Sunday 5 February

Allianz FL Division 1
Armagh 0-10 1-07 Cork, Morgan Athletic Ground FT

Allianz FL Division 2
Derry 1-11 1-15 Galway, Celtic Park FT
Louth 0-12 1-06 Westmeath, Haggardstown FT

Allianz FL Division 3
Longford 2-15 0-08 Offaly, Pearse Park FT
Wexford 4-09 1-13 Cavan, Wexford Park FT
Roscommon 1-12 0-12 Tipperary, Kiltoom FT

Allianz FL Division 4
Clare 1-17 0-12 Waterford, Cusack Park FT
Kilkenny 1-01 3-25 Wicklow, Freshford FT
Leitrim 0-09 1-09 Limerick, Carrick-on-Shannon FT
London OFF Fermanagh, Ruislip, 1pm

Walsh Cup SH semi-finals
Kilkenny 1-23 1-16 Westmeath, Castlecomer FT
Galway 2-19 0-11 Laois, Ballinasloe FT

Walsh Cup SH Shield final
Offaly 0-22 1-14 DIT, Tullamore AET

Waterford Crystal Cup SH quarter-final
Waterford 3-19 1-19 UCC, WIT FT

Kehoe Cup SH semi-final
Meath 1-16 5-16 St. Pats Drumcondra, Pairc Tailteann FT

Harty Cup
Nenagh 1-12 2-09 Ardscoil Ris FT

Bord Gáis Energy Ladies Gaelic National League
Division 1
Donegal v Cork, Ballyshannon, 12.30pm, (J Niland)
Monaghan v Laois, Tyholland, 2.00pm, (E O’Hare)
Kildare 0-01 3-08 Dublin, Ballykelly, 2.00pm, (P Kehoe)
Meath v Tyrone, Ashbourne, 2.00pm, (M Henry)
Division 2
Tipperary v Kerry, Cahir, 2.00pm, (J Flood)
Clare v Waterford, Doonbeg, 2.00pm, (M Duffy)
Galway v Mayo, Tuam Stadium, 2.00pm (D McEnery)
Fermanagh v Cavan, Kinawley, 2.00pm, (S McIntyre)
Division 3
Armagh v Sligo, Crossmaglen, 2.00pm, (P Swift)
Wexford 3-09 2-14 Wicklow, Bellefield FT
Roscommon v Westmeath, Strokestown, 2.00pm, (Y Duffy)
Leitrim v Down, Ballinamore, 2.00pm (S Regan)
Division 4
Offaly v Limerick, Mucklagh, 2.00pm, (G McMahon)
Longford v Louth, Emmett Park, 2.00pm, (P Fahy)

O’ Carroll, who represented his county in all three GAA codes in 2011 secured his first Munster 40×20 victory at senior level without dropping a game as he ousted Cork’s Colm Jordan 21-18, 21-9 in the quarters before accounting for Kerry’s Dominic Lynch 21-13, 21-14. The deciding match up brought O’Carroll together with Ireland’s most promising junior talent, Mallow’s Killian Carroll.

The Cork star who recently claimed his third USHA Junior National gong in Tucson in December had also reached the final of the third annual John Gaffney senior event in mid-January. That didn’t deter the Cappagh club man whose intense winter training programme paid dividends at the conclusion of his Munster crusade.

The Cork teenager dominated the early proceedings and jumped into a 7-1 lead but O’Carroll then took 20 of the next 29 points to win the opening game 21-16. After the restart, the Limerick man continued to utilise his power and accurate offensive attack to good effect which ensured his first Munster 40×20 senior championship, winning game two 21-10.

“In the final I was up against Killian Carroll of Cork and this guy is definitely one to watch out for in the future. He’s a great athlete and a brilliant player for his age as has been proven from his recent results in the states at the US Juniors, the Ballaghaderreen tournament and last weekend’s Munster Championship,” said O’Carroll.

