There’s plenty of midweek action in the GAA this week and the crowds should be out in force in Dublin in particular with a full round of the Dublin senior football championship taking place tonight in the capital. There’s also minor football championship in Munster, as Clare and Cork have home advantage for their knockout semi final fixtures with Kerry and Tipperary respectively. Here Starbets is happy to advise a double that pays 2/1 with Boylesports, based on championship and challenge match form so far.

Our first leg, unsurprisingly enough, is Kerry to beat Clare at Cusack Park in Ennis. Clare had a massive first round win over Waterford and Mickey Ned O’Sullivan has been talking up this challenge as if Clare are world beaters – they aren’t. They got plenty of momentum up in their first round clash but Waterford put little or no effort into that team, and while there are a few nice forwards in the Clare side, they’re likely to be found out against a team of Kerry’s quality. Clare got badly found out when they tried to step up against decent opposition on the challenge match circuit and while they have got a good eye for goal, defensively they are very poor and they don’t have the ability to shut down a well designed attack.

Kerry have a relatively young minor team this year with a third of their starting team underage again next year – but not too much should be read into their first round result against Tipperary. Tipp took the field with largely the same team that won the All Ireland last year, and they were always likely to have a big advantage in experience and cohesion against a less well-gelled side, with new management and style. Nonetheless our suspicion is that William Hill are the bookmaker on the ball here and that their odds of 5/1 about a Clare win is much closer to the mark.Clare have secured plenty of big wins over weak opposition in recent years, but they’ve never really stepped up and delivered against good opposition. We expect Kerry to have a strong say in the destination of this All Ireland titel yet, even though they’re probably a little bit short of the standard required to win.

Boylesports are best priced at 1/3 about a Kerry win in Ennis and they’re also best priced at 5/4 about a home win for Cork against All Ireland champions Tipperary. Last year these two counties met in the Munster final and we advised a bet on the Tipp men, but that was due to price. This year price again dictates and while this should be a very competitive fixture, Cork are moving very well under the guidance of Nemo Rangers man Ephie Fitzgerald and they look well poised to give a good account of themselves in front of their home supporters. Certainly they shouldn’t be odds against.

Tipperary manager David Power has had to operate with three of his players also hurling underage for the county but even so he has guided his team to plenty of good results this year on the challenge match circuit. Cork have lost several matches but they have been playing very high class opposition in the shape of Dublin and Kildare and should benefit for those results, even though they have lost a few times out.

This Cork team rounded off their preparations with a comfortable win over Offaly in Tullamore last week, the same Offaly team that drew with Tipperary the previous week. With great strength down the middle of the team and really sharp forwards, Cork can prevail in this tie.

Munster MFC Recommendation

Cork to beat Tipperary, Kerry to beat Clare, Double @ 2/1 (Boylesports)

Concluding our series of report cards, we now take a look at the second tier of the National Hurling League, featuring five teams with managers facing into their first championship at the helm of their current team. Indeed for four of the five bosses in question, it will be their first ever championship as an intercounty manager.

Clare – B

The Banner County deservedly topped the Division 1B class and yet again, David Fitzgerald is proving that a very astute hurling brain lies beneath his ferociously competitive and tempestuous exterior. Granted he’s got plenty of raw material to work with in Clare at the moment as some of the best young hurlers in Ireland are natives of the county, but they ticked every box over the course of the league. They produced a stunning display to blow Limerick out of the water in week one, they safely negotiated banana skin fixtures against Antrim and Laois, they hurled Wexford off the park without getting out of second gear, they beat Offaly in Tullamore with a reserve team and they came back from a large deficit in the 1B final against Limerick. It was disappointing that they failed to produce something different to unsettle Kilkenny a little in the league semi final, but generally things are moving well in Clare and they look like real Munster championship contenders right now, particularly with Tipperary struggling to find form.

Limerick – D

They huffed and puffed about dubious decisions in their drawn game against Offaly, but really they should have had the Faithful County long put away before then. They’ve made no real progress since last year and there are too many positions on the spine of their team still up for grabs, way more than should be the case with a manager in his second year. They have great potential and should be relishing the prospect of a Munster championship clash with Tipp, but too many of their new discoveries from last year seem to be suffering from a “sophomore slump” for that to be a realistic betting prospect at the moment.

