Week 1 of the Allianz Football League delivered in style, with some real scraps and close games as All-Ireland champions Kerry were stunned by Donegal, Mayo and Galway fought out a stalemate and Dublin only just edged out Kildare in Croke Park.
Week 1 of the Hurling League sits alongside the second set of games in the Football this weekend and it should be more of the same across both codes, with tight encounters likely.
Selections
- Limerick to beat Cork
- Kerry to beat Monaghan
- Armagh and Mayo to draw
Rebels may struggle with Treaty challenge
Limerick vs Cork, Saturday 4th February, 7.30pm – Live on RTE2
Three-in-a-row All-Ireland champions Limerick head for Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Saturday evening to commence their season with a derby game against hosts Cork.
Limerick spent a generation in the shadows before their 2019 Allianz League final win over Waterford and, since then, they have become the benchmark for all other counties to take aim at.
Their trio of Liam McCarthy wins included a 2021 destruction of Cork, the Rebels on the wrong end of a 16-point mauling that afternoon.
It was a similar tale last season when they clashed in the Munster championship here in Pairc Ui Chaoimh, with the visiting side running out 11-point winners.
Cork, without league success since 1998, reached last year’s decider but lost to Waterford. The Leesiders are under new management this time around and have looked sharp in preseason.
Limerick’s low-key approach to the league 12 months ago was eventually hailed as a tactical masterstroke when they won another All-Ireland but under the lights in Cork on a Saturday night, it’s unlikely John Kiely’s men will want to be the sideshow.
Kingdom need a response after Ballybofey collapse
Kerry vs Monaghan, Sunday 5th February, 1.30pm – Live on TG4
Week 1 of the football saw a most un-Kerry-like collapse as Jack O’Connor’s side were beaten by Donegal in Ballybofey when Paddy McBrearty kicked a superb winner for the hosts deep into injury time.
Kerry tallied 1-09 on a rain-sodden afternoon, while Donegal managed 0-13 to edge them out. The remarkable however stat was that the Kingdom had registerrf 1-06 after 25 minutes but could only muster three more scores in 50 minutes of playing time.
O’Connor lamented some refereeing calls that went against his side post-game but, in the sanctuary of his own dressing room, surely the Kerry boss would have let fly at a faltering attack that wasted some fine opportunities to put Donegal out of sight in the first half and went missing in the second period.
Monaghan make the trip south to Killarney on Sunday and inside Fitzgerald Stadium they are will to find a Kerry side still smarting from that week one loss. They are unlikely to be so accommodating to Ulster opposition this time.
Stalemate possibilities for Athletic Grounds
Armagh vs Mayo, Sunday 5th February, 3.30pm – Live on TG4
Last weekend saw one-point wins for Donegal and Dublin – a score between Down and Tipperary, Armagh edging Monaghan by two and Mayo inseparable from Galway in Castlebar.
It was Mayo that needed a late score to level that one and they could be in another arm-wrestle with Armagh on Sunday afternoon.
The Orchard county edged Ulster rivals Monaghan in Castleblaney last weekend, but were wasteful at times and left to sweat it out in the end.
Mayo, despite being second-best to Galway for long spells, found a way to get something from the game and illustrated that while the personnel has changed on and off the field, the spirit remains very much the same. This should be another close tussle and a draw wouldn’t be a shock.