“In the first game I started very slow and was 7-1 down. I knew I just had to stay in touch at the start because I knew as the game went on that my power and the fitness from the winter training with the Limerick Senior Footballers would kick in. I won a tough first game 21-16 and in the second game I got more into my rhythm and got my serving going and that along with my power and kill shots won out 21-10.”

O’Carroll tasted senior glory in 2011 in the senior hardball code when he reached the singles and doubles finals but faltered to the hands of Westmeath’s Robbie McCarthy and Dublin respectively. He is relishing the upcoming 40×20 senior series but believes that no one will stop Cavan’s Paul Brady from bagging his eighth successive senior GAA Handball crown.

“I was over the moon when the final ended and especially after last year’s disappointment I wanted to come back better this year and win my 1st senior singles title. I have won the Munster senior doubles this past two years and it was nice to finally get that single’s accolade.”

“This is my first senior Munster title and hopefully it’s not the last. It’s probably been my main aim since I grew up watching the likes of Tony Healy, John Herlihy and Dominick Lynch competing for the title. It’s really nice because my coach Donal Hayes has been coaching me from day one and to see the pride he had in me winning was special. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I win my 1st All-Ireland singles title.”

“Looking forward I feel confident heading into the All-Ireland Championship and I think anyone outside of Paul Brady is beatable on the day and there seems to be no stopping that man yet. I suppose there are so many good players in the championship at the moment. It looks to be more and more exciting each year and harder and harder to win any game. The main achievement outside of the Munster Singles title was the ranking points on offer so hopefully I may get a kinder draw now and hopefully give this year’s championship a good rattle.”

All four senior provincial championships are very competitive at present with Munster now looking like one of the most hotly contested. In recent seasons, it was dominated by the former four times Irish senior champion, Cork’s Tony Healy but that has changed dramatically with an impressive array of talented young players now in the mix.

“There’s no such thing as an easy game in Munster any more. It’s probably one of the youngest provinces as well and I think if you asked anyone at the start of the championship who would win it, I think everyone would have picked someone different. Some of the country’s top young players are in Munster such as CJ Fitzpatrick, Diarmuid Nash, Killian Carroll and Fergal Collins but you then have guys such as Dominick Lynch, Ger Coonan, Colm Jordan and Brendan Fleming who are very difficult opponents on any given day. It’s exciting times in Munster and hopefully in the next few years the next senior champion will hail from probably the strongest and most keenly contested province.”

In Ulster last weekend, Cavan’s Brady controlled his final opponent, Antrim’s Ricky McCann 21-7, 21-6. This was the current world champion’s first outing in singles competitive action since his final win last April.

In Connaught, Mayo’s Joe McCann took the honours with victories over Roscommon’s Chris Doolin and Galway’s Martin Mulkerrins before beating fellow Ballaghaderreen club man, Stephen Cooney in the final 21-3, 21-15.
In Leinster, the 2011 senior softball champion, Westmeath’s Robbie McCarthy is favourite to prevail and he is recognised as the key challenger to Brady’s throne in the coming months.

Meanwhile, across the Atlantic in Atlanta last weekend, Armagh’s Charlie Shanks, now based in New York, continued his rise in the USA standings after reaching the semi-final with wins over Emmett Peixoto (Boston, MA) and nine times USA Open winner, David Chapman (Weldon Spring, MO). The 2010 and 2011 40×20 senior runner up, then fell short against California’s Naty Alvarado in the last four but Shanks is happy with his progress since his move to the States last September.

“I’m currently ranked 6th and I’m gradually moving up the seeding with the more events I attend. I had good wins over Peixoto and Chapman, but then I had to play Alvarado who had a handy enough run for him. My arms were too sore and he was too fresh for me on the day. That’s the first time I’ve beat those two guys at this level, so it was a good weekend on that front. I’m sitting 4th in the race for eight standings with two events left before the showdown in Seattle in May. I’m starting to hit some form again so I’m looking forward to Salt Lake City in two weeks.”

He’s also spoken about the rumours linking him with two clubs and about the recent hot topic of violence in the GAA.