Offaly – D

Offaly are comfortable hurling at division 1B level but will look back at all three of their games against decent opposition with some level of regret. They absolutely hurled Wexford off the park in round 2 of the campaign before inexplicably conceding three late goals and losing out by a point, they went out of the game for long spells against Limerick and still got a draw and had plenty of chances to beat Clare in Tullamore. Still, they actually have more depth in the panel than has been the case for a long time and with players like David Kenny and Rory Hanniffy fit, they actually have plenty of real leaders in the team. They will be better than they were in 2011, but time will tell how much better.

Wexford – E

We could try and paint a positive picture here, but there would be no justification for doing so. They deservedly lost to Antrim, they showed plenty of character but little hurling in their win over Offaly and nothing that we’ve seen so far suggests that Liam Dunne has a clear plan in terms of where he’s going with the team and what way he wants them to play. Winning a Leinster championship seems as far away as ever and while it’s now been twelve years since they lost to Offaly in the championship, that day looks to be closer than ever.

Antrim – B

Jerry Wallace should actually be really happy with how his side performed this Spring. Playing without the Loughgiel hurlers for the vast, vast majority of the campaign, they beat Wexford, put Offaly under real pressure in Tullamore and produced a great comeback when they needed it against Laois. They actually look to be in a good place in advance of this championship and could pull off a surprise somewhere this summer.

Laois – E

The optimism that pervaded Laois hurling in January has long since dissipated and Teddy McCarthy must be wondering what he has signed on for in trying to sort out the dysfunctional midlanders. They hurled well for small patches against Offaly and Wexford and for maybe half the game in Casement Park against Antrim, but they need to do a lot more. Right now they must be dreading their Leinster championship battle with Carlow, and rightly so.

Roscommon two years ago proved that coming out of division four does not necessarily preclude championship success in the summer, however nobody would argue that playing in the basement division is ideal preparation for the championship. Contenders for provincial titles are few and far between among the bottom nine teams, however any county can give us a winner on any given day – so here’s our assessment of how the division 4 counties fared in the Spring, with a view towards the championship and the various match and outright betting opportunities that will arise.

Wicklow – B

After years of loitering in this division under the guidance of Mick O’Dwyer, Harry Murphy finally worked the oracle and secured promotion for the Garden County. Arguably this was a more significant achievement than anything Mick O’Dwyer managed to do since Wicklow need to start measuring themselves against better teams. There are still deficiencies in the team – defensively they concede a lot of scores – but they’ll bring a lot of confidence into their first round battle against Meath and must surely be hopeful of what would be a famous victory.

Fermanagh – C

This grade might seem harsh after Fermanagh topped the division over the round robin stage, but as we pointed out at the start of the year, Fermanagh were handed a ridiculously kind schedule where nearly every contender had to travel to Enniskillen. Seamus Quigley led the attack throughout the year but he was unable to cope with the pace of the league final and that hardly bodes well for an Ulster championship meeting with Down. They did what they had to do, but clearly they still have a long way to go and the fact that they crumbled against Wicklow suggests that they could be looking at a quick two and out this summer.

Clare – B

Yet another near miss to add to the collection, but in contrast to Fermanagh, they can feel very hard done by in terms of fixtures. They lost two games to their main rivals, both playing competitively, and both away from home. If just one of those matches took place in Ennis it’s eminently possible that they would have secured promotion. Even though it feels like deja vu, Clare should feel like they’re making progress and that they are in a better place than twelve months ago. A Munster final place is theirs for the taking if they can further improve in the next few weeks.

Limerick – D

For a team with so many good players, failing to even make a good attempt at getting out of the basement league simply wasn’t good enough. Maurice Horan did well in the championship last year, reaching a quarter final in Croke Park, but Limerick faced a lot of crunch games in this league and failed to produce in any of them. Right now they look very vulnerable in the poor half of the Munster Championship draw and the provincial final place that they were expected to claim might not be a formality any longer.

