Latest betting news
July 04, 2007
With 26 games going on in 21 different counties this weekend, whether you're a punter or a spectator you're spoilt for choice. Every county barring Kilkenny is in action this weekend so it's highly possible that you were planning to go along to support your own county in their quest for glory, but spare a thought for the poor bookie who is overworked trying to assess all these different games, ranging in intensity from the Munster Hurling final in Thurles to Tommy Murphy Cup games in Ardfinnan, Dungarvan, Ruislip and Aughrim.
Of course when we say spare a thought, what we really mean is to scrutinise all their work and try to take advantage of any mistakes that might have crept in with such a huge workload. Sympathy is all very well, but it won't make you money…..
This week we're going to recommend a treble with combined odds of 10/3 with Ladbrokes, with the strongest leg leading out first. Rest assured that when Longford manager Luke Dempsey watched the qualifier draw, he wanted two things - to avoid Westmeath, and to get a home draw. Neither of his wishes came true and as a result his charges now have to face a fired up Westmeath gunning for revenge in front of a rabid crowd in Mullingar. Longford deserved their win over their neighbours in the Leinster Championship, but Westmeath's collapse from eight points in front was a disaster that won't be repeated in front of their home crowd. 4/7 is a great price about a team that will be so keen to balance the books with their local rivals.
For the second leg, we're going to look to the Tommy Murphy Cup, and Wicklow at even money at home to Offaly. In a Leinster championship game we wouldn't dream of backing Wicklow at that kind of price, but there is no comparison between the relative states of mind going into this game. Wicklow are keen to do well in this competition to continue their upward progression under Mick O'Dwyer, while his recent health scare will no doubt galvanise the team. Offaly on the other hand don't want to be in this competition, and whatever team travels to Aughrim, a tough away venue at the best of times, will scarcely be prepared for the fiery opposition that they're likely to meet.
For the final leg we're going to look to Armagh at Ladbrokes 4/11 over Derry. Again, if this was an Ulster championship clash it would be hard to argue with that price, but one suspects that Ladbrokes have overlooked a few details here. Both of these sides exited the Ulster championship by narrow margins, but the nature of the defeats couldn't have been any more different. Armagh dominated Donegal for 70 minutes and only got caught when Paul Hearty inexplicably dropped the long delivery from Brendan Devenney into his own net, while Derry were nothing short of appalling against Monaghan and could have had no complaints if the final margin was ten points instead of two. Clones is as good as Armagh's home ground, and this squad has been thinking Sam Maguire rather than Anglo Celt Cup from the start. Derry on their other hand saw their Ulster draw as an easy route to a provincial decider, and the psychological blow that failing to capitalise on that opportunity will take a heavy toll.
TO PLACE YOUR BETS, CLICK HERE NOW
LADBROKES
Most Read Stories