Rugby a good appetiser for Saturday's real big game

February 26th, 2010 by Kevin Egan

Most GAA fans would agree that it’s great to have the league back, but that there’s still nothing like championship. As a result, this weekend Sunday is definitely the day to head out for a walk, or go to the shops to look at carpets, or whatever it is that the other half would have you do – because Saturday should be an excellent day’s viewing on the box. Yours truly doesn’t get the chance to be a couch potato too often but the opportunity will certainly be taken up tomorrow, starting with the Sigerson Cup final at 2pm.

After DCU lift the Sigerson crown (probably!), the GAA hat will be removed for a few hours as the attention of the nation and this column too will switch over to North London for the Six Nations. However for this viewer at least, the highlight of the day’s action will be under lights when St Gall’s play Corofin in the refixture of the All Ireland semi final in Parnell Park.

This column has an each way bet running on Corofin for the All Ireland at 10/1 and the removal of Portlaoise from the race has shortened the odds on the Galway and Connacht champions even further. These words will not be uttered in either dressing room this weekend, but deep down both sides should know that this game is now the de facto All Ireland final. That feeling is not without justification. Kilmurry-Ibrickane supporters no doubt took great joy in proving this column spectacularly wrong last weekend, but at the risk of digging a further hole in the eyes of West Clare folk, my honest opinion is that last weekend’s result was as much about Portlaoise imploding as anything else. Kilmurry played a very tidy game and took their chances well, but the refereeing calls very much went their way and Portlaoise reacted in the worst possible way to those setbacks.

The initial red card was certainly correct, no-one could realistically dispute that, but Kilmurry got plenty of contentious technical calls in their favour as well and these cost the Laois men plenty of first half scores. If they were in closer contention, they might not have combusted as they did at half time – once John Mulligan spent the half time break ranting about the referee rather than going in and settling his team, the cause was lost.

However that makes this weekend’s game all the more intriguing and it’s interesting the market has clearly moved in favour of the Ulster champions. On the face of it, it’s difficult to see how such a move is justified – playing under lights shouldn’t really discommode either team, the venue is the same, and both teams have plenty of experience in their ranks and shouldn’t be troubled by the game’s increased importance. If anything, the increased possibility of highly inclement weather and a very soft pitch should have tightened things up.

At 11/8 and 10/11 plus one point, there was no reason to get further involved with Corofin. At 10/11 plus two, there is much more appeal, even though one always opposes money with plenty of caution in GAA betting. Nonetheless Corofin are still a top class side who have been on the shortlist of potential All Ireland winners since September and nothing has changed in that regard. Injuries may have robbed them of a bit of attacking flair but they remain a side who concedes points about as often as Irish politicians concede that they acted unlawfully even when proven to have done so.

Those who are already involved may wish to step aside on this one, but the value is too great to be ignored – a 2pt bet on Corofin plus two points at 10/11 is the recommendation for what should be at least as intriguing a battle as the rugby that will serve as the TV curtain raiser.

Tags: All Ireland club championship, Corofin