Leitrim – C

As we would expect from any Leitrim football team, they were competitive throughout the campaign but losing by one score in their opening league match at home to Limerick left them too much to do and despite playing some hard football throughout the spring, they never looked like mounting a promotion challenge. Their Connacht championship prognosis is no better, and while they will beat London, all that will do is ensure that when they do go into the qualifiers after losing to Mayo they will face a team that has already won a game. There aren’t too many teams Leitrim can beat in that situation.

Waterford – C

They won away from home against both Wicklow and Limerick and those results alone warrant a decent grade. For the rest of the campaign they were very poor – they never rediscovered the defensive resilience that they had in 2011 and always seemed to leave themselves too much to do up front. Along with Clare and Limerick they will fancy their chances of reaching a Munster final, but they are in the weakest position of the three right now.

Carlow – E

They lost to Leitrim at home in the first game and were always likely to struggle from then on. They did well to beat Waterford in Fraher Field but they remain hugely dependent on Brendan Murphy and it’s impossible to imagine how poor they would be without the former Aussie Rules player. In several of their games they weren’t just beaten, they were outclassed and that shouldn’t be happening to any county making a genuine effort in division four. The only thing in their favour is that Wicklow have a great chance of beating Meath and Carlow will always fancy their chances against Wicklow. However if Meath pull themselves together in time it will be a short summer for the Dolmen county.

London – E

The false dawn of 2011 has passed and until the “Seanie Johnston” rule is resolved, they look like nailed on certainties to lose both their Connacht championship and their qualifier fixtures by large margins. Even if they are allowed play their guys who return home to play with Irish clubs, they still look to have taken several steps backwards.

Kilkenny – NG

From a betting point of view, Kilkenny footballers are no longer relevant. From a general footballing point of view, anyone in Kilkenny who doesn’t see the problem with what’s happening down there is misunderstanding the ethos of the GAA, and no amount of deflecting the issue by talking about Cavan or Monaghan hurling will change that.

Kilkenny, Cork and Clare all still have two months to go before getting their championship seasons underway, so Sunday’s league semi final double header is of huge importance to all of them as the managers look to get more competitive games under their belts. Dublin and Galway also played out an incredibly competitive game last week in O’Connor Park and they now must renew hostilities in O’Moore Park in Portlaoise, with the spectre of relegation looming large for both counties, meaning that nearly all the main hurling counties are in action this week.

Dublin vs Galway

Ryan O’Dwyer and Alan McCrabbe both miss out due to suspension but after using 23 players in the drawn game, Anthony Daly clearly has faith in every member of his squad. Both sides will look back on the draw with tinges of regret. Dublin will feel disappointed that after rebuffing the first Galway comeback with Ross O’Carroll’s goal, they couldn’t hold on in normal time, while Galway in particular will look back and wonder how they managed to lose a two point lead with two extra men in the second period of extra time.

Joe Canning’s return to form was also big news for the Galway men and they are obviously a completely different force when the Portumna forward is ensconced in the team.

Nonetheless Dublin hold the upper hand here psychologically and must surely be hopeful that they will get more out their forward line the next day. The starting Dublin forward line contributed only four scores from play last week and surely most be hopeful of a greatly improved performance in Portlaoise. Add in the psychological impact of Galway having thrown away the stronger position, no more suprise element from Joe Canning lining out, and the even money about a Dublin win starts to look very attractive.

Kilkenny vs Clare

Kilkenny have been devastating at times and unspectacular at others during this league run, but if they produce another performance along the lines of what they did against Galway, they’ll win this and with plenty to spare. However Clare have performed much more consistently throughout the league, albeit against a lower level of opposition, and the logical handicap play here is probably siding with them to stay close. David Fitzgerald continues to have the Midas touch in the management game and the calm resolution that his players showed to dig deep and produce a win in the Division 1B decider against Limerick was extremely impressive.

Cillian Buckley’s eye-catching debut for the Cats gives Brian Cody another option and it also frees up Michael Rice to move back to the half forward line, where his mobility lets him come on to support full forward line players in possession quite regularly. Boylesports are 20/1 about Rice getting the first goal in this game and since there is a slight sense of uneasiness associated with betting against Kilkenny even with a large handicap, that’s our recommendation here.

