After a record-breaking launch of the 2007 Allianz Football League in Croke Park last Saturday night, the weekend continued to produce some excellent games, giving an early indicator that the campaign is going to be one of the most competitive for a long time. With placings in next year's re-structured League to be settled over the coming weeks, every game is crucial in deciding which counties will be in Divisions One, Two, Three and Four for 2008. The action continues next weekend with seven games fixed for Saturday, followed by nine on Sunday. The Kerry v Cork Div 1A game will be shown 'live' on Setanta on Saturday night (throw-in at 7.30). DIV 1A: EARLY WORRIES FOR KERRY, CORK & DUBLIN Saturday: Limerick v Dublin, Gaelic Grounds, 2.0; Kerry v Cork, Tralee, 7.30; Tyrone v Fermanagh, Omagh, 7.30 Sunday: Donegal v Mayo, Ballybofey, 1.30. With six rounds still to be completed, it's much too early for alarm bells to sound anywhere but nonetheless teams who lose in the first round are always extremely anxious to get back on track second time out so Kerry, Cork and Dublin, all of whom lost last weekend, will be determined to raise their game on Saturday. Kerry take on Cork under lights in Tralee on Saturday night in one of the ties of the round. The counties clashed four times last year with Kerry winning in the League before the Munster final was drawn some months later. Cork won the replay but Kerry had six points to spare over their great rivals in the All-Ireland semi-final. Dublin, one point losers to Tyrone last Saturday, travel to the Gaelic Grounds for a rare clash with Limerick whose game with Fermanagh was postponed last Sunday due to fog while Tyrone will be at home to Fermanagh on Saturday night. Sunday features a very interesting tie between Donegal and Mayo, both of whom had impressive wins over Cork and Kerry respectively last weekend. Having picked up two 'away' points and with four 'home' games to come, Donegal will be very hopeful of finishing in the top two and clinching a semi-final place while Mayo are delighted to have got off to such a bright start under new manager, John O'Mahony. Round 3: Feb 24/25: Cork v Tyrone; Donegal v Dublin; Fermanagh v Kerry; Mayo v Limerick. DIV 1B: PORTLAOISE LIGHTS UP FOR GALWAY VISIT Saturday: Laois v Galway, Portlaoise, 7.30 Sunday: Down v Kildare, Newcastle, 1.30 Derry v Westmeath, Celtic Park, 1.30 Armagh v Louth, Crossmaglen, 1.30 O'Moore Park, Portlaoise becomes the latest venue to stage Saturday night games under lights when Laois host Galway on Saturday night. It's a big test for both sides as they lost out to Westmeath and Derry respectively last Sunday so next Saturday night's losers will take away lots of concerns in what is certain to be a very competitive group. Both Laois and Galway reached the semi-finals from this group last year. Fresh from their wins last Sunday, Derry and Westmeath head for Celtic Park on Sunday for a tie where the winners will at the very least, have a share of the lead after two rounds. The clash of Armagh and Louth in Crossmaglen will have a real local edge to it. Louth are going exceptionally well, having racked up their 9th League win from ten games since the start of the 2006 when beating Down last Sunday. Armagh lost to Kildare who travel to Down on Sunday. Round 3: Feb 24/25: Laois v Louth; Galway v Armagh; Kildare v Derry, Westmeath v Down. DIV 2A: LAST WEEKEND'S WINNERS IN DOUBLE CLASHES Saturday: Monaghan v Longford, Clones, 2.30 Sunday: Offaly v Carlow, Tullamore, 1.30 Clare v Leitrim, Ennis, 1.30 London v