Will the GAA turn professional?
I think it’s inevitable really, people talk about professionalism being unsustainable. I can’t see it being any less sustainable than amateurism at the moment, in terms of the difficulties that exist at the minute trying to sustain an amateur game, it’s obviously proving difficult. Money is changing hands and the levels players are asked to go to, if they feel that the preparation isn’t right to get the best out of themselves, we’ve had strikes and walkouts and I think that day (when players get paid) will come.
Rumours that Paul was transferring to Antrim club St Gall’s?
No. I got a newspaper in my post, from a newspaper up the north with a picture of me on the front of it and an absolutely fabricated story that I was going up to do some course up in Jordanstown and I was joining St Gall’s. It was completely untrue.
And the rumours of a move to a Dublin club?

No, again similar story. I was living in Dublin. That caused me annoyance, completely untrue, no foundation yet it’s on the front page of a newspaper. I happened to meet the journalist who wrote it and I asked him about it and he had his sources but there’s never anything you can do.

On violence in the GAA:
I had an experience when I was a young fella. A guy came in from the sideline and gave me a punch in a club game. I was around 16 or 17, playing a senior game.
It’s difficult to differentiate between violence in the GAA and violence anywhere else. It’s a problem outside of sport as well. I would agree that there’s more respect and more tolerance in the game of rugby that there is in GAA, be it towards referees or towards opponents. It’s something I admire a lot about rugby but referees in rugby are more communicative and that’s a huge factor, that’s a reason for tolerance between players and the referee.
Involvement from the coaching staff on the sideline:

It’s very apparent in GAA. I certainly see quite a bit of it. I see it in club situations more so, not as much with inter-county. You’d be left shaking your head at times, the level of indiscipline on the sidelines particularly. When it happens on the sideline it feeds into the field of play.
If I see our sideline, with my club, getting on the case of referees or opponents or the opposition dugout, it annoys me.
Would he ever tackle the coaches about it?
I have done, yeah. It does affect players, it doesn’t happen very often at my club. It’s a matter of responsibility but it’s a tough one to address.

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Tyrone showed that they could well be a force to be reckoned with once more in 2012,as a strong second half showing saw the Ulster side prove too good for Kildare at Croke Park on Saturday evening.

The Red Hands had been in excellent form in the McKenna Cup, but Kildare were expected to prove tough opposition and many pundits felt that the Lilywhites may end the Tyrone run of success. However, second half goals from Martin Penrose and Peter Harte were to prove the difference between the teams as the underdogs went on to record a comfortable success. The performances of old hands, Owen Mulligan and Stephen O’Neill will have been particularly pleasing for the management.

Mulligan was a constant threat to the Kildare defence, while O’Neill scored five points and always looked capable of causing problems. Kildare made the better start and led early as scores from Mikey Conway and Padraig O’Neill saw them establish control. Mulligan added to the Tyrone tally but further points from Conway left Kildare ahead by 0-6 to 0-3 at the break.

Tyrone stepped it up a gear after the restart and Martin Penrose had the ball in the net after 41 minutes. When Peter Harte did likewise after 56 minutes the game was as good as over. The Red Hands night was about to get even better as Sean Cavanagh made a late appearance off the bench. The talisman had been expected to miss a number of matches after suffering a pre-season injury but is clearly making a fast recovery

On the evidence of this game, Tyrone now look the team to beat in this division. Micky Harte will be keen to get his side back to the top tier next season and they have now given themselves every chance to do so.

Scorers – Tyrone: Stephen O’Neill 0-5 (2f), M Penrose, P Harte 1-0 each, O Mulligan 0-3 (1f), D McCaul, R O’Neill, Mark Donnelly 0-1 each; Kildare: M Conway 0-6 (4f), P O’Neill, E O’Flaherty (1f, 1 ’45) 0-2 each, J Doyle, P Kelly 0-1 each

Tyrone – P McConnell; A McCrory, C Clarke, PJ Quinn; C McCarron, P Harte, Sean O’Neill; M Murphy, A Cassidy; Mattie Donnelly, P Hughes, M Penrose; O Mulligan, Mark Donnelly, Stephen O’Neill. Subs: D McCaul for Quinn, R O’Neill for Hughes, N McKenna for Cassidy, R McMenamin for Mattie Donnelly

