracer

Cavan- Antrim draw (7-1) is worth a decent flutter, imho

CHD

Wicklow by two points

dcr22B

Come on Wicklow, they're playing really well and it looks like Kildare are clueless but they'll possibly have a grandstand finish like they did in the first half.

CHD

Up the Garden County!!

Dapos

Fair play to Wicklow. Great win. Kildare were pretty poor.

gcgirl

C'Mon the Wicklow Brill match!!!

Jackz

:eek: we wined against kildare.

pd101

:D:D:D:D

Well done Wicklow, great match. Roll on Laois.

GaelGirl

Cill Mhantain abú

Great win for Wicklow! Bring on Laois

smashey

Jaysus, so many Wicklow people.

GAAman

I was wearing my university teams jersey today, its dark blue and yellow. Was in subway gettin a munch before the bus and this oul-lad in a kildare jacket starts talking to me about the match, seemed surprised by my accent and then took a closer look at the jersey

Mushy

Ok, after more than a skinful celebrating(if ya look at the Leeds soccer thread haha), this is becoming habit! Absolutely delighted right now, even hours later. Its prob hitting me more now than earlier. Wicklow played the much better football, Kildare were absolutely clueless, and was shown in their subs, after bout 10mins max in the second half.

Another good thing was the ref was fair, all decisions balanced themselves out, the Kildare lad had to go, two fouls then the elbow to the face, bit of a ban there.

Wont be able to attend next match cos I'm in Holland, but there'll be texts flying around then alright. And God only knows what'll happen if Wicklow win haha:D. Delighted to see this for a change, much better team, played the football that deserved to win.

Oh, and journalists, I really want ya to ear your words after today, cos ya all look like fools now haha! All after many a skinful by me ha!

corigi

Well we finally done it.Kildare were poor but we never really gave them a chance to get into the game and for once we actually got a fair ref,i think the ref and a great game tried to let the game flow as much as possible bring on laois!Well done lads

baztard

What a f*cking shocking performance by Kildare. I can't believe how low they have gone. They had no organisation and no spirit. Wicklow won 90% of the kickouts from both sides, and still the Kildare keeper was pumping the high balls into the middle for them to be lost. What was the story with all the punching also, Kildare never tried to catch a high ball, only punch it. They were second to every loose ball aswell, two steps behind their wicklow marker every time. Smith, Doyle and Callaghan were good, but the rest of the team looked like they just didn't want to be there. Fair play to Wicklow for winning, but their performance at times was terrible also. What a f*cking joke of a game.

baztard

corigi wrote: »

I think the ref and a great game tried to let the game flow as much as possible...

Were you watching the same game!? The ref was awful, it seemed like he was just blowing the whistle at random. You could see by the players reactions at times, that they were beffled as to why a foul was called. He had a terrible game, there was no flow to it at all. Hw was dead on with the sending off though, chalkys elbow was way too high.

pd101

The ref had made a few dodgy decisions alright, but he was an awful lot better than the ones we got against Louth last year. It was a good performance from the team but there were a lot of stray passes and we missed a few easy chances and frees. If we can improve on these we can really put it up to Laois in two weeks.

I thought the next match was in Carlow but I've heard a few people say its in Tullamore. Does any one know?

corigi

according to the leinster council its in dr cullen park on may31st

cruiserweight

corigi wrote: »

according to the leinster council its in dr cullen park on may31st

The Wexford Meath game is in Carlow on the 1st, I thought there might have been a double header but I guess they are expecting decent crowds for bothe games

corigi

yes i had heard talk of them swiching it to the 1st doesnt seem to be going ahead.

Mushy

Yeah, next match in Carlow. I first heard Tullamore after the match, but not to be.

Anyone hear read the Independent? Whats with the lack of acknowlegment for the ful back line? Not even mentioned, and even then Dalton and McLoughlin didnt get praised either. I really thought a defender would be MOTM yesterday, they kept a lot out from the goal area...really great to see. Stafford was also overly-glorified, he did nothing for a big patch in the second half, and his distribution at times was awful to put it mildly.

As for the forwards, a bit less indecision there, and it could be a very close game against Laois. They need to take their own chances too!

ports best

it wont be close against laois so dream on, ye were lucky yesterday and we will prove that to ye in 2 weeks time

blackbelt

baztard wrote: »

What a f*cking shocking performance by Kildare. I can't believe how low they have gone. They had no organisation and no spirit. Wicklow won 90% of the kickouts from both sides, and still the Kildare keeper was pumping the high balls into the middle for them to be lost. What was the story with all the punching also, Kildare never tried to catch a high ball, only punch it. They were second to every loose ball aswell, two steps behind their wicklow marker every time. Smith, Doyle and Callaghan were good, but the rest of the team looked like they just didn't want to be there. Fair play to Wicklow for winning, but their performance at times was terrible also. What a f*cking joke of a game.

Yeah I have to echo whats being said here without the negativity.Kildares spirit or lack of and their organisation were their downfall.Wicklow on the otherhand were well organised,up for the game and never stopped.Their backs have to be given a lot of credit.All Kildare thought they had to do was pump the ball into the forwards and it was job done but Wicklows defenders were out in front of the Kildare attack collecting ball and driving it up the pitch.Also,the midfield battle was more lost than won.Kildare just lost it by punching balls down to the Wicklow midfield who collected the breaking ball and again ran up the pitch.

