In A Remarkable Late Rally
Longford had five indicate spare over Carlow when the sides met in round 5 of the league, beating them 1-19 to 1-14, so it is a little surprising to see them as big as 7-4 to win Saturday's final.
In an impressive late rally, Longford originated from 11 points down to beat Wicklow by a point last weekend, sealing promo and a slot in the Division 4 last, and they look overpriced to continue their celebrations.
Down vs Wexford
7.15 pm Saturday, TG4
The only final that looks cut and dried this weekend is the Divsion 3 decider where Down can prove a level above surprise bundles Wexford.
Westmeath were on their method to the final, holding a two-point lead with only seconds staying last weekend, however a late smash-and-grab raid from Wexford courtesy of a Sean Ryan goal secured the unlikliest of promos.
The celebrations were wild at the final whistle and appropriately so, however Mark McHugh and his Wexford side might be in for an impolite awakening at headquarters this weekend. It won't be simple coming down from such a big high.
Down have actually already hammered them by ten points - 1-29 to 1-19 - on their home spot and some silverware will be a huge offer for the Mourne guys, who will have goals of making an effect in the Ulster championship. Wexford look set to be whipping boys in the Leinster one.
Wexford yielded 2-17 to Clare in round 6 and 1-18 to Westmeath last weekend having been rather tight defensively prior to that and it is hard to imagine them keeping Pat Havern and Odhran Murdock peaceful. Those are 2 quality assailants who will enjoy getting back to Croke Park.
Down might win this by a double-figure margin and backing them to defy a five-point handicap looks the finest bet of the . They might net a few objectives along the way.
Cork vs Meath
1.45 pm Sunday, TG4
Cork and Meath clashed in 3 All-Ireland finals within the area of 4 years in between 1987 and 1990 and again in 1999. There was a huge competition between the 2 counties in those days but current years have been barren for both sides.
Meath have emerged from nowhere under Robbie Brennan and reached in 2015's All-Ireland semi-final, while Cork could, and most likely should, have actually beaten Kerry in last year's Munster champion.
There were just 2 points between the sides when they fulfilled at Pairc Ui Rinn in round four when a scoring rise at the end of the very first half put the hosts in an incredible position and they handled to hang on at the end of the video game.
Meath have actually given that beaten Kildare by 14, Tyrone by 5 and Offaly by 10, so it's not a surprise to see them head into the Division 2 decider as small favourites.
Both these teams play an attractive brand name of football and Meath have scored at least one objective in each of their last 6 outings. Indeed, they have actually got ten of them because time and may have got more had they gone searching for them late in their recent tussle with Offaly.
Cork have actually failed to discover the internet in two of their last three outings, but Chris Og Jones will enjoy the prospect of playing at Corke Park and his speed has the possible to cause the Meath rearguard all sorts of problems.
You can get odds-against about 3 or more goals in the game which looks value as it looks more like an odds-on shot.
Donegal vs Kerry
4pm Sunday, TG4
The Division 1 league last is an uncommon types. Usually teams don't truly seem to care whether they win it or not as their sole focus is on the upcoming championship campaign so it will be intriguing to see what sort of approach Jim McGuinness and Jack O'Connor take this year. Will they desire to provide declarations of intent, or will it be another round of shadow boxing?
The very best guess seems that McGuinness might want to lay down a marker for the summer season and will throw the cooking area sink at it. If he does, that will indicate making life very hard for David Clifford and co up front for Kerry. If Donegal are going to treat this like a championship clash, which appears probably, the structures will be dug at the back. An open, high-scoring shootout is no good to them. Kerry would win that every day of the week and twice on Sunday. They require to keep it tight and turn it into a battle.
Donegal managed to keep Kerry to 1-18 when the sides fulfilled in round 2 and the overall points line looks expensive at 46.5.
Last year's final produced an overall of just 36 points as Kerry strolled past Mayo by a scoreline of 1-18 to 1-12 and if either group gets to 21 points this year it must be sufficient, too.
The worst-case circumstance for these sides heading into the champion is a hammering and it is tough to see McGuinness allowing that to occur to Donegal. Nor Jack O'Connor to Kerry. This will be tight, and while last year's champs Kerry may have a slight edge in advance, it is tough to be determined that they will defy a two-point handicap.
Donegal have taken their foot off the throttle in the last few years and yielded 2-20 to Roscommon and 3-15 to Monaghan in the last two rounds. But prior to those 2 video games their typical concession was under 19 points per video game and they kept clean sheets against Dublin, Mayo, Armagh and Galway. That is a big accomplishment under the new guidelines and Kerry will succeed to create a substantial rating in the decider versus such a well-drilled protective system.
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