Kildare – S Connolly; P Kelly, C Fitzpatrick, O Lyons; B Flanagan, T O’Neill, E O’Flaherty; D Flynn, R Sweeney; T Moolick, M Conway, P O’Neill; J Kavanagh, T O’Connor, A Smith. Subs: J Doyle for Moolick, H McGrillen for Flanagan, E Callaghan for Smith, M O’Flaherty for Fitzpatrick, R Kelly for Flynn

The Munster side were the better team for much of the game and should have had this tie wrapped up before the interval. As it was,they only led 0-7 to 0-5 at that point. Lack of a competitive outing clearly told against the Kingdom, and their forwards were less than accurate in the early stages. This was only to be expected from a side that had not seen much action since last September. However, ten wides in the first half and sixteen in total was still a very worrying statistic for management to address.
For their part, Dublin hit eight wides as they also saw some opportunities go amiss. The loss of Eamon Fennell to a straight red card in the 67th minute means they will now be without the player for the next few games.

Darran O’Sullivan, Bryan Sheehan and Paul Galvin led the line for the winners, and the first named hit a crucial goal 15 minutes from time,that wrapped up the points for the visitors. Dublin were too dependent on scores from placed balls on the night and it was Mossie Quinn and Stephen Cluxton that kept their hopes alive. The crowd of 45,838 never really got the classic encounter they had hoped for, but it is asking a lot at this stage of the season. Both counties will need to improve as the year goes on but are likely to do so.

Bryan Sheehan hit eight scores for Kerry, including three from play. The St Mary’s man has really grown into his midfield role and is establishing himself as a key member of the side. James O’Donoghue scored three points on his big game debut and the former under-21 star looks set to challenge for a starting berth this season. Mossie Quinn led the way for Dublin with four points.

Scorers – Kerry: B Sheehan 0-8 (5f), J O’Donoghue 0-3 (1f), D O’Sullivan 1-0, BJ Keane 0-3. Dublin: T Quinn 0-4 (3f), K McManamon 0-3, S Cluxton 0-2, (1 ’45′), B Cullen, D Connolly 0-1 each.

Kerry – B Kealy; S Enright, M O Se, P Crowley; T O Se, K Young, B Maguire; S Scanlon, B Sheehan; P Galvin, Darran O’Sullivan, S O’Sullivan; J O’Donoghue, K Donaghy, BJ Keane. Subs: A Maher for S Scanlon (h-t), P Curtin for S O’Sullivan (49), D O’Callaghan for Darran O’Sullivan (inj) 60, A O’Mahony for P Crowley (66), D Bohane for BJ Keane (71)

Dublin – S Cluxton; M Fitzsimons, Rory O’Carroll, P McMahon; J McCarthy, G Brennan, C Dias; R McConnell, MD MacAuley; P Brogan, K McManamon, B Cullen; D Connolly, E O’Gara, T Quinn. Subs: P Flynn for P Brogan (44), K Nolan for M Fitzsimons (50), E Fennell for R McConnell (51), D Kelly for E O’Gara (63), S Murray for MD Macauley (64)

The division 1 encounter will see defending champions Cork take on Armagh who will be hoping to improve on last year’s corresponding fixture after the Leesiders emerged victorious by 2-12 to 1-12.

Conor Counihan will welcome back Colm O’Neill for his first competitive outing in a Rebels jersey since injuring his cruciate in last year’s League campaign.

John Miskella (retired) and Daniel Goulding (injured) are two of only four changes to the Cork side that defeated Dublin in last year’s League final.

Meanwhile, Armagh must do without their Cross Maglen contingent on the panel with their All Ireland Club semi-final against Dr Crokes approaching later this month.

However the absence has presented other players with a valuable opportunity with Paul Carville and Eugene Mc Verry taking up the corner forward positions while John Kingham will line-out at midfield.

