The peak of club GAA.
The football is decent this weekend but the hurling is even better.
There’s a Galway county final, two Leinster semis and two Munster finals for hurling folk to look forward to. Some of the country’s finest hurlers will be alongside each other and some of them will be against each other.
The semi-finals of an extremely tight Ulster championship are taking place on the football side of things and there are a couple of other games too.
Here’s our weekend accumulator.
Gaoth Dobhair 5/4 to beat Crossmaglen
Kieran Gillespie is a huge loss to Gaoth Dobhair. He was a man mountain in the county final, playing the field from centre back. He’s out after a knee injury picked up at the throw-in in the Ulster quarter but the Donegal men still have a decent defence and a star-studded team remaining.
Gary McFadden is having some season in defence and he rarely grants his marker a sniff. Eamon and Neil McGee are also experienced and they’ll ensure the ship is steady.
In attack, Cian Mulligan and Michael Carroll combine lightning pace with skill and brains while Kevin Cassidy is so effective at the edge of the square. Odhran Mac Niallais is the main man and he’s back and if all of these lads show up, a young Crossmaglen team could just be beaten.
Coolderry 5/2 to beat Ballyboden St Enda’s
The Dublin champs are there to be got at, as Clonkill proved last time out. The suspended Mark Bergin is a loss but the 2011 Leinster champs Coolderry still have the firepower in Kevin Connolly and Brian Carroll to do damage.
Stephen Corcoran is some goalie too and if Trevor Corcoran and Kevin Brady can keep Keaney and Paul Ryan quiet, the Offaly men could pull off a shock.
St Thomas 8/15 to beat Liam Mellows
Liam Mellows were fortunate to escape against Cappataggle in the semi-final and St Thomas’ will be a little bit more deadly. If Conor Cooney, Shane Cooney, David Burke and Eanna Burke hit form, Mellows won’t be able for them.
Ballygunner +4 against Na Piarsaigh 5/6
The scoreline from last year’s Munster final doesn’t tell the full story. Ballygunner were alive and kicking with only one point between the teams and with sixty minutes played last year.
Na Piarsaigh turned on the style then to burn them off in added time but Ballygunner have shown yet more steely resolve to make it back again this year.
Still fancy the Limerick lads to win, but also reckon it will be tighter than the handicap.
Charleville 8/13 to beat Feakle
The Munster intermediate hurling final should be a tight affair. Charleville have impressed under Ben O’Connor this term and what might tip the balance for them here is the presence of Darragh Fitzgibbon in their team.
Throw him out a ball at county level and he’ll burn the fittest hurlers in the game. Throw him out a ball at intermediate club level and he’ll go to town.
Great call from Cork legend Ben O'Connor to take him off, the people of @CHARLEVILLEGAA enjoyed that moment https://t.co/EldbCqfTbD
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) November 4, 2018
Eoghan Rua 12/5 to beat Scotstown
Eoghan Rua Coleraine lost at this stage before but they look to have a bit more grit and a bit more ambition about them this time around.
Colm McGoldrick is one of the best forwards around and though Scotstown are a star-studded team, they can be vulnerable and the Derry champs will give them lots of it.
By Paddy Power’s odds, the accumulator works out at 121/1. Worth a euro.
