Three rounds to go in the
Allianz Football League and it’s proving every bit as intriguing as pre-season
analysis suggested it would. Round 5 goes ahead next weekend with Round 6 on
March 16 and the final round on March 24.
ALLIANZ
FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 1: KERRY WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE OF FINAL
Saturday: Tyrone v Cavan,
Omagh, 7.0; Mayo v Galway, Elverys MacHale Park, 7.15
Sunday: Roscommon v
Dublin, Dr. Hyde Park, 2.0; Kerry v Monaghan, Fitzgerald Stadium, 3.0
As the only team in the
group on full points after four games and enjoying a four-point lead over the
third and fourth- placed teams, Kerry are within touching distance of reaching
the final for the second time in three seasons.
A win over bottom-placed
Monaghan in Killarney next Sunday would take them a step closer, while piling
the relegation pressure on Malachy O’Rourke’s men, who after beating Dublin in
Round 1, have lost to Roscommon, Galway and Tyrone.
However, Tyrone will be
encouraged by recent League results against Kerry, having beaten them in 2018
(1-13 to 0-14) and 2017 (2-8 to 1-10), while the sides drew (1-17 each) in last
year’s ‘Super 8’ clash in Clones.
Mayo’s unbeaten League
run ended against Dublin last Saturday, but they are still in second place on
six points, two ahead of Galway, who they meet on Saturday.
Mayo haven’t beaten
Galway in League or Championship since the 2015 Connacht semi-final. Galway
have since won four times in the 2016-17-18 Connacht championships as well as
last year’s League.
Dublin got their
ambitions of retaining the League title back on track last Saturday when
beating Mayo, having beaten Galway in the previous round. They will seek to
complete a treble against western opposition against Roscommon on Sunday.
Dublin beat Roscommon by 4-24 to 2-16 in last year’s ‘Super 8’ and also
won the last League clash between the counties in 2017 (2-29 to 0-14).
Roscommon’s last success
over Dublin in a competitive game was in 2002 when they won a League tie by
2-12 to 0-16 in Parnell Park.
Cavan ended their losing
run against Roscommon on Sunday but are still in the relegation zone as they
prepare to face Tyrone, who are a point ahead of them. They last met in the
League two years ago when Tyrone won by 0-19 to 1-9.
ALLIANZ
FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 2: CORK FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL
Saturday (7.0); Tipperary
v Cork, Semple Stadium; Donegal v Armagh, Ballybofey, 7.15.
Sunday (2.0): Meath v
Kildare, Pairc Tailteann; Fermanagh v Clare, Brewster Park.
Nobody would have
foreseen it a few years ago, but the reality for Cork is that they are now in
real danger of dropping into Division 3. Still without a win, their only point
came in the first round draw with Fermanagh, so if they were to lose to
Tipperary (3 points) on Saturday and Clare (3 points) beat Fermanagh, the
Rebels would need a dramatic turnaround over the final two games (v Donegal and
Armagh) to avoid the drop.
Tipperary beat Cork (3-16
to 1-16) in last year’s League but the Leesiders turned the tables in the
Munster championship, winning by 1-17 to 0-9.
Meath and Fermanagh, who
lead the way on six points each, have home advantage this weekend when they
host Kildare (5 points) and Clare (3 points) respectively. Meath and Kildare
last met in 2017 when they clashed in the League and Championship, with the
Lilywhites winning both. They won by 3-17 to 0-16 in Division 2 and by 2-16 to
0-13 in the Leinster championship.
Fermanagh, the only
unbeaten team in the group (two wins and two draws) last met Clare in the 2017
League when they won by 0-18 t0 1-10.
Ulster champions, Donegal
were pre-season favourites for promotion, but after winning the first two games
against Clare and Meath, they lost to Tipperary and Fermanagh. It drops them
back to fifth place on four points, the same as next Saturday’s opposition,
Armagh have a three-point better scoring difference. This will be the first
League clash between the counties since 2014 when Donegal won by 2-10 to 1-8
(Div 2). The last Championship match between them was in 2015 when
Donegal won an Ulster quarter-final by nine points.
ALLIANZ
FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 3: ONLY THREE POINTS SEPARATE SEVEN COUNTIES
Saturday (7.0): Carlow v
Louth, Netwatch Cullen Park; Down v Offaly, Newry; Laois v Longford,
Portlaoise.
Sunday: Sligo v
Westmeath, Collooney, 2.0.
With the exception of
Sligo, who have lost all four games, it’s an extremely tight group as it heads
for the last three rounds. Louth and Down (6 points), Westmeath and Longford (5
points), Laois (4 points), Offaly and Carlow (3 points each) all have hopes of
promotion.
Leaders (on scoring
difference), Louth take on Carlow, who beat them by 11 points (2-17 to 0-12) in
last year’s Leinster championship. After losing their opening game, Down
have had three straight wins while Offaly had their first victory, beating
Carlow on Sunday. Laois and Longford didn’t meet last year but clashed in
League and Championship in 2017, with Laois winning both.
Sligo have made their
worst start for years and are already in serious relegation trouble, a
situation that will get worse if they fail to beat Westmeath. The counties last
met in the League in 2016 when Sligo won by a point.
ALLIANZ
FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 4: DERRY AND LEITRIM PULL WELL CLEAR
Saturday: Wicklow v
Wexford, Aughrim, 2.0
Sunday: Waterford v
Antrim, WIT Arena, 12.30; Leitrim v London, Carrick-on-Shannon, 12.0; Limerick
v Derry, Gaelic Grounds, 1.0
Derry and Leitrim, both
of whom have won their opening four games, are four points ahead of their
closest pursuers (Wicklow and Limerick – both on four points).