Tipperary vs Cork

It speaks volumes about what Jimmy Barry Murphy has achieved in his short tenure as Cork manager that his team are only one point underdogs for a National League semi-final against Tipperary at Semple Stadium. This Spring the Cork team have been balanced, settled and have produced some fine performances, not least when inflicting Kilkenny’s only defeat in the league campaign.

Tipperary, by contrast, have been all over the place and still look to be in experimentation mode. Only seven of the team that started the 2011 All Ireland final are named to start on Sunday, with only Michael Cahill, Conor O’Mahony and Noel McGrath holding their positions from that game. They are at home and the two sides played out an excellent 1-23 apiece draw in the final round of the round robin stages of the league, but Cork need this league title a lot more than Tipperary do and they probably deserve to be considered joint favourites here. Ladbrokes are 10/11 about Cork plus a two point head start and in a game that should be quite tight, that advantage could be critical.

Weekend NHL Recommendations

Dublin vs Galway: Dublin to win @ 1/1 (generally available)

Kilkenny vs Clare: Michael Rice to score the first goal @ 20/1 (Boylesports)

Tipperary vs Cork: Cork +2pts @ 10/11 (Ladbrokes)

Clare once again make the short trip down to Limerick to meet their near neighbours in what will be the fourth meeting between these two sides this year and the sixth such fixture since the start of 2011. A clash with Kilkenny in the National Hurling League semi final is the prize on offer for the winner, though securing 1A hurling in 2013 will also be high on the agenda. Also we’ll have a quick look at one of the more eye catching team announcements, and cast our eye over the two schools matches taking place at Croke Park later today.

Limerick vs Clare

Traditional GAA wisdom would suggest that Clare would be hard pressed to beat Limerick again after handing them a fourteen point hiding in the first round of the league. Certainly Limerick have improved since then and they looked very sharp at times last weekend in Casement Park, but Clare are operating at a higher level, as evidenced by the fact that they were able to beat Offaly in second gear last week. Now Offaly were a little unlucky in that fixture, but David Fitzgerland can recall players like Nicky O’Connell, Pat Donnellan and Conor McGrath for tonight which should be enough to eliminate the risk of any lethargy or torpor carrying over into this week.

Both these sides have been scoring goals this year and in a league where scoring generally has been high, it’s surprising that Ladbrokes have dropped their totals line back down to 42.5, a more traditional league number. Our suspicion is that Clare hold the edge, albeit maybe not enough of an edge to justify a bet at odds on prices, and that Ladbrokes’ total line will be exceeded.

Longford vs Wexford

Wexford manager Jason Ryan is clearly keeping his powder dry for the National League final between these two counties and has named a very different team for this meaningless end of season fixture. The Model County were scoring really well throughout the league but Ryan has named a completely revamped full forward line, albeit with Ciarán Lyng playing at centre forward pulling the strings. Meanwhile Graeme Molloy is the only anchor in the first four jerseys, with new faces at 1, 2 and 4. Most bookmakers have reacted to this selection but BetVictor have yet to do so. If the 5/4 about Longford is still there by the time you read this, take it.

Holy Trinity Cookstown vs Gallen CS

In the interests of full disclosure, yours truly is a former student of Gallen (back when it was known as St Sarans) so there is no point even pretending to be neutral here. This columnist will be at Croke Park, utterly offending all the other Press Box attendees who expect decorum and neutrality in that environment. Hard luck folks!

These two sides met in a wonderful All Ireland semi final last year in Ballyconnell and Gallen came through on that occasion on a 2-13 to 1-14 scoreline, a result that was just about merited. Both sides have plenty of players returning from last year including a fair few of their star names, but crucially, Gallen don’t have anything like the same level of depth and so they have to call on a lot of players that will be playing under-16 football later this summer.

That said, they have Croke Park experience, they have lots of natural scorers and in a game where it’s genuinely impossible to pick a clear favourite, 2/1 from Boylesports is simply incorrect. HTC have the better results so far and teams like Ballybay and Clonakilty were a lot stronger than anything Gallen met, but the Offaly school have yet to win by any less than eight points and they can’t be blamed for the lack of opposition en route to Dublin.