Listening to Joe Brollys comments after the game in level 4 in the Cusack,he put it correctly by saying Kildare were atrocious.Good win for Wicklow but I feel they too did not do themselves the amount of justice they should have.Something like 7 wides in the first half of which 3 were very kickable and a goal chance at the very start.Then they let Kildare come back into before half time in what was probably Kildares best spell.I think the scoreboard was very generous to Kildare in fairness but this is a great platform for the Garden County to build on.

On the subject of John Bannon the referee.I'm not his biggest fan by a long shot but I think he had a good game yesterday but there were 2-3 incidents in a short amount of time that he was very inconsistent for.A Wicklow midfielder got fouled and was never given a free and then as a result of that Kildare were on the attack,got fouled for the same thing and did not get a free and then the ball was cleared and another Wicklow player got fouled for a similar incident again and Bannon gave a free.

Laois will be a very different proposition but I feel if Wicklow can make the most of their chances unlike yesterday,they will be in with a real chance.That Laois team is depleted and its never been a better time for Wicklow to play them.Plus Micko has inside knowledge of that team so you never know.

On the Carlow-Meath game,a big let down.I knew Carlow were a poor side but had no idea they were that poor.An exhibition match that won't do Meath too many favours except for the debutants.Meath only got one goal against a very weak side.Maybe not that they were going for goal but against bigger teams they'll need to be more creative and they only really displayed their point shooting ability.An average of a point for every 2mins.

Thought the ref for the Meath-Carlow game was a tad harsh on Carlow but it didn't really matter anyway.

ports best

wicklow win one championship game ever in croke park against a kildare team that looked like they didnt want to be there and all day its wicklow this and wicklow that,, please everyone wake up and smell the coffee wicklow are no good and laois will prove that beyond all reasonable doubt in 2 weeks time

blackbelt

ports best wrote: »

wicklow win one championship game ever in croke park against a kildare team that looked like they didnt want to be there and all day its wicklow this and wicklow that,, please everyone wake up and smell the coffee wicklow are no good and laois will prove that beyond all reasonable doubt in 2 weeks time

Maybe its your biased viewpoint but I can't see why you or Laois should not take Wicklow seriously.Maybe its that type of attitude that Kildare had that led to their downfall.That could be part of the reason.

Yesterdays performance and result was huge for Wicklow yet they could have been out of sight at half time but they'll take a 4 point win.Talking to Wicklow fans yesterday,they would have been happy if there was a game in it at least and then they had the pleasure of seeing Wicklow work out a win.

Laois are depleted,Micko knows them inside and out,Wicklow are improving...is that reason to take them seriously?I think Laois will win but by no means will it be a definite walk in the park.

Mushy

ports best wrote: »

wicklow win one championship game ever in croke park against a kildare team that looked like they didnt want to be there and all day its wicklow this and wicklow that,, please everyone wake up and smell the coffee wicklow are no good and laois will prove that beyond all reasonable doubt in 2 weeks time

Well, you can only beat whats put up in front of ya, and thats exactly what Wicklow did. Wicklow played the football, they deserved to win, they didnt get anywhere near lucky, it was deserved. Micko knows what he's doing...let the sumer continue!

ports best

let the summer continue:D:D

Nalced_irl

ports best wrote: »

wicklow win one championship game ever in croke park against a kildare team that looked like they didnt want to be there and all day its wicklow this and wicklow that,, please everyone wake up and smell the coffee wicklow are no good and laois will prove that beyond all reasonable doubt in 2 weeks time

In fairness to them, they deserve alot of coverage for their first ever champo win in CP. Its a huge step for them so why not celebrate it and look forward with more optimism? I think Laois will take care of them but not with as much ease as your suggesting. I couldnt see a Wicklow win but i think (and hope) they will do themselves proud and make a good game of it. If you dont mind me saying also, your stating your opinion in a bit of a patronising way. Fair enough if you think it was just luck and while i disagree you may be right, but think you could word it a little better than saying they are no good etc. But hey, im not from there so doesnt bother me

ports best

i sopose i was a little harsh and they did deserve to win yesterday because any team that comes out with the attitude that kildare had dont deserve to win, and i sopose you can only beat whats put out in front of you, i just think that laois will be a big step up from kildare for wicklow and i dont know if they will cope with this

blackbelt

Certainly wasn't luck that won the game for Wicklow.Luck just happened to be on Kildares side that Wicklow didn't hammer them in fact.That goal opportunity (reminiscent of Jayo v Mayo in 06) was very unlucky not to go in and Wicklow squandered other 3 kickable points on top of this so they were fully deserved winners that worked hard for it.

I think Laois will beat Wicklow but again will make it hard for them.Wicklow are always improving and I feel they have to go up a few positions in the rankings as a result of yesterday.Its hard to know what state Laois are in at the moment.They have had a few players opting out of the panel and some questions have to asked of the management as to why this is the case.Laois turned in some good performances in the league without winning a single match.They went on to draw with the same Kildare side that was out yesterday.