by Kevin Egan, For Paddy Power.
As a result, Limerick supporters should take heart from the fact that this weekend the county hurlers have been installed as favourites by the betting firm, while Maurice Horan’s footballers are also considered to be in with a great shout at only 9/4 against Longford. Unfortunately, however much we might like to, this columnist simply can’t agree with either assessment.
The hurlers played very well in the Munster championship and couldn’t be faulted for the manner in which they put Laois and Antrim to the sword, however those games were of little use to John Allen in preparing for the kind of challenge that Clare will bring this weekend. Clare showed great character to produce a comeback win against Dublin last week and no amount of racking up scores against poor teams can compensate for the momentum generated by wins like that. The Banner county held the edge in both league meetings and while it should be a great game to watch, Clare at 6/5 look like the value.
Longford look even better from a betting point of view, particularly minus two points on the handicap. Glen Ryan’s men are flying in 2012 and their win over Derry was way beyond anything that Limerick have done this year. There will be two divisions between these sides in the league next year and that gap is both justified and worth a lot more than two points.
So for a bet this week that doesn’t border on treason, Antrim at 7/2 to beat Galway leaps off the page. Since it was introduced, Galway’s relationship with the backdoor has been spectacularly dysfunctional. The Tribesmen won the 2001 All Ireland through the qualifier system in the first ever year of the new system. Their next qualifier tie was against Louth in 2004, another game they won, but since then, Galway have played six qualifier ties and lost all six. You could call it football’s equivalent of a one night stand where a great time was had by all involved, but nobody is interested is picking up the phone to arrange a second date.
Galway were unimaginative and one-dimensional against Sligo and manager Alan Mulholland seems unsure of the best way to create scoring chances. He played Paul Conroy as full forward throughout the league, before taking his big man out of the inside line after only twenty minutes at Pearse Stadium, even though he had done reasonably well with very little good ball. Antrim are a good goalscoring team and at home, they’ll fancy their chances of an ambush, particularly against a side that can’t be trusted to put their best foot forward.
