It’s make or break time for teams in the Shannonside region as the second round of the Allianz League gets underway this weekend.
All three teams lost out last week and now face a small battle to try and claim a place in the semi-final’s stage, surprisingly each sides faces a team which also lost their opening encounter.
Of the 15 games played in Round 1, seven were home wins, six away while two were at neutral venues.
Division 1 south: clash of ‘big two’ on neutral territory
Sunday: Dublin v Kerry, Semple Stadium, 1.45pm; Galway v Roscommon, Pearse Stadium, 2pm
Galway v Roscommon has been a keenly-fought rivalry over the years, including recent seasons when they met in Connacht finals in 2016-17-19.
They drew in 2016, with Galway winning the replay while Roscommon won in 2017 and 2019. Their last League clash was in 2019 when Galway won by 1-17 to 1-10.
Kerry had a whopping 22 points to spare over Galway while Dublin beat Roscommon by nine points.
It leaves the Connacht pair under pressure as they prepare for their clash in Pearse Stadium on Sunday. The losers will be in relegation trouble heading for Round three where Galway will play Dublin while Roscommon face Kerry.
The early game is a clash of the two most successful counties in Gaelic football history.
This will be the 83rd meeting between the counties (31 championship, 52 League) with results as follows: Kerry 40 wins, Dublin 32 wins, Draws 10. The league record reads Kerry 23 Dublin 21, Draws seven.
Their most recent meeting ended level (1-19 each in Croke Park), with David Clifford grabbing the equaliser deep in stoppage time last year.
The winners of this game will book a place in the semi-final. Roscommon will need to avoid defeat in Galway regardless, particularly if Kerry come to the Hyde needing a win.
Division 3 north: Derry & Fermanagh set early pace
Saturday: Derry v Fermanagh, Owenbeg, 5pm, Cavan v Longford, Breffni Park, 7pm
Cavan’s poor run in the opening round of the Allianz League continued when they lost to Fermanagh last Saturday night, their seventh year in a row where failed to win a first round game since beating Fermanagh (Division 3) in 2014
As for Longford, there’s a feel of an uphill task when as Cavan play their first game in Kingspan Breffni since winning the Ulster title last November.
Cavan and Longford last met in the League in 2014 when Cavan won by two points.
Meanwhile Fermanagh now head to Owenbeg to take on Derry, who romped past Longford 0-21 to 0-5. It will be the first League clash between the counties since 2017 when Derry won in Division 2 by 2-8 to 0-13.
Division 4 north: Sligo & Antrim boost promotion chances
Sunday: Leitrim v Louth, Carrick-on Shannon. 3pm Antrim v Sligo, Corrigan Park, 4pm
Last weekend’s winners Antrim and Sligo meet in Corrigan Park while the losers Louth and Leitrim clash in Carrick-on-Shannon, knowing that only a win will be good enough to keep them in promotion contention.
Leitrim beat Louth by eight points in last year’s League while Sligo beat Antrim by a point.
Leitrim however are in a very different position against Louth who have brought in the services of Mickey Harte who has three all-Ireland, six Ulster and one national league medal on his table.
Harte’s uber defensive style was in evidence Louth fell to Antrim, it will take some time to settle, and it will cause Leitrim some food for thought.
