Div 1
Dublin v Donegal - Dublin
Derry v Kerry - Derry
Monaghan v Cork - Monaghan
Mayo v Tyrone - Tyrone (my heart doesn't let me pick against them)

Div 2
Laois v Cavan - Laois
Down v Roscommon - Down
Meath v Kildare - Kildare
Westmeath v Galway -Galway

Div 3
Tipp v Limerick - Tipp
Wexford v Armagh - Armagh
Sligo v Fermanagh - Fermanagh
Louth v Clare - Clare

Div 4
Carlow v London - Carlow
Wicklow v Leitrim - Leitrim
Longford v Antrim - Antrim
Offaly v Waterford - Offaly

downredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 567 - 06/02/2015 10:10:05    1690615

Very strong team out from Donegal this weekend IMO it's a mistake to play such a strong side so early its a long season.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 06/02/2015 10:14:00    1690617

06/02/2015 10:14:00
clondalkindub
County: Dublin
Posts: 5731

1690617 Very strong team out from Donegal this weekend IMO it's a mistake to play such a strong side so early its a long season.

Very true. That a Championship team .Only missing Neil McGee,Colm McDadden and Anthony Thompson. Donegal have such a small panel and need to find new young players. There new players Dan McLoughlin,Marty OReilly,Gary & Hugh McFadden have on been on/off panel in recent years. Paddy McBrearty is going to have a big year

HughHunt24 (Cork) - Posts: 841 - 06/02/2015 10:39:12    1690631

Div 1
Dublin v Donegal - Dublin
Derry v Kerry - Kerry
Monaghan v Cork - Monaghan
Mayo v Tyrone - Mayo

Div 2
Laois v Cavan - Cavan
Down v Roscommon - Down
Meath v Kildare - Kildare
Westmeath v Galway -Galway

Div 3
Tipp v Limerick - Tipp
Wexford v Armagh - Armagh
Sligo v Fermanagh - Fermanagh
Louth v Clare - Clare

Div 4
Carlow v London - Carlow
Wicklow v Leitrim - Leitrim
Longford v Antrim - Longford
Offaly v Waterford - Offaly

bdbuddah (Meath) - Posts: 1356 - 06/02/2015 10:55:00    1690643

Looking at that Donegal team - I'd have to say Donegal +4

jimbodub (Dublin) - Posts: 20600 - 06/02/2015 11:13:18    1690648

Div 1
Dublin v Donegal - too close to call
Derry v Kerry - Kerry if they click
Monaghan v Cork - too close to call, but Monaghan just. Clones is a very hard place to beat monaghan
Mayo v Tyrone - Mayo easily

Div 2
Laois v Cavan - Cavan
Down v Roscommon - Down because they are at home
Meath v Kildare - Too close to call, but I think it could be an away win
Westmeath v Galway -Galway by a mile

Div 3
Tipp v Limerick - Tipp. They are the bankers of the weekend
Wexford v Armagh - Armagh. 2nd bankers of the weekend
Sligo v Fermanagh - Could be tricky for fermanagh, but I dont know where Sligo are at at the moment
Louth v Clare - Clare. They are taking their football seriously now.

Div 4
Carlow v London - Possibly london
Wicklow v Leitrim - Wicklow
Longford v Antrim - Longford by some distance
Offaly v Waterford - Offaly

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 06/02/2015 11:15:59    1690650

Div 1
Dublin v Donegal - Draw
Derry v Kerry - Kerry
Monaghan v Cork - Cork
Mayo v Tyrone - Mayo

Div 2
Laois v Cavan - Cavan
Down v Roscommon - Down
Meath v Kildare - Kildare
Westmeath v Galway -Galway

Div 3
Tipp v Limerick - Tipp
Wexford v Armagh - Armagh
Sligo v Fermanagh - Sligo
Louth v Clare - Clare

Div 4
Carlow v London - Carlow
Wicklow v Leitrim - Wicklow
Longford v Antrim - Longford
Offaly v Waterford - Waterford

yew_tree (Mayo) - Posts: 11236 - 06/02/2015 11:24:42    1690653

clondalkindub
We're damned if we do and damned if we don't. Donegal have been criticised in the past for fielding weak teams in the league and now for fielding strong teams. I think he is right to field this team on Saturday night. They are behind most teams in their training and will be heading off next week for a holiday with their partners etc. and won't be doing any training so thats another week lost.
Rory Gallagher seems to be a manager that uses his bench in almost every game to date so I'd expect to see a full compliment of subs used too. With Dublin out for revenge after last year fielding a weaker side could be a disaster for the younger players as a heavy beating Croke Park could come at a cost.
Some posters think we have a small panel but I think we have a stronger panel than last year and that panel got us to an All Ireland Final! Mark Mc Hugh and Daniel Mc Laughlin have returned, Eoin Mc Hugh has been added and Martin O'Reilly looks at this early stage to be stepping up to the mark. Add to that that young players like Mac Nialais, Ryan Mc Hugh and O' Connor who will have an extra year of development I think we are in a good place.