St Marys Edenderry vs St Michaels Enniskillen

This year’s Hogan Cup final brings together two schools that have shown incredible defensive prowess so far this year, and this column is a little disappointed that a bet on total points hasn’t been offered, since it’s very possibly that this game could be won by a team that has only scored nine or ten times. Enniskillen have made quite a habit of edging tight battles and they’ve won six of their seven games so far by either a point or two – and while Edenderry have opened up more frequently, they still don’t have a single outstanding forward capable of taking an opposition team apart. Ger Leech of Coralstown/Kinnegad in Westmeath is probably their main man, but they also get plenty of attacking production from their all-Kildare midfield pairing of Daniel Grehan and Daniel Flynn.

Crucial to this fixture will be the battle between Eddie Courtney at the centre of the Enniskillen attack and Philip Foy, 2011 Offaly minor captain, who usually lines out at centre back. Foy was given the job of marking St Jarlaths danger man Shane Walsh in the All Ireland semi-final and he did that really well – a repeat of that performance would be a huge step in the right direction for St Marys. On the basis that St Mary’s have more threats, they can edge this one, provided they bear in mind the lessons learned on their last trip to Croke Park, when a last minute goal from Coláiste na Sceilge cost them an All Ireland in 2009.

Betting Recommendations

Limerick vs Clare: Total points over 42.5 @ 8/11 (Ladbrokes)

Longford vs Wexford: Longford @ 5/4 (BetVictor)

Holy Trinity vs Gallen CS: Gallen @ 2/1 (Boylesports)

St Marys vs St Michaels: St Mary’s by 1-3 points @ 12/5 (Powers)

Division 1B of the National Hurling League is a little bit more clearcut than 1A, with first place already resolved and the hurlers of Wexford and Laois likely to be much more interested in the relegation match between the two than the meaningless dead rubber taking place in the South East this week. Thus, we’ll leave that game aside from our betting previews, since only Liam Dunne and Teddy McCarthy know what they have planned for the morning of this game – pre match training is very possible here.

Offaly vs Clare

Earlier today we previewed Waterford vs Dublin and came to the conclusion that it makes no sense to be backing a team with nothing to play for. That’s also exactly the situation here. Offaly realistically need a win to reach the division 1B final, though a draw would do if Limerick failed to win in Belfast, while Clare have already booked their place in that playoff fixture. Now no member of the Clare panel or management team would be caught dead saying this, but many hurling people in the Banner county would be happier to meet Offaly in the final having learned something from this game than to have to take on a resurgent Limerick with a bee in their bonnet after the round robin match between the two sides. David Fitzgerald would never think that way, but human nature is a peculiar thing and it’s hard to compete aggressively when you don’t know if you want the prize.

Offaly will be motivated, but they’ve been something of an enigma throughout this league campaign. They’ve played some excellent hurling in patches, but they’ve been very poor at other times and they were very fortunate to come away from Limerick with a draw, even leaving aside Cathal McAllister’s controversial decision to award that penalty at the end. Nonetheless they are at home, they have a powerful forward line that should be capable of winning ball and even money plus one point from Bet365 is very attractive.

Antrim vs Limerick

Suddenly, due to their late comeback against Laois, Antrim have a League final place to play for in front of their home fans and while they’ll need a favour from Clare to get into the 1B decider, they aren’t without hope here. However Limerick are slowly getting back to full strength with Shane Dowling making his return this week and they will be stung by the manner of their draw with Offaly. They need to win by thirteen points more than Offaly do if they don’t get a favour from their neighbours across the Shannon and while that’s probably asking too much, if they step on the gas early, they can give it quite a rattle. Antrim have been good so far this year but they failed to step up to the next level against Offaly or Clare and while they are at home here, they don’t have a good record against Limerick with no wins in their last 16 attempts.

Division 1B Recommendations

Offaly vs Clare: Offaly + 1pt @ evens (Bet365)

Antrim vs Limerick: Limerick to win by 7-9pts @ 5/1 (Ladbrokes)

Tonight’s under-21 football action comes from the South of the Country, where Kerry and Cork will be expected to advance to a Munster decider at the expense of Clare and Waterford respectively.