With Paul Hearty unavailable for selection, Niall Geoghan will retain his place in goal after the keeper impressed during the county’s run in the McKenna Cup.

Armagh will be aiming to improve on the 2011 league campaign which saw them narrowly avoiding relegation as a result of a superior head-to-head record with Monaghan.

However, the Orchard County will face a string of testing encounters which includes meetings with Cork and Kerry in the first two rounds followed by a trip to play Dublin in Croke Park in round 4.

For their own part, Cork have won the League for the last two years running and will go into this year’s campaign as favourites despite a disappointing display in last year’s championship.

Cork (SF v Armagh): K O’Halloran; R Carey, M Shields, E Cadogan; N O’Leary, G Canty, P Kissane; A O’Connor, P O’Neill; F Goold, P Kelly, C O’Driscoll; C O’Neill, D O’Connor, P Kerrigan.

Armagh (SF V Cork): N Geoghan; A Mallon, B Donaghy, D McKenna; P Duffy, C McKeever, F Moriarty; C Vernon, J Kingham; C Watters, K Dyas, A Duffy; P Carville, M Mackin, E McVerry.’

Click here for the latest All Ireland Football odds from Betfair

Goalkeeper Manus Breathnach from An Spideal, corner-back Keith Kelly from Ballinasloe, Mark Hehir from Milltown at right-half forward and clubmate Michael Martin at right corner-forward all make their league bows this Sunday. Finian Hanley from Salthill -Knocknacarra is the captain for 2012 as last year’s successful U-21 side make up the brunt of the Galway side that face Derry.

Relegation from the top flight followed what was a dire season for the Tribesmen last year with only one win under former manager Tomás O Flatharta who tended to play players out of position.

Current boss Alan Mulholland now has the unenviable task of bringing Galway football back to the top flight where they have been for the past number of years and a promising FBD campaign, where Mulholland mixed many of last year’s winning U-21 players with current senior players, has been a boost.

The dreadful league and championship campaigns in recent years indicate clearly that football within the county has struggled to produce the quality of footballers, in the mould of Michael Donnellan, Ja Fallon or Padraic Joyce, needed to compete at this level. The latter has been on a leave of absence and Mulholland is waiting on news from the former captain if he is available for this coming season.

Michael Meehan, it seems, has exhausted all his avenues in trying to fix his ongoing ankle injury. Manager Mulholland allied it to a ‘Paul McGrath-style’ injury, meaning he can only train and play when his ankle allows him to. This is certainly a disheartening development for one of the counties most naturally gifted footballers.

Derry is still coming to terms with a poor refereeing decision that cost them the McKenna Cup last weekend. James Conway’s dubious red card on 18 minutes shocked everyone and manager John Brennan was anything but amused at Fermanagh referee Martin Higgins decision.

One notable positive from Sunday’s defeat to Tyrone was the continuing rehabilitation of Paddy Bradley who scored 1-2. Brennan praised the John Mitchel’s club man after the game and has said to watch out for the former all-star to come good in the league.

Derry traditionally does well in the league last winning it in 2008 and appeared in the final in 2009 while Galway has underperformed in recent years.

Despite Galway’s recent good run in the FBD league, Derry will have too much in their arsenal, along with home support, to claim the full two points come Sunday night.

Verdict: Derry by 3-5 points.

Galway:
1 Manus Breathnach, 2 Colin Forde, 3 Finian Hanley 4 Keith Kelly,5 Garreth Bradshaw, 6 Johnny Duane, 7 Gary O’Donnell
8 Thomas Flynn, 9 Fionntáin Ó Curraoin, 10 Jonathan Ryan, 11 Paul Conroy, 12 Mark Hehir, 13 Michael Martin, 14 Cormac Bane, 15 Danny Cummins

Derry:

1 Danny Devlin, 2 Brian McCallion, 3 Liam Morrow, 4 Ryan Dillon, 5 Chrissy McKaigue, 6 Mark Craig, 7 Sean Leo McGoldrick, 8 James Conway, 9 Joe Diver, 10 Barry McGoldrick, 11 Mark Lynch, 12 Michael Bateson, 13 Cailean O’Boyle, 14 Paddy Bradley, 15 Conleith Gilligan

Two of the nearly teams of the last decade or so will go head to head in Portlaoise on Saturday evening when Laois and Mayo meet. Both of these teams have threatened to make a big breakthrough but have often fallen flat on the big stage when it seemed that the world was at their feet.

