Roscommon next up for senior footballers in the Hyde

With three rounds to go in the Allianz Football League and it’s proving every bit as intriguing as pre-season analysis suggested it would. Round 5 goes ahead this weekend with Round 6 on March 16 and the concluding regulation round on March 24. 

ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 1: KERRY WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE OF FINAL

Saturday: Tyrone v Cavan, Omagh, 7.0; Mayo v Galway, Elverys MacHale Park, 7.15

Sunday: Roscommon v Dublin, Dr Hyde Park, 2.0; Kerry v Monaghan, Fitzgerald Stadium, 3.0

Dublin got their ambitions of retaining the League title back on track last Saturday when beating Mayo, having lost to Kerry in the previous round and beaten Galway in the round before that. They will seek to complete a treble against western opposition against Roscommon on Sunday. Dublin beat Roscommon by 4-24 to 2-16 in last year’s ‘Super 8’ and also won the last League clash between the counties in 2017 (2-29 to 0-14).

In the Super 8 clash Cormac Costello top-scored for Jim Gavin's men with 0-9 (0-2f, 0-1 '45'), while Eoghan O'Gara hit 2-2 in an impressive display and Paul Flynn tallied 1-3 including a superb first-half goal.

Flynn was also prominent in the last NFL meeting against Roscommon when he scored 1-6 with Kevin McManamon hitting the other goal in the comprehensive victory and Paddy Andrews, Bernard Brogan, Dean Rock (0-2f) and Conor McHugh (0-2f) all scoring 0-3 each.

Roscommon’s last success over Dublin in a competitive game was in 2002 when they won a League tie by 2-12 to 0-16 in Parnell Park.

As the only team in the group on full points after four games and enjoying a four-point lead over the third and fourth- placed teams, Kerry are within touching distance of reaching the final for the second time in three seasons.

A win over bottom-placed Monaghan in Killarney on Sunday would take them a step closer, while piling the relegation pressure on Malachy O’Rourke’s men, who after beating Dublin in Round 1, have lost to Roscommon, Galway and Tyrone.

However, Monaghan will be encouraged by recent League results against Kerry, having beaten them in 2018 (1-13 to 0-14) and 2017 (2-8 to 1-10), while the sides drew (1-17 each) in last year’s ‘Super 8’ clash in Clones.

Mayo’s unbeaten League run ended against Dublin last Saturday, but they are still in second place on six points, two ahead of Galway, who they meet on Saturday.

Mayo haven’t beaten Galway in League or Championship since the 2015 Connacht semi-final. Galway have since won four times in the 2016-17-18 Connacht championships as well as last year’s League.

Cavan ended their losing run against Roscommon on Sunday but are still in the relegation zone as they prepare to face Tyrone, who are a point ahead of them. They last met in the League two years ago when Tyrone won by 0-19 to 1-9.

ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 2: CORK FIGHTING FOR SURVIVAL

Saturday (7.0); Tipperary v Cork, Semple Stadium; Donegal v Armagh, Ballybofey, 7.15.

Sunday (2.0): Meath v Kildare, Pairc Tailteann; Fermanagh v Clare, Brewster Park.

Nobody would have foreseen it a few years ago, but the reality for Cork is that they are now in real danger of dropping into Division 3. Still without a win, their only point came in the first round draw with Fermanagh, so if they were to lose to Tipperary (3 points) on Saturday and Clare (3 points) beat Fermanagh, the Rebels would need a dramatic turnaround over the final two games (v Donegal and Armagh) to avoid the drop.

Tipperary beat Cork (3-16 to 1-16) in last year’s League but the Leesiders turned the tables in the Munster championship, winning by 1-17 to 0-9.

Meath and Fermanagh, who lead the way on six points each, have home advantage this weekend when they host Kildare (5 points) and Clare (3 points) respectively. Meath and Kildare last met in 2017 when they clashed in the League and Championship, with the Lilywhites winning both. They won by 3-17 to 0-16 in Division 2 and by 2-16 to 0-13 in the Leinster championship.

Fermanagh, the only unbeaten team in the group (two wins and two draws) last met Clare in the 2017 League when they won by 0-18 t0 1-10.

Ulster champions, Donegal were pre-season favourites for promotion, but after winning the first two games against Clare and Meath, they lost to Tipperary and Fermanagh. It drops them back to fifth place on four points, the same as next Saturday’s opposition, Armagh have a three-point better scoring difference. This will be the first League clash between the counties since 2014 when Donegal won by 2-10 to 1-8 (Div 2). The last Championship match between them was in 2015 when Donegal won an Ulster quarter-final by nine points.

ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 3: ONLY THREE POINTS SEPARATE SEVEN COUNTIES

Saturday (7.0): Carlow v Louth, Netwatch Cullen Park; Down v Offaly, Newry; Laois v Longford, Portlaoise.

Sunday: Sligo v Westmeath, Collooney, 2.0.

With the exception of Sligo, who have lost all four games, it’s an extremely tight group as it heads for the last three rounds. Louth and Down (6 points), Westmeath and Longford (5 points), Laois (4 points), Offaly and Carlow (3 points each) all have hopes of promotion.

Leaders (on scoring difference), Louth take on Carlow, who beat them by 11 points (2-17 to 0-12) in last year’s Leinster championship. After losing their opening game, Down have had three straight wins while Offaly had their first victory, beating Carlow on Sunday. Laois and Longford didn’t meet last year but clashed in League and Championship in 2017, with Laois winning both.

Sligo have made their worst start for years and are already in serious relegation trouble, a situation that will get worse if they fail to beat Westmeath. The counties last met in the League in 2016 when Sligo won by a point.

ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 4: DERRY AND LEITRIM PULL WELL CLEAR

Saturday: Wicklow v Wexford, Aughrim, 2.0

Sunday: Waterford v Antrim, WIT Arena, 12.30; Leitrim v London, Carrick-on-Shannon, 12.0; Limerick v Derry, Gaelic Grounds, 1.0

Derry and Leitrim, both of whom have won their opening four games, are four points ahead of their closest pursuers (Wicklow and Limerick – both on four points).

It means that if Leitrim (v London) and Derry (v Limerick) were to win next Sunday and Wicklow lost to Wexford, the promotion issue would be decided with two rounds left.

Games between Derry and Limerick are very rare but not so with Leitrim and London, who meet regularly in League and Championship.

They didn’t meet in last year’s League as the game didn’t take place due to the bad weather. Leitrim beat London in both the 2017 League and Championship. Antrim beat Waterford by eight points in last year’s League while Wexford and Wicklow last met in the League two years ago when the Slaney men by three points.

2019 ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE: RESULTS AND FIXTURES

ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 1

Round 1: Monaghan 2-13 Dublin 1-13; Galway 0-13 Cavan 0-11; Kerry 0-11 Tyrone 0-7; Mayo 1-8 Roscommon 1-7.
Round 2: Dublin 1-15 Galway 0-7; Roscommon 1-12 Monaghan 0-13; Kerry 0-16 Cavan 0-13; Mayo 2-13 Tyrone 0-10.
Round 3: Kerry 1-18 Dublin 2-14; Mayo 1-13 Cavan 0-11; Roscommon 1-10 Tyrone 1-10; Galway 1-9 Monaghan 0-11.
Round 4: Dublin 1-12 Mayo 0-7; Tyrone 1-16 Monaghan 0-12; Kerry 0-14 Galway 1-10; Cavan 3-13 Roscommon 0-13.
Round 5: Mar 2: Tyrone v Cavan; Mayo v Galway; Mar 3: Roscommon v Dublin; Kerry v Monaghan.
Round 6: Mar 16: Galway v Roscommon; Monaghan v Cavan; Dublin v Tyrone; Kerry v Mayo.
Round 7: Mar 24: Cavan v Dublin; Mayo v Monaghan; Roscommon v Kerry; Tyrone v Galway.

Final: Mar 31

ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 2

Round 1: Donegal 0-16 Clare 0-13; Fermanagh 0-8 Cork 1-5; Kildare 0-14 Armagh 1-11; Meath 0-15 Tipperary 1-8.
Round 2: Kildare 1-10 Cork 0-10; Donegal 1-13 Meath 0-14; Tipperary 2-5 Fermanagh 2-5; Armagh 1-3 Clare 2-10.
Round 3: Fermanagh 0-8 Kildare 0-6; Clare 3-13 Cork 1-10; Meath 2-13 Armagh 0-13; Tipperary 3-9 Donegal 0-13.
Round 4: Meath 2-12 Cork 1-9; Armagh 1-15 Tipperary 0-12; Fermanagh 0-13 Donegal 0-10; Kildare 1-16 Clare 0-13.
Round 5: Feb 2: Tipperary v Cork; Donegal v Armagh; Feb 3: Meath v Kildare; Fermanagh v Clare.
Round 6: Mar 16: Clare v Meath; Cork v Donegal; Kildare v Tipperary; Armagh v Fermanagh.
Round 7: Armagh v Cork; Donegal v Kildare; Meath v Fermanagh; Tipperary v Clare.

Final: Mar 31

ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 3

Round 1: Carlow 1-11 Sligo 0-7; Longford 1-8 Louth 0-9; Westmeath 0-13 Offaly 0-12; Laois 2-15 Down 1-12;
Round 2: Longford 1-6 Offaly 0-9; Louth 3-8 Laois 1-9; Westmeath 1-10 Carlow 2-7; Down 1-12 Sligo 1-10.
Round 3: Down 0-10 Westmeath 0-9; Longford 1-11 Carlow 0-9; Louth 2-10 Offaly 2-8; Laois 2-18 Sligo 2-10
Round 4: Down 3-7 Longford 0-8; Westmeath 0-13 Laois 0-10; Louth 5-16 Sligo 0-16; Offaly 0-15 Carlow 1-9.
Round 5: Mar 2: Carlow v Louth; Down v Offaly; Laois v Longford. Mar 3: Sligo v Westmeath.
Round 6: Mar 16: Longford v Sligo; Louth v Westmeath; Offaly v Laois; Carlow v Down.
Round 7: Mar 24: Down v Louth; Westmeath v Longford; Sligo v Offaly; Laois v Carlow.
Final: Mar 30

ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 4

Round 1: Derry 1-10 Antrim 1-9; Leitrim 3-15 Wexford 0-11; Limerick 0-11 London 0-10; Wicklow 1-7 Waterford 0-9
Round 2: Derry 0-19 London 1-9; Limerick 1-13 Waterford 0-10; Leitrim 1-16 Wicklow 1-12; Wexford 1-10 Antrim 0-9.
Round 3: Leitrim 0-14 Antrim 1-10; London 2-10 Wexford 0-8; Derry 2-12 Waterford 1-8; Wicklow 2-8 Limerick 1-6.
Round 4: Leitrim 0-12 Limerick 0-11: Antrim 1-13 London 1-8; Derry 2-8 Wicklow 0-9; Waterford 5-4 Wexford 0-12.
Round 5: Mar 2: Wicklow v Wexford; Mar 3: Waterford v Antrim; Leitrim v London; Limerick v Derry.
Round 6: Mar 16: Antrim v Wicklow; London v Waterford; Wexford v Limerick; Derry v Leitrim.
Round 6: Mar 24: Derry v Wexford; Leitrim v Waterford; Limerick v Antrim; Wicklow v London.

Final: Mar 30