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Only four remain as the All-Ireland Championship semi-finals take place this weekend. On Saturday, Galway and Derry square off for a place in the final before Sunday sees a huge crunch match between Kerry and Dublin.
There’s also the matter of the Tailteann Cup to be settled on Saturday as Cavan and Westmeath go head-to-head in a bid to be crowned the competition’s maiden winners.
And who better to turn to than our man Aidan O’Mahony for the lowdown on what’s to come…
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17:30 Saturday – Galway v Derry
Derry to win by 1-2 points and Benny Heron & Shane Walsh First Goal-scorers
TV: Sky Sports Arena
This might be the game of the weekend. There were still question marks about Derry coming into the Clare game, even having won the Ulster Championship, and they answered those.
They’re a young team, very energetic and they play with a great system. With Benny Heron and Shane McGuigan up front they’re very strong.
Galway, on the other hand, came through a massive battle. If you’re going to get to an All-Ireland final, there has to be a point or a game in the season that brings that team together and the Armagh game was that for Galway.
On the flip side, I think it’s Derry’s to lose this weekend. They’ve proved a lot of us wrong and I think they’ll win this game by 1-3 points.
When you play with youth, you have a lot of confidence and they won’t fear Galway. It’ll be very tight and Galway might have that bit more experience but Derry can get their matchups right they’ll unsettle Galway on the day.
If you’re looking for a goalscorer, I think Benny Heron for Derry and Shane Walsh for Galway are the best shouts.
15:30 Sunday – Kerry v Dublin
Kerry to win by 2-3 points and David Clifford & Con O’Callaghan First Goalscorers
TV: Sky Sports Arena
We’ve all been waiting to see Kerry kick-off. They went about their business well against Mayo as they did in the league final. Dublin, on the other hand, got over Cork.
We’ve spoken since the start of the year that we could see the stars aligning and Kerry and Dublin meeting in the All-Ireland semi-final with whoever wins going on to win the All-Ireland.
A lot of talk has been about Dublin injuries and whether Con O’Callaghan and James McCarthy will play. If they don’t, I can’t see anything but a Kerry win – they are a huge loss.
If they do play, it’s a lot more even territory but I can still see Kerry just coming through this game. There’ll be a lot of hunger from the last couple of years and they need to get over the line and get the monkey off their back.
It will be tight. I see Kerry winning this by one to three points and it could come down to the benches.
I think Jack O’Connor will be shrewd enough to bring on the likes of Tony Brosnan and Killian Spillane and it’s probably one of the first years that you’d say Kerry have a stronger bench to make an impact which Dublin have had down the years.
David Clifford is definitely your best goalscorer bet for Kerry and Con O’Callaghan for Dublin, if he plays.
15:00 Saturday – Cavan v Westmeath
Cavan to win & John Heslin to score
Cavan are the favourites but Westmeath will have a lot to say about that after overcoming Offaly.
A lot has been spoken about the Tailteann Cup and how it’s going to work out and when Cavan were knocked out of Ulster they’d have looked at this and thought ‘we have the chance to be the first team ever to win it.’
This one will be very close. If you look at the calibre of players that Westmeath have like Ray Connellan and John Heslin, they’re a very formidable team and they won’t fear Cavan too much. If Cavan can hold Heslin to a low score they’ll go a long way.
If you’re looking for a goalscorer, John Heslin’s your man. If he’s on form, Westmeath could unsettle the game and could come out with a result.
The pressure will be on Cavan. Westmeath will come into this with nothing to lose and it could all come down to Heslin.
Aidan O’Mahony’s GAA Tips
Galway v Derry: Derry to win by 1-3 points and Benny Heron & Shane Walsh First Goal-scorers
Kerry v Dublin: Kerry to win by 1-3 points and David Clifford & Con O’Callaghan First Goalscorers
Cavan v Westmeath: Cavan to win & John Heslin to score
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