Mayo really are the perennial bridesmaids of Gaelic Football as evidenced by their All-Ireland final defeats to Kerry in 2004 and 2006. So often in recent years, Mayo have looked like the real deal in the early stages of the year before disappointing their loyal band of supporters on the big day in Croke Park.

Indeed, they seem to have some twisted may of torturing their fans as it is when the people of Mayo are most expecting to do well, the team seems to fail. And when Mayo’s fans are not expecting anything, the team will pull off a major scalp before yet again failing within reach of the ultimate prize.

This year promises to be a good one for Mayo, probably meaning that they will be relegated from the league and will exit the championship before the end of July. However, one can never write them off either as on their day they are really capable of beating anyone, as Cork found out last year. This year, they welcome back Conor Mortimer from a cruciate ligament injury and probably even more important, all-star forward, Andy Moran has made a good recovery from the broken leg he suffered late last year.

When you throw in goal-poacher supreme, Jason Doherty as well as team captain, Alan Dillon into the equation one gets the impression that this could well be the best Mayo forward line in a generation.

The spine of the team remains very strong with the O’Shea brothers vying for midfield berths while the free-scoring centre-back, Donal Vaughan is one of the best players in the game for that position. If Mayo get off to a good start in the league, they will certainly be in contention for one of the coveted semi-final spots.

In the history of the GAA, Laois are the one side who have failed to capitalise on a run of enormous success at underage level. Since 1996, they have won three All-Ireland minor titles and a provincial title at under 21. Their lone senior Leinster title success in 2003 is scant reward for the amount of talent that has gone through the underage ranks in that time.

Players of the calibre of Joe Higgins, Tom Kelly, Chris Conway and Brian McDonald passed through, winning just the one medal at senior level. Too often, Laois footballers have hit the headlines for the wrong reasons and they have gained a reputation for partying hard. That sort of attitude is not going to cut it as senior level anymore given the amount of effort put in by the top teams.

The smartest decision taken by the Laois county board in the last few years was to bring in former Armagh player, Justin McNulty as manager as this ‘Northern’ attitude is definitely something that could benefit Laois. While a string of underage players have blown their chance at bringing Sam back to the midlands, there is still hope and a lot of talent within the county.

They enjoyed a good win over an experimental Wexford side in the O’Byrne Shield last weekend, but McNulty is not getting carried away just yet. After all, Wexford will play in Division 3 of the NFL while Laois are in with the big boys after earning an unlikely promotion last year. Some of the heroes of 2003 such as Ross Munnelly and Padraig Clancy are still on the scene but by enlarge this will be an unfamiliar looking Laois team.

The more one thinks about this game, the more I think that Mayo will win it. The simple facts are that Laois are just too unpredictable and amazingly it looks as if Mayo have the greater firepower.

Verdict: Mayo

Laois: Eoin Culliton, Cahir Healy, Kieran Lillis, Peter O’Leary, Darren Strong, Shane Julian, Conor Boyle, Brendan Quigley, John O’Loughlin, Ross Munnelly, Kevin Meaney, Colm Begley, Paul Cahillane, Padraig Clancy, David Conway

Mayo: David Clarke, Lee Keegan, Ger Cafferkey, Keith Higgins, Peadar Gardiner, Donal Vaughan, Richie Feeney, Seamus O’Shea, Patrick Harte, Kevin McLoughlin, Alan Freeman, Alan Dillon, Conor Mortimer, Barry Moran, Andy Moran

There is bound to be a big crowd in Pairc Esler, Newry on Saturday evening when Ulster rivals, Down and Donegal meet. These two sides have come to national prominence over the last couple of seasons as they made progress in the All-Ireland series.