It means that if Leitrim
(v London) and Derry (v Limerick) were to win next Sunday and Wicklow lost to
Wexford, the promotion issue would be decided with two rounds left.
Games between Derry and
Limerick are very rare but not so with Leitrim and London, who meet regularly
in League and Championship.
They didn’t meet in last
year’s League as the game didn’t take place due to the bad weather. Leitrim
beat London in both the 2017 League and Championship. Antrim beat Waterford by
eight points in last year’s League while Wexford and Wicklow last met in the
League two years ago when the Slaney men by three points.
2019
ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE: RESULTS AND FIXTURES
ALLIANZ
FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 1
Round 1: Monaghan 2-13
Dublin 1-13; Galway 0-13 Cavan 0-11; Kerry 0-11 Tyrone 0-7; Mayo 1-8 Roscommon
1-7.
Round 2: Dublin 1-15 Galway 0-7; Roscommon 1-12 Monaghan 0-13; Kerry 0-16 Cavan
0-13; Mayo 2-13 Tyrone 0-10.
Round 3: Kerry 1-18 Dublin 2-14; Mayo 1-13 Cavan 0-11; Roscommon 1-10 Tyrone
1-10; Galway 1-9 Monaghan 0-11.
Round 4: Dublin 1-12 Mayo 0-7; Tyrone 1-16 Monaghan 0-12; Kerry 0-14 Galway
1-10; Cavan 3-13 Roscommon 0-13.
Round 5: Mar 2: Tyrone v Cavan; Mayo v Galway; Mar 3: Roscommon v Dublin;
Kerry v Monaghan.
Round 6: Mar 16: Galway v Roscommon; Monaghan v Cavan; Dublin v Tyrone; Kerry v
Mayo.
Round 7: Mar 24: Cavan v Dublin; Mayo v Monaghan; Roscommon v Kerry; Tyrone v
Galway.
Final: Mar 31
ALLIANZ
FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 2
Round 1: Donegal 0-16
Clare 0-13; Fermanagh 0-8 Cork 1-5; Kildare 0-14 Armagh 1-11; Meath 0-15
Tipperary 1-8.
Round 2: Kildare 1-10 Cork 0-10; Donegal 1-13 Meath 0-14; Tipperary 2-5
Fermanagh 2-5; Armagh 1-3 Clare 2-10.
Round 3: Fermanagh 0-8 Kildare 0-6; Clare 3-13 Cork 1-10; Meath 2-13
Armagh 0-13; Tipperary 3-9 Donegal 0-13.
Round 4: Meath 2-12 Cork 1-9; Armagh 1-15 Tipperary 0-12; Fermanagh 0-13
Donegal 0-10; Kildare 1-16 Clare 0-13.
Round 5: Feb 2: Tipperary v Cork; Donegal v Armagh; Feb 3: Meath v Kildare;
Fermanagh v Clare.
Round 6: Mar 16: Clare v Meath; Cork v Donegal; Kildare v Tipperary; Armagh v
Fermanagh.
Round 7: Armagh v Cork; Donegal v Kildare; Meath v Fermanagh; Tipperary v
Clare.
Final: Mar 31
ALLIANZ
FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 3
Round 1: Carlow 1-11
Sligo 0-7; Longford 1-8 Louth 0-9; Westmeath 0-13 Offaly 0-12; Laois 2-15 Down
1-12;
Round 2: Longford 1-6 Offaly 0-9; Louth 3-8 Laois 1-9; Westmeath 1-10
Carlow 2-7; Down 1-12 Sligo 1-10.
Round 3: Down 0-10 Westmeath 0-9; Longford 1-11 Carlow 0-9; Louth 2-10
Offaly 2-8; Laois 2-18 Sligo 2-10
Round 4: Down 3-7 Longford 0-8; Westmeath 0-13 Laois 0-10; Louth 5-16 Sligo
0-16; Offaly 0-15 Carlow 1-9.
Round 5: Mar 2: Carlow v Louth; Down v Offaly; Laois v Longford. Mar 3:
Sligo v Westmeath.
Round 6: Mar 16: Longford v Sligo; Louth v Westmeath; Offaly v Laois;
Carlow v Down.
Round 7: Mar 24: Down v Louth; Westmeath v Longford; Sligo v Offaly; Laois v
Carlow.
Final: Mar 30
ALLIANZ
FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 4
Round 1: Derry 1-10
Antrim 1-9; Leitrim 3-15 Wexford 0-11; Limerick 0-11 London 0-10; Wicklow 1-7
Waterford 0-9
Round 2: Derry 0-19 London 1-9; Limerick 1-13 Waterford 0-10; Leitrim 1-16
Wicklow 1-12; Wexford 1-10 Antrim 0-9.
Round 3: Leitrim 0-14 Antrim 1-10; London 2-10 Wexford 0-8; Derry 2-12
Waterford 1-8; Wicklow 2-8 Limerick 1-6.
Round 4: Leitrim 0-12 Limerick 0-11: Antrim 1-13 London 1-8; Derry 2-8 Wicklow
0-9; Waterford 5-4 Wexford 0-12.
Round 5: Mar 2: Wicklow v Wexford; Mar 3: Waterford v Antrim; Leitrim v
London; Limerick v Derry.
Round 6: Mar 16: Antrim v Wicklow; London v Waterford; Wexford v Limerick;
Derry v Leitrim.
Round 6: Mar 24: Derry v Wexford; Leitrim v Waterford; Limerick v Antrim;
Wicklow v London.
Final: Mar 30