The betting for the two matches suggests that the two outsiders are in for a traumatic evening at the hands of the two traditional powers and it’s a brave punter who would get involved at best prices of 1/12 (Cork) and 1/25 (Kerry). However William Hill are out on their own offering handicap bets on the two games, with eight and ten point starts on offer respectively, so that will be our main betting focus.

Looking first at Cork vs Clare, and while a lot is expected of this Cork team, Clare showed great character to come through a tough tie against Limerick and there is a lot to be said for getting a game under your belt at this level. Cork have approximately ten players returning from last year’s squad that really should have won an All Ireland, but they’ve lost a lot of their key players and there is a very fresh look to this group, even down the spine of the team. Domestically much of the focus is on the fact that the team is so heavily pulled from the Carbery district, but our concerns would be more around their diamond sector, where they may lack that one dominant player to really take control of the game. Home advantage will help but this is a sharp Clare side with some goalscoring forwards and eight points could be a little bit too much of a head start for Cork to reel in.

Meanwhile in Tralee, Kerry will be expected to come through with little or no fuss against a Waterford side that have had little or no media attention in the run up to this fixture. Waterford have actually been quite competitive at this grade since 2000, recording eight wins and eleven defeats, while very few of this Kerry team will be known outside of the Kingdom since there is no overlap between their senior and under 21 panels. Nonetheless the management team, led by Eamon Fitzmaurice, is very highly regarded and many believe that this side is a dark horse for All Ireland glory. Certainly they did very well to overcome a good Tipperary team so comfortably despite losing two players to red cards and if they can get through that game conceding only five points, it’s hard to see Waterford punching too many holes in their rearguard. Generally we don’t like backing teams to cover large handicaps, but in this case we’ll make an exception.

Munster Under 21 Football Recommendations

Cork vs Clare: Clare +8pts @ 10/11 (Hills)

Kerry vs Waterford: Kerry -10pts @ 10/11 (Hills)

Strange though it may sound, for some counties this weekend will be their second last competitive game before the championship gets underway in the summer. Whatever your views about the restructuring of the national hurling league, that in itself is something that probably needs to be addressed. However this column’s remit is not the welfare of the GAA but picking some winners. We’ll start our search at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Cork vs Kilkenny

Cork’s revival under Jimmy Barry Murphy hit a stumbling block last weekend when Galway came away from Páirc Uí Chaoimh with both points. Suddenly the Rebels are faced with having to take at least one win out of their last two league games against Kilkenny and Tipperary in order to reach the semi finals of the league and a bright start has lost a lot of sheen. Up front the team has found a nice balance and the pace of Cathal Naughton and Conor Lehane on the wings has added a new dimension to the team’s hurling. However student Darren Sweetnam and Lorcan McLoughlin are very inexperienced to be taking on Michael Rice and Michael Fennelly at midfield and there is a danger that Cork could get overwhelmed both here and at half back. Brian Cody takes great satisfaction in victories over the poster children for “player power” and while this could be another high scoring encounter with Cork scoring well themselves, we’ll take the Cats to prevail and cover the spread.

Dublin vs Tipperary

Dublin have actually hurled well for two weeks now but haven’t gotten any rewards and this was going to be our strongest tip of the week – before it was reported that Paul Ryan will almost certainly miss the fixture due to injury. Dublin’s corner forward is a crucial source of points and while he’s out, and David O’Callaghan is still performing some way below his best in the other corner, it’s impossible to back the Dubs with confidence. No recommendation here.

Galway vs Waterford

Nicky Cashin’s decision to step aside as selector at a time when things aren’t going that well for the Déise suggests that cracks may be appearing in the set up. The county board are also reportedly unhappy with the very large squad that’s being carried at the moment and this week they make the long trek to Pearse Stadium to play Galway, who are beginning to find their rhythm. The return of John Mullane and Eoin Kelly to the panel is a boost from the point of view of Waterford’s summer prospectss, but neither man is likely to be ready to start this week and all their presence on the bench will do is cause more nerves among the starters, who know that the management will have itchy fingers waiting to spring their big name players.

After more very pleasant weather in Galway, the pitch in Salthill is in good shape and the breeze is actually quite calm – these conditions suggest good scoring, and there is a real danger Galway could go to town on Waterford here.

