Two defeats from three
games leave reigning Allianz League Division 1 champions, Dublin facing a big
task to get back in contention for a place in the final in a group when Mayo
and Kerry set the pace on six points.
It greatly adds to the
interest in the Dublin v Mayo clash in Croke Park on Saturday night as a defeat
for Jim Gavin’s men, who have won five of the last six League titles, would
leave them with only a slim chance of reaching the final even if they won their
last three games.
ALLIANZ
FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 1
Saturday (7.0): Dublin v
Mayo, Croke Park; Tyrone v Monaghan, Omagh.
Sunday: Galway v Kerry,
Tuam Stadium, 2.0; Cavan v Roscommon, Kingspan Breffni Park, 2.30
James Horan returns to
Croke Park as Mayo manager for the first time since 2014 when his side drew
with Kerry in the All-Ireland semi-final and will be hoping to mark the
occasion with a win over their great rivals.
Mayo, whose last
competitive win over Dublin was in the 2012 All-Ireland semi-final, have
enjoyed their best start to the League for several years, beating Roscommon,
Tyrone and Cavan while Dublin have lost two of their opening three games for
the first time since 2015. However, they recovered that year and went on to win
the title.
Dublin beat Mayo by 2-10
to 0-12 in Round 4 of last year’s League.
Like Mayo, Kerry have
made a blistering start and head for Tuam next Sunday looking for a fourth
successive win against Galway (two wins from three). Galway beat Kerry in
last year’s League (1-14 to 0-14) and in the ‘Super 8’ (1-13 to 1-10). Prior to
that, Galway hadn’t beaten Kerry in either League or Championship since 2003.
Tyrone v Monaghan will go
ahead in circumstances that neither would have anticipated at the start of the
campaign.
Tyrone, who won the Dr.
McKenna Cup in an impressive pre-season campaign, have lost two (Kerry, Tyrone)
and drew one (Roscommon) while Monaghan made a great start with a win over
Dublin before losing to Roscommon and Galway.
Monaghan v Tyrone
produced three fascinating contests last year, with Malachy O’Rourke’s men
edging it 2-1.
They won the League clash
by 0-15 to 0-14, the Ulster quarter-final by 1-18 to 1-16, but Tyrone won the
biggest game of all – the All-Ireland semi-final – edging home by 1-13 to
0-15.
It’s the clash of 2018
promoted teams in Kingspan Breffni Park, when Cavan (three defeats) take on
Roscommon (one win, one draw, one defeat). They met twice in Division 2 last
year with Roscommon winning both. They won by 0-15 to 0-13 in Round 6 and by
4-16 to 4-12 in the final.
ALLIANZ
FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 2
Saturday (7.0): Cork v
Meath, Pairc Ui Rinn.
Sunday (2.0): Armagh v
Tipperary, Athletic Grounds; Donegal v Fermanagh, Letterkenny; Kildare v Clare,
Newbridge.
It’s not where Cork
expected to be after three games, but instead of being in the promotion places,
they find themselves bottom of the table after losing to Kildare and Clare and
drawing with Fermanagh. Next up is Meath, who lead the table on scoring difference
from Fermanagh and Donegal after winning two of three games.
Cork and Meath have met
in the League for the past two seasons, drawing in 2017, while Cork won by four
points last year in Navan,Donegal (4 pts) v Fermanagh (4pts) is a re-run of
last year’s Ulster final which Donegal won by 2-18 to 0-12. Fermanagh are
the only unbeaten team in the group, having drawn two and won one of their
three games, while Donegal won their first two games before losing to Tipperary
in Round 3.
Kildare and Clare, both
of whom are on three points, clash in Newbridge in what will their second
League clash in three seasons. Kildare won by a point in Round 6 last year, a
win that helped them to promotion to Division 1.
Armagh (2pts) and
Tipperary (3pts) didn’t meet last year but had two clashes in 2017 with Tipp
clinching promotion to Division 2 with a 3-8 to 0-16 win in the final series of
Round 3 games. Armagh took revenge in the All-Ireland qualifiers later in the
year, winning by 1-17 to 1-15.
ALLIANZ
FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 3
Sunday: Longford v Down,
Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 2.0; Westmeath v Laois, TEG Cusack Park, 2.30;
Louth v Sligo, Venue TBC 2.30; Drogheda; Offaly v Carlow, Bord na Mona
O’Connor Park, 3.0
No team on full points
and only one (Sligo) without a point after three games underlines how
competitive this group is. Longford, who top the table on five points, host
Down (four points) in a game that could prove crucial for both in their
promotion push.
It will be the first
clash between them since the 2016 All-Ireland qualifiers when Longford won 2-24
to 3-17 after extra-time in Newry.
Laois, who came up from
Division 4 this year, and Louth, who dropped down from Division 2, are both on
four points as they prepare to take on Westmeath (2pts) and Sligo respectively.
Laois beat Westmeath by
ten points in last year’s Leinster quarter-final in a game where Paul Cahillane
scored 3-2 to the winners. Sligo beat Louth (0-17 to 1-11) in their last League
clash two years ago.
Carlow (3pts) and Offaly
(1pt) last met in the League in 2015 when Offaly won by a point in Tullamore in
Division 4.
ALLIANZ
FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 4:
Saturday: Limerick v
Leitrim, Kilmallock, 3.0
Sunday: Antrim v London,
Corrigan Park, 1,0; Derry v Wicklow; Maghera, 2.0; Wexford v Waterford,
Innovate Wexford Park.
Leitrim’s impressive run
– three games, three wins – has been one of the eye-catching developments so
far, leaving Terry Hyland’s men leading the table on scoring difference from
Derry as they prepare to take on Limerick, who have won two of three games.
Leitrim beat Limerick by
double scores (2-18 to 1-9) in last year’s League clash in Carrick-on-Shannon,
but this is a much tougher proposition as Billy Lee’s men have a much improved
defence this year.
Indeed, they have
conceded the lowest (2-28) of any team in the group in the opening three
rounds. Leitrim are top scorers on 4-45 so it promises to be an intriguing
contest.
Derry, who are aiming for
a quick return to Division 3, face Wicklow (two wins from three games) in what
will be the first League clash between the counties since 2005 when the Ulster
men won by 2-16 t0 1-7. Antrim were among the pre-season fancies to be in the
promotion hunt, but instead find themselves at the bottom of the table with
Waterford. Both have lost all three games so far. Antrim head for Ruislip to
take on London (one win, two defeats), having beaten the exiles by four points
in last year’s League.
Wexford were stunned by
London in the last round and now need to beat Waterford to stay in contention
for a quick return to Division 3. It’s a tricky assignment for the Model men as
Waterford’s confidence will be raised by the memory of their one-point
win over the Model men in Innovate Wexford Park in last year’s
All-Ireland qualifiers.
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: Feb 23: Dublin v Mayo; Tyrone v Monaghan; Feb 24 Galway v Kerry;
Cavan v Roscommon.
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: Feb 23: Cork v Meath; Feb 24: Armagh v Tipperary; Donegal v
Fermanagh; Kildare v Clare.
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: Feb 24: Longford v Down; Westmeath v Laois; Louth v Sligo;
Offaly v Carlow.
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: Feb 23: Limerick v Leitrim; Feb 24: Antrim v London; Derry v
Wicklow; Wexford v Waterford.
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
