A round-up of weekend events
Wicklow v Carlow
Extra time in event of draw
For a low-key opening fixture there’s plenty of edge in this given the recriminations over Thomas Walsh’s transfer to Wicklow three years ago. He’s back now and with Brendan Murphy gives Carlow an advantage at centrefield.
Mick O’Dwyer got a great qualifier run out of Wicklow last year and will expect to progress. His counterpart Luke Dempsey’s has lost top forwards to injury but Eric McCormack may play a role.
CARLOW:J Clarke; P Murphy, L Murphy, B Kavanagh; A Curran, J Hayden, P McElligot; B Murphy, T Walsh; S Gannon, D Foley, M Carpenter; S Rea, J Murphy, J Kavanagh.
WICKLOW:M Travers; S Kelly, D Ó hAnnaidh, A Byrne; P McWalter, B McGrath, D Hayden; J Stafford, JP Dalton; L Glynn, T Hannon, N Mernagh; D Odlum, S Furlong, P Earls.
Referee:G Ó Conámha (Galway).
ULSTER SFC PRELIMINARY RD
Derry v Armagh
Venue:Celtic Park Throw-in: 2pm
On TV:RTÉ2, BBC2
Extra-time in event of draw.
THERE HAS been less talk about the curse of Ulster’s preliminary round since 2005 when Armagh broke the apparent embargo on teams coming through four rounds to win the provincial title.
Both teams have had radically different league campaigns, passing each other on the end-of-season escalators heading in opposite directions. Derry have found in the past two years that NFL advancement hasn’t meant anything meaningful when summer comes around so they’ll be hoping for a similar reversal of fortune this year.
So far it’s been an excellent opening phase for Paddy O’Rourke’s management in Armagh. After a slow start the team picked up form and finished so strongly that they won the Division Two title.
Steven McDonnell took the plaudits in that win over Down but there was quality to be seen all around the team from a defence anchored by Ciarán McKeever and Brendan Donaghy through to the attack which was lively and fluid.
Derry will test that tomorrow by reducing space and complicating McDonnell’s environment. That will be all very well but Damian Cassidy’s team will have to make the scoreboard move at the other end.
The Bradleys, Paddy and Eoin, will be marked by Donaghy and Kieran Toner according to O’Rourke’s selection but Donaghy may well end up back on the edge of the square regardless of how the Derry attack is configured.
Armagh also place Charlie Vernon in his best position at centrefield where he will carry the fight to the heavyweight Derry pairing of Fergal Doherty and Patsy Bradley.
DERRY:B Gillis; B McAlary, K McGuckin, D McBride; G O'Kane, B McGuigan, M Bateson; F Doherty, Patsy Bradley; SL McGoldrick, M Lynch, D Mullan; Paddy Bradley, E Bradley, R Wilkinson.
ARMAGH:P Hearty; A Mallon, K Toner, B Donaghy; P Duffy, C McKeever, F Moriarty; C Vernon, J Lavery; M Mackin, A Kernan, G Swift; B Mallon, S McDonnell, R Henderson.
Referee:M Deegan (Laois)
MUNSTER SFC FIRST RD
Venue:Thurles
Throw-in:4pm ON TV: RTÉ2
Extra time in event of draw
KILLORGLIN’S JOHN Evans has brought great vibrancy to Tipperary and even if the sojourn in Division Two was short-lived the county was competitive and also racked up the Munster under-21 title, beating Kerry in the final. Peter Acheson, man of the match that evening, makes his senior championship debut.
The Kerry selection is strong with the injuries to the Ó Sés clearing up and a potent attack lining up for the first match in pursuit of successive All-Irelands.
TIPPERARY:P Fitzgerald; P Codd, N Curran, C McDonald; C Aylward, R Costigan, C McGrath; K Mulryan, G Hannigan; P Acheson, P Austin, H Coghlan; S Carey, B Grogan, B Mulvihill.
KERRY:B Kealy; M Ó Sé, T Griffin, T O'Sullivan; T Ó Sé, M McCarthy, K Young; S Scanlon, M Quirke; P Galvin, D O'Sullivan, D Walsh; C Cooper, K Donaghy, B Sheehan.
Referee:D Coldrick (Meath).