Limerick vs Offaly

Shane Dowling returns to the Limerick starting line up for tomorrow night’s crucial battle between these two promotion hopefuls in division 1B but in truth it’s not the Limerick forward division that needed help, it’s their porous back line. Similarly Offaly have been scoring well but they conceded 18 scores to each of Antrim and Laois, suggesting that they too need work at tightening things up at the back. This should be a high scoring tie under lights at the Gaelic Grounds, and we’d be slow to presume that the favourites should prevail, since Offaly have won the last three competitive matches between these two sides. Paddy Power go 7/4 about a winning margin of between five and nine points, while they’re 10/11 about four or less. Only one of the nine games in this division so far, and 17 out of 47 games in the NHL as a whole, have fallen into that bracket. Take the 7/4, either side has the potential to win this well.

Antrim vs Laois

Antrim are still likely to be missing their Loughgiel players, but they are hurling quite well without their Shamrocks’ contingent and they should have too much for the midlanders at home. Nonetheless we don’t like trusting Antrim at odds on, so this is another game we’ll skip over.

Clare vs Wexford

It’s looking now like Wexford’s late comeback win over Offaly simply papered over the cracks in the Model county. David Fitzgerald has his side moving really well and they can secure their place in the Division 1b final with a win here. They should get it, and cover the handicap too.

NHL Round 4 Recommendations

Cork vs Kilkenny: Kilkenny -3pts @ 10/11 (Boylesports)

Galway vs Waterford: Galway by 13-15 pts @ 10/1 (Ladbrokes)

Limerick vs Offaly: Winning margin of 5-9 pts @ 7/4 (Powers)

Clare vs Wexford: Clare -4pts @ 5/6 (Hills, Bet365)

The action continues to come thick and fast in the National Football League, with the big Munster Derby at Páirc Uí Chaoimh taking centre stage as the main attraiction. So, we’ll start our tour of the country by the Lee and look at the battle of the big guns down south.

Cork vs Kerry

You can have odds against about both teams here, with William Hill going after the Rebels and laying 5/4, while Ladbrokes take the opposite view and go 11/10 about a Kerry win in the Páirc. On form so far, Kerry look more likely to take the points. They had a poor outing in round 2 against Armagh but otherwise they’ve been consistently excellent and have all but secured their place in the semi-final lineup already. Cork look quite strong for this tie however with Pearse O’Neill back in the team and Donncha O’Connor and Colm O’Neill showing some potency up front. They found some form against Laois last time out and looked a lot more like themselves. Neither manager will want to give too much away here, so at the risk of getting splinters in our groin from sitting on the fence, this looks certain to be a tight game with little between them. Ladbrokes “Close Call” bet pays out if either side win’s by three or less, or if the game is drawn. 8/13 may look short but it would have paid out the last six times these teams faced each other – good enough for us.

Galway vs Tyrone

Backing Galway at odds on to win football matches is clearly not a good policy, but neither can the Tribesmen be written off when taking on better quality opponents. They dug deep to produce a big win over Meath last week and remain in contention for a promotion place, though they cannot afford to drop any more points this Sunday. Tyrone have been imperious in the league so far with a string of good results but Ladbrokes may be overdoing things by offering 9/4 about the home side. Galway are too good to be 9/4 in a league match against any division 2 opponent at home and while they are too inconsistent to be trusted at short prices – there is a reason we’re not taking the head start on the handicap – they can deliver big returns if you catch them on the right day.

Cavan vs Offaly

This Offaly columnist takes no joy in saying this, but the Offaly football setup is a mess right now and confidence could not be lower in the camp. The new management regime headed by Gerry Cooney has failed utterly to catch the imagination of the players and there appears to be no clear plan as to how the team can create scores. The blanket defensive system isn’t fitting in while up front, small forwards like Nigel Dunne and Bernard Allen, though on form, are isolated against bigger opponents. They’ve been shocking throughout the league and there is no reason why tomorrow would be any different.

