SATURDAY night’s draw with Waterford leaves the Limerick hurlers in a situation where their fate is still in their own hands, but with little or no scope for dropped points from here on.
Even allowing for the high standard of hurling that was on display in O’Moore Park, it’s still extremely likely that both Offaly and Laois will struggle to take points off the division front runners, which is why Paddy Power have installed Limerick (6/4), Waterford and Wexford (9/4) as the clear favourites to top the division.
However Antrim’s strong performance in Wexford Park has also demonstrated how these games against the lesser teams in the division still have to be taken seriously by the front runners and further evidence of this is the comparably low handicap of five points that Powers have put in place for Limerick’s fixture in Ballycastle this Sunday.
Most punters are likely to weigh in on the side of the favourites for this one, however if Limerick are to cover the handicap here, chances are they’ll need to score goals to do so.
Last year the Ulster county played four competitive home games at McQuillan Park and all four games were decided by four points or less. Powers are laying 9/4 about Limerick winning the game and scoring three goals here and since it’s difficult to see the Treaty County covering a five point spread without at least scoring two goals, that bet is infinitely preferable to a straight handicap play.
In the other games taking place this week, Offaly plus two points could be worth a second look at home against Wexford.
The Model County has taken some big strides forward under Liam Dunne’s guidance while Offaly were going the other direction, however they showed plenty of nice pointscoring ability last week and in a fixture where home advantage tends to be a strong indicator as to who will come away with the result, Offaly plus two has to be the better call.
Laois plus six is an interesting wager against Waterford too, but it’s not clear how Laois will react after losing out in a game that was supposed to mark their move past Offaly in the overall pecking order. Instead, Kilkenny minus two against Dublin is worth doubling up with the Faithful County, along with Limerick minus five if you wish.
Dublin played some excellent hurling against Tipperary last week but Tipp are usually slow starters at this time of year. The Cats are very proud of their home field and haven’t lost there in nearly five years now, so while Dublin are dangerous opponents, anything other than a Kilkenny win would be a huge shock.
by Kevin Egan, Paddy Power
