Leagues finished, championship yet to begin - yup, limbo it is. Still, while most counties are training away in anticipation of battles yet to come, for supporters of Cork and Laois the Under 21 decider on Saturday evening is looming large and will be a clash to savour. Cork and Tyrone started the years as joint 3/1 favourites in this grade and with Tyrone's early exit at the hands of Armagh the Rebels have been sitting pretty atop the betting market ever since, just like they are now at 4/7. This Cork team is exactly what Cork needed in that they've been scoring freely and have several fine young forwards who look like they will be serious intercounty players in the coming years. For Cork whose senior panel is heavily endowed with top quality defenders and midfielders but light on scoring threats to support James Masters, this is a fantastic boost to the county. However in terms of winning on Saturday night - and let's face it, that's what the betting public is concerned about - Laois look well matched with their southern counterparts and might just represent good value at 13/8. On the face of it, you look at this Laois team and their intercounty full forward line of David Conway, MJ Tierney and Donie Brennan is the line that jumps off the teamsheet. However the reason why your humble correspondent thinks that the above odds to win the match - currently available with Ladbrokes - represent good value lies outside that. The reason why Laois can and indeed should win this title is their much less vaunted backline, a unit that is better than anything Cork have met so far and has the potential to hold their opponents to a relatively meagre tally, much like they did against Mayo and Offaly in their last two outings (0-6 and 1-7 respectively). Mark Timmons and Cahir Healy have arguably been the stars of this team so far and if they can get to grips with Daniel Goulding and Colm O'Neill Laois will be well on the way to winning their first ever All Ireland at this grade. With the football championship just about to kick off as well, now is a good time to start getting your antepost bets in order before the value starts to disappear. Ladbrokes have priced up top scorer for the Championship and John Doyle of Kildare cries out to be backed at 8/1. It traditionally takes around 40 points to win this title barring anything unusual and with Doyle averaging eight points a game and one less qualifier round this year, five games will put him well in the frame. Kildare have traditionally been poorly treated by the backdoor structure - their draw last year away in Derry was a huge ask after the controversy attached to their exit against Offaly - but right now they look likely to beat Meath, possibly fall short against Dublin and enter the qualifiers with every chance of knocking a few teams over. Factor in the live possibility of a draw and a replay somewhere along the line and Doyle could be set for a good year, so piggybacking along makes great sense. TO PLACE YOUR BETS, CLICK HERE NOW LADBROKES Tweet

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