Clare vs Leitrim

Clare have made a very solid start to division four this year, and while they dropped points in Enniskillen, wins over Carlow, Limerick and Waterford have set them up to make a real push for that elusive promotion spot. Leitrim have been their usual dogged selves and they got the rub of the green against Carlow when a contentious goal from forward Ray Cox was allowed despite a strong whiff of a square ball offence. Against a more freescoring side like Wicklow or Fermanagh, the Leitrim men could be a little bit short of firepower to go toe to toe, but Clare’s 1-17 against Waterford the first day out was largely down to the absence of the two O’Gorman brothers. Since then they’ve reverted to type and posted a dozen scores per game. You can get 11/10 about Leitrim with a two point start and while those couple of points are expensive, with Hills offering 12/5 about a straight win, it’s well worth it to keep them on your side and give yourself that extra safety net.

NFL Round 5 Recommendations

Cork vs Kerry: “A Close Call” @ 8/13 (Ladbrokes)

Galway vs Tyrone: Galway @ 9/4 (Ladbrokes)

Cavan vs Offaly: Cavan -2 pts @ 10/11 (Stan James/Betpack)

Clare vs Leitrim: Leitrim +2 pts @ 11/10 (Bet365, Hills)

With five new managers starting their league season in this division containing only six teams, this years second tier of the National Hurling League has the potential to throw up more than a few surprises. Two Cork men, two Clare men and one staunch Wexford man taking charge of his own are the new men trying to guide Antrim, Clare, Wexford, Laois and Offaly through this campaign, while John Allen remains in charge of Limerick, who start the season as the clear antepost favourites to top the group.

Limerick vs Clare

Allen may only be at the helm of the Treaty County for a little over a year but this will still be his fifth Shannonside derby and his third in the National Hurling League. Limerick’s two wins against Clare in this competition seemed significant last year, but the reorganisation of the League’s structure rendered them redundant. This year the two Munster counties are the favourites to top the division and if they win all other games this fixture will be redundant too, but Limerick will be looking down the card of games and with trips to Portlaoise, Wexford and Belfast all to come, they could find themselves in a very tricky situation if they don’t get off to a strong start.

Allen has named a comparitively strong team with David Breen and Shane Dowling from county and Munster champions Na Piarsaigh stepping into the half forward line. They, along with Declan Hannon of Adare, form a line that is capable of running up a very decent total and against a Clare team that is still very unsettled with manager David Fitzgerald trying out a lot of players, that looks like sufficient cause to throw our weight behind the home team here.

Antrim vs Wexford

Wexford can thank their lucky stars that Loughgiel Shamrocks advanced in the All Ireland club semi finals a fortnight ago because if new Antrim manager Jerry Wallis had a full hand to pick from here, Wexford would be facing a very, very tough battle. Even as it is, it’s easy to see why William Hill are leading the market at 1/3 and trying to draw in money about the visitors – they simply don’t have enough in form players. Nonetheless that lack of depth might be enough to help Wexford limp over the line. No bet makes any appeal here.

Offaly vs Laois

In the last decade, these sides have played each other four times in the championship – and Offaly won all four battles by an average margin of fourteen points. They’ve also played each other four times in the National Hurling League in that time – and the score there stands at two wins each, with three of the four matches decided by a single point. This might not engage the national media like the other big local battles taking place this weekend in Cork, Limerick and Kilkenny, but it has the potential to be a very keenly contested match and any win for the home side, even by another one point margin, will represent very good form against a Laois side that is rejuvenated under Teddy McCarthy. Laois to win the tie at 7/2 is an attractive bet and those looking for a big priced wager could do a lot worse, however we’ll play it slightly more conservatively and take the four point start that is available.

NHL Division 1B Recommendations

Limerick vs Clare: Limerick @ 4/5 (Ladbrokes, Bet365)

Offaly vs Laois: Laois +4pts @ 11/10 (Ladbrokes)

• 1Eamon talks about Man City & Mancini, Kenny Dalglish, Ireland's Euro......
• 2Friday 5-a-Day......
• 3Thursday 5-a-Day......
• 4StarBets.ie tipsters in the money again......
• 5Fantasy GAA update......

• 

  Eamon talks about Man City & Mancini, Kenny......

  PLAY VIDEO
• 

  Eamon Dunphy gives his views on Ireland's prospects......

  PLAY VIDEO