In 2010, Down won a lot of admirers with their swashbuckling style as they swept aside Kerry in the All-Ireland quarter-final before succumbing by a single point to Cork in the All-Ireland final. A year ago, Donegal won very few admirers but their uber-defensive style proved almost as effective as they went all the way to the All-Ireland semi-final before falling to eventual champions, Dublin.

On the way, Donegal picked up their first Ulster title since 1992 and I bet Down manager, James McCartan has been stealing envious glances across the province as silverware is something that Down really need if they are to reach the next stage of their development.

Several observers of football have ascertained that many managers will look at the success of the defensive game played by Donegal and Dublin last year and would copy it for 2012. However, one team that will definitely not be withdrawing 13 players behind the ball is the Mourne men. In Down, they are exceptionally proud of their football history and extremely proud of the fact that they always try to play an attacking, expansive style which is easy on the eye.

For most of the last 15 years, this has been at the cost of success as they have struggled to break down, the packed defences of their Ulster rivals. As the defensive style of play spread South, Down struggled to make headway in the All-Ireland series until 2010 when with Marty Clarke as playmaker, they were able to prise open the tightest of defences with pin-point passing and running at defenders. Clarke has now departed for the warmer climes of Australia to renew his career in the AFL and this leaves a big gaping hole in the Down defence.

Benny Coulter still looks as dangerous as ever while others such as Daniel Hughes, Mark Poland and Conor Laverty but who is going to be the one to pick out their clever runs. One option would appear to be Aidan Carr who wore the number 11 jersey during the McKenna Cup and acquitted himself well. Elsewhere the return of Ambrose Rogers is hugely important and gives them another option in the middle of the field.

After a stop-start 2011, this year is massively important to the careers of these Down players.

It could be argued that this season is equally as important to this Donegal team. They have been shrouded in controversy over the winter with the acrimonious departure of Kevin Cassidy from the squad and then they had the war of words between Jim McGuinness and DCU manager, Niall Moyna over Martin McElhinney’s availability for an O’Byrne Cup game.

McGuinness has also been very outspoken in his criticism of college teams competing in the McKenna Cup and has threatened that Donegal will withdraw if they are allowed to compete next year. It tends to be forgotten that McGuinness is still relatively new to this game and I feel that perhaps someone from the county board should take him to one side and tell him to bite his tongue on occasion. He says so much in public that some of it is bound to come back to bite him.

At this stage, we know what to expect of Donegal with as many as 13 men behind the ball on occasion, leaving Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden staying close to the opposition goal. Both of these players are out injured for this weekend as well as wing-forward Mark McHugh, leaving the forward line looking a bit lightweight. One of the few bright spots for Donegal during the recent McKenna Cup campaign when they lost all of their games was the form of corner-forward, Dermot Molloy and McGuinness will certainly hope that his young attacker can take some of the scoring burden off Murphy this year.

It was often said of Jack Charlton that he played the long-ball game because he didn’t trust the players and I often think the same thing about Donegal. In Murphy, McFadden, Neil McGee and Karl Lacey they do possess some of the best footballers in the country and have plenty of talent coming through since winning an Ulster Under 21 title in 2010.

Donegal will go into this game as favourites but this is where there may be a bit of value to be had. The losses of Murphy and McFadden are massive for Donegal and home advantage may tip the game in Down’s favour.

Verdict: Down

Today’s news does not mean the transfer automatically gets the green light however, as the Central Competitions’ Control Committee must still hold a hearing after the Cavan County Board expressed doubts over the players declared permanent residence in Straffan.

The Gaels’ management committee met last night, and voted to stick with its policy of not blocking any attempted transfer out of the club.

The club issued a statement on Twitter stating: “It is the policy of Cavan Gaels GAA club not to stand in the way of transfer requests from any of our players.”

Cavan Gaels secretary said:. “We won’t be saying anymore apart from what is on our Twitter account,” said Walsh.

The transfer form has been signed and sent to Croke Park. With the move not being supported by the Cavan board, Johnston can expect to hear from the CCCC shortly with regard to a hearing.