Predicting the nine biggest GAA games of the weekend as provincial championship comes to town

Niall McIntyre

County final season has almost come and gone. The provincial club championships are ready to go.

Kilmacud Crokes and Carlow’s Éire Óg kick the weekend off in style on Saturday night in Netwatch Cullen Park in the Leinster quarter final. The game will be live on RTÉ Two and the history that exists between these two powerhouses of the provincial game will be felt throughout the night.

Kilmacud Crokes manager Robbie Brennan certainly won’t forget their Leinster club championship final in 1998 that stretched into 1999 such was the competitiveness of the fare.

Twice Crokes and Éire Óg couldn’t be separated only for that great Carlow side to win the trilogy, and their fifth provincial title in a decade.

Robbie Brennan was playing that day and he’ll be hoping to be on the other end of the result this time.

Saturday’s provincial show-piece will be followed on Sunday by three county football finals, in Galway, Kerry and Limerick, as well as some more big games in Munster, Leinster and Ulster.

Any day you get to see the Cliffords in action is a good day and they’ll line out for East Kerry against Mid Kerry live on TG4 in Sunday, in a repeat of last year’s Kerry SFC final.

The clash of Corofin and last year’s beaten All-Ireland semi-finalists Maigh Cuilinn will also draw plenty of eyes, while after their long break, Ballygunner face a stern test against Cork champions Sarsfields.