In An Amazing Late Rally

Longford had 5 points to spare over Carlow when the sides met in round five of the league, beating them 1-19 to 1-14, so it is a little unexpected to see them as huge as 7-4 to win Saturday's final.


In an amazing late rally, Longford came from 11 points down to beat Wicklow by a point last weekend, sealing promo and a slot in the Division 4 last, and they look overpriced to continue their celebrations.


Down vs Wexford


7.15 pm Saturday, TG4


The only final that looks cut and dried this weekend is the Divsion 3 decider where Down can show a level above surprise plans Wexford.


Westmeath were on their way to the last, holding a two-point lead with only seconds staying last weekend, but a late smash-and-grab raid from Wexford courtesy of a Sean Ryan goal protected the unlikliest of promos.


The celebrations were wild at the last whistle and appropriately so, but Mark McHugh and his Wexford side might be in for an impolite awakening at head office this weekend. It will not be simple boiling down from such a huge high.


Down have currently hammered them by ten points - 1-29 to 1-19 - on their home patch and some flatware will be a huge offer for the Mourne guys, who will have goals of making an impact in the Ulster champion. Wexford look set to be whipping kids in the Leinster one.


Wexford yielded 2-17 to Clare in round 6 and 1-18 to Westmeath last weekend having actually been quite tight defensively prior to that and it is difficult to imagine them keeping Pat Havern and Odhran Murdock quiet. Those are 2 quality assailants who will relish returning to Croke Park.


Down might win this by a double-figure margin and backing them to defy a five-point handicap looks the very best bet of the weekend. They could net a couple of objectives along the method.


Cork vs Meath


1.45 pm Sunday, TG4


Cork and Meath clashed in 3 All-Ireland finals within the area of four years in between 1987 and 1990 and again in 1999. There was a substantial rivalry between the two counties in those days but current years have actually been barren for both sides.


Meath have actually emerged from nowhere under Robbie Brennan and reached in 2015's All-Ireland semi-final, while Cork could, and most likely should, have beaten Kerry in last year's Munster championship.


There were just 2 points between the sides when they met at Pairc Ui Rinn in round four when a scoring rise at the end of the first half put the hosts in an amazing position and they handled to hang on at the end of the game.


Meath have given that beaten Kildare by 14, Tyrone by five and Offaly by 10, so it's no surprise to see them head into the Division 2 decider as slight favourites.


Both these teams play an attractive brand name of football and Meath have scored a minimum of one goal in each of their last six getaways. Indeed, they have actually got 10 of them because time and may have got more had they gone looking for them late in their current tussle with Offaly.


Cork have actually failed to discover the web in 2 of their last 3 getaways, however Chris Og Jones will enjoy the prospect of dipping into Corke Park and his speed has the prospective to trigger the Meath rearguard all sorts of issues.


You can get about 3 or more goals in the video game and that looks value as it looks more like an odds-on shot.


Donegal vs Kerry


4pm Sunday, TG4


The Division 1 league final is an uncommon species. Most of the time teams don't really seem to care whether they win it or not as their sole focus is on the upcoming championship project so it will be interesting to see what sort of technique Jim McGuinness and Jack O'Connor take this year. Will they wish to issue declarations of intent, or will it be another round of shadow boxing?


The finest guess seems that McGuinness may want to set a marker for the summer and will toss the cooking area sink at it. If he does, that will mean making life very difficult for David Clifford and co up front for Kerry. If Donegal are going to treat this like a champion clash, which appears more than likely, the foundations will be dug at the back. An open, high-scoring shootout is no great to them. Kerry would win that every day of the week and twice on Sunday. They require to keep it tight and turn it into a battle.


Donegal managed to keep Kerry to 1-18 when the sides fulfilled in round two and the total points line looks too expensive at 46.5.


In 2015's final produced a total of just 36 points as Kerry strolled past Mayo by a scoreline of 1-18 to 1-12 and if either team gets to 21 points this year it need to be enough, too.


The worst-case scenario for these sides heading into the championship is a hammering and it is difficult to see McGuinness allowing that to happen to Donegal. Nor Jack O'Connor to Kerry. This will be tight, and while in 2015's champs Kerry might have a minor edge in advance, it is tough to be adamant that they will defy a two-point handicap.


Donegal have taken their foot off the throttle in the last few years and yielded 2-20 to Roscommon and 3-15 to Monaghan in the last two rounds. But prior to those two games their average concession was under 19 points per game and they kept tidy sheets versus Dublin, Mayo, Armagh and Galway. That is a big achievement under the brand-new rules and Kerry will succeed to assemble a big rating in the decider against such a well-drilled defensive system.


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