Tir Conaill Abu (Donegal) - Posts: 1671 - 06/02/2015 11:35:46    1690657

Fair enough, revenge is what we want but I'm not sure the team we have available is strong enough this weekend but you never know

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 06/02/2015 11:57:19    1690670

There's no such thing as revenge in sport. That day was Donegals day and forever will be. Plus, a league match certainly cannot be compared to an AI semi final.

I envisage another difficult evening for Dublin, a win is not out of the question, but I think we will need a goal or two to get over the line here.

Without our powerhouses in Connolly, Flynn and McCarthy we are not the same outfit. We are not short of scoring forwards but the above three are indispensable in my opinion.

seany16 (Dublin) - Posts: 1658 - 06/02/2015 12:42:26    1690693

Is MDMA available for this game?
If he isn't I think Donegal could dominate proceedings at midfield. Gallagher, Toye and McElhinney looked very strong last weekend.

Lockjaw (Donegal) - Posts: 9154 - 06/02/2015 12:45:44    1690696

There's no such thing as revenge in sport? I couldn't disagree more Seany there's always revenge in any sport granted if we won this weekend it wouldn't make up for last years semi lost but it would be better than another defeat.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 06/02/2015 12:47:30    1690699

The game on sat night is about putting 2 more points to bed, and hopefully almost guaranteeing staying up. that means the rest of the league will be about blooding in new players, trying things out, experimenting basically rather than going at it like madmen for the last 3 games. I think Gallagher has learned from Mcguinness in this attitude. McG used to try to stay up without much focus on stages of the leauge, and this meant a desperate final game. It worked once (v Armagh in 2012, but only just), and failed the following year. So Getting points on the board early will mean that hopefully this wont repeat. I think that the dubs are at a certain stage of their season that means their fitness is not quite ready for big games, but they do have a bench, and a damn good one at that. If they win on sat night, it could be a big night for their fringe players, and echo much later into the year as a result. So i dont think there is any question that dublin wont try to win this one, it is more a case that they will try to win it with who they have available in terms of fitness and readiness.

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 06/02/2015 12:52:22    1690700

Only championship victories over teams that have knocked you out can remove ghosts, if we beat Donegal by 20 points on Saturday it won't mean a whole lot, and if they beat us by the same, still won't mean anything come June.

realdub (Dublin) - Posts: 8596 - 06/02/2015 12:52:55    1690701

Tipping Kildare? Head to pp , Meath are fav for some odd reason.

royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 19449 - 06/02/2015 13:18:31    1690708

It depends on how you view the concept Clondalkin. Taken as an eye for an eye then I don't think revenge really exists in sport. That day and the circumstances attached to it are gone. If in two years time in the unlikely circumstance a replica comes up the personnel will almost certainly be different. So it just doesn't add up in my opinion.

To answer a question from a Donegal poster above, a lot of Dublin senior players were sent back to their clubs and MDMA is one of them. Gavin wants to blood younger and college players in the league but if results continue to go awry that may change. I don't envy the task of getting a result in Killarney to avoid a relegation battle but it will produce a great learning curve. Which is more important is debatable as im confident I could pick at least 10 of the Dublin starting 15 next year.

Kilkenny may play a part tomorrow and Andrews is back which is a bonus but without our strong centre 8 it would appear we will struggle around the middle. I wouldn't bet on tomorrow's team closing out a tight game and for that reason Donegal would be favourites in my book. Dublin will need goals.

seany16 (Dublin) - Posts: 1658 - 06/02/2015 14:09:40    1690725

So Paul Gavin crying after the tyrone game in '12 had nothing to do with revenge and owing tyrone a beaten?

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 06/02/2015 14:20:49    1690726

Beating.

clondalkindub (Dublin) - Posts: 9926 - 06/02/2015 14:21:46    1690728

It should be a great game for this reason. I dont think we are going to play as defensively as people think, at least not for 70 minutes anyway

Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 06/02/2015 14:22:10    1690729

Irregardless of Galvins hysterics, if your of the opinion that a qualifier victory equates to the extent of the misery Tyrone heaped on Kerry then our concepts of revenge are vastly different. Likewise for me, 2011 didn't equate to the misery Kerry reaped on us. I didn't view it as revenge, rather it was just reward for years of toiling away without reward.

But like I said, it's a subjective thing, and perhaps there is no right or wrong answer.

seany16 (Dublin) - Posts: 1658 - 06/02/2015 14:38:23    1690735