Roscommon, Ruislip, 1.30 Monaghan, Longford, Clare and Leitrim all won last Sunday and now they pair off with Monaghan hosting Longford on Saturday while Clare entertain Leitrim on Sunday. Monaghan had a significant win on Sunday, beating another of the group favourites, Roscommon in Dr.Hyde Park while Longford were far too good for London. Leitrim pulled off a great win over highly rated Offaly while Paidi O Se's Clare were equally impressive in their 'away' win over Carlow. Roscommon travel to Ruislip chasing their first points while Offaly will be equally highly motivated when they entertain Carlow in Tullamore. Round 3: Feb 24/25: Monaghan v Carlow; Roscommon v Clare; Longford v Offaly; London v Leitrim. DIV 2B: CAN MICKO'S WICKLOW MAINTAIN GOOD RUN? Saturday: Antrim v Meath, Casement Park, 7.30 Cavan v Wicklow, Kingspan Breffni Park, 6.30 Sunday: Wexford v Tipperary, Wexford Park, 1.30 Sligo v Waterford, Markievicz Park, 1.30 Played 4; Won 3; Lost 1. That's Wicklow's impressive O'Byrne Cup and Allianz League record since Mick O'Dwyer took over. All of those four games were in Aughrim but now Wicklow have to take to the road for the trip to Cavan next Saturday. Wicklow put four goals past Antrim in their easy win last Sunday while Cavan drew with Meath. Waterford face the long trip to Markievicz Park but will be most encouraged by their win over Wexford last Sunday. Plus, of course, they beat Sligo in last year's Allianz League. Wexford will attempt to get their season off the ground at home to Tipperary, who drew with Sligo last Sunday while Antrim will be at home to Meath on Saturday night. Round 3: Feb 24/25: Waterford v Antrim; Tipperary v Cavan; Sligo v Meath; Wicklow v Wexford. ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE SHORTS *It's embedded in history for ever more, the night the floodlights were switched on in Croke Park in front of a record crowd of 81,678. Last Saturday night's Dublin v Tyrone clash beat the previous highest attendance record for a League game (70,126 Dublin v Down NFL 'Home' final 1964) by 11,552. The honour of kicking the first score under the lights fell to Dublin newcomer, Diarmuid Connolly who pointed a free in the 7th minute. *The top scorers in the four Divisions last weekend were: Div 1A: Kevin McMenamin (Donegal) 1-3; Dib 1B: John Doyle (Kildare) 0-11; Div 2A: Niall McNamee (Offaly) 0-8 & Paul Barden (Longford) 2-2; Div 2B: Declan Browne (Tipperary) 0-8; Mark Breheny (Sligo) 0-8; Tommy Gill (Wicklow) 2-2; Darren Clarke (Louth) 1-5. *The Fermanagh-Limerick Div 1A game, fixed for Clones last Sunday, was postponed due to fog and will be played on Sunday week, February 18. * Of the 15 games played last weekend, eight were 'home' wins; five were 'away' wins while there were two draws. 2007 ALLIANZ FOOTBALL LEAGUE RESULTS DIVISION 1A Round 1 Feb 3: Tyrone 0-11 Dublin 0-10, Croke Park; Donegal 1-12 Cork 2-7, Pairc Ui Rinn. Feb 4: Mayo 1-11 Kerry 0-11, Castlebar; Fermanagh v Limerick - postponed. DIVISION 1B Round 1 Feb 4: Derry 0-12 Galway 0-7, Pearse Stadium; Louth 2-14 Down 1-13, Drogheda; Westmeath 1-11 Laois 1-9, Mullingar; Kildare 0-12 Armagh 0-10, Newbridge. DIVISION 2A Round 1 Feb 4: Monaghan 2-11 Roscommon 1-10, Dr.Hyde Park; Clare 0-17 Carlow 1-9, Dr.Cullen Park; Longford 5-19 London 0-8, Pearse Park; Leitrim 0-11 Offaly 0-10, Cloone. Division 2B Round 1 Feb 3: Meath 2-7 Cavan 0-13, Navan. Feb 4: Wicklow 4-9 Antrim 1-10, Aughrim; Waterford 2-13 Wexford 1-12, Dungarvan; Tipperary 1-12 Sligo 0-15, Ardfinnan. Tweet

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