It's all about firsts for Croke Park this month, as rugby football, association football and electric floodlighting all make their debut in the famous north Dublin arena. These are all historic events in Irish sport, but it would be hard to make yourself rich going into a bookie armed with just this info. (Though punters with a pessimistic outlook on life might think the 12/1 on the floodlights to fail at any stage is a good bet!) Plenty of space in this publication and others will be dedicated to these weighty matters, but our job is to point readers in the direction of profitable wagers, and with that in mind, we will focus on Saturday night's floodlit clash. Dublin and Tyrone have featured in several very competitive clashes in recent years and it's difficult to see either side dominating this game. The current Tyrone team may have more pedigree when it comes to securing the biggest titles in football, but with Dublin sure to have the support of the majority of the 80,000 plus crowd and Tyrone missing their leading forward Stephen O'Neill through suspension, it's hard to argue with the match odds of 8/11 Dublin and 6/4 Tyrone. These odds reflect a close tie, as one would expect. In fact with a tight game so likely, this column recommends the 9/2 available about Dublin to win by 1 or 2 points exactly. These sides have met in the league each year of the last five and on aggregate Tyrone lead by a single point (2-53 to 3-49), with only one game having had more than a single score in the difference at the end. 8/11 Dublin may represent a worthwhile inclusion in multiple bets, but this writer suspects that the 9/2 on them winning by a small margin will definitely be in contention as we enter the last ten minutes and so represents better value. The Sunday live game between Mayo and Kerry, will not attract nearly as much attention, but it does represent another excellent betting opportunity. Anyone that watched the All Ireland Final last September will be questioning the sanity of this particular tip (and tipster!!), but 10/11 about Mayo is good value on very likely winners. Under no circumstances would this recommendation apply in the white heat of championship, but this is the first round of the league, a notorious pitfall for Kerry. Not since 2002 when they beat Wicklow in a bleak division 3 encounter have Kerry opened their league campaign with a win, and this year they look even further back in their preparations than usual. They didn't enter the McGrath Cup, Dr. Crokes' All Ireland run robs them of the services of Colm Cooper and Eoin Brosnan, Kieran Donaghy has been playing basketball and several others have been relaxing on the All Star trip in Dubai. They remain front runners for Sam in 2007, but right now they are far from ready for a cold February Sunday in Castlebar, and with the Mayo panel going all out to impress new manager John O'Mahony, only one team looks to have the hunger required to take the points in front of the TG4 cameras. TO PLACE YOUR BETS, CLICK HERE NOW LADBROKES Tweet

Most Read Stories