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.

The greater length of time between striking the bet and collecting also allows for a greater amount of random factors to enter into the equation, but nevertheless, the opportunities for finding value are usually a lot more plentiful in antepost markets.

To take the market for the All Ireland Club football championships as posted up this week as an example, it’s clear that it has been knocked up with very little thought. One has to look no further than the choice for top of the list – the Kerry representatives, at 6/1. If we were sure that Dr Crokes were going to be representing the Kingdom in Munster and beyond, then this would possibly be the correct price – however that’s far from certain. Crokes are one of four semi finalists in the Kerry county championship, along with Austin Stacks and two divisional teams. Stacks would be seen as outsiders right now, with each of the other three outfits considered much of a muchness. It’s not even as if Crokes have received the better draw – instead they will in all likelihood have to beat both divisional sides to come through, starting with South Kerry this Sunday. Even before we allow for the possibility of a drawn encounter along the line slowing things up, it is very much odds against that Crokes make it out of Kerry.

If Feale Rangers or South Kerry are victorious, then it will fall to Kerins O’Rahillys to represent the Kingdom – and while the Tralee club are definitely capable of making a splash in the All Ireland series based on their personnel, human nature dictates that they would require some time to hit their stride. After all, right now their season is theoretically over, and players would be unlikely to train too hard for a shot at a provincial championship that they may or may not even get. Clonakilty on the 8th of November would simply be too much too soon for these lads, at least to be taking them on at such short odds.

St Galls of Antrim share favouritism, and while the Belfast men would certainly be fully fired up for this campaign, they have a lot to do before they can start thinking about All Irelands. They’ve been drawn in a preliminary round where they must travel to play Cavan Gaels, before then playing the Armagh champions and either the Tyrone or Monaghan champions in an Ulster semi final. All of this is completely within their capabilities, but 6/1 to win Ulster would perhaps be worth a small bet, 6/1 to win the All Ireland is scandalously short.

Moving down the order, Portlaoise at 8/1 have the pedigree and the form, but those odds reflect a team who would be 4/11 on average in each of their seven games – good value this Sunday against Arles Kilcruise, but hardly against teams like Moorefield and Navan O’Mahony’s down the line. Again, the odds are way too short. Clonakilty, Ballyboden and Loup all come from counties with a great track record in these competitions, but their lack of experience could take a heavy toll, leaving Corofin as the best of the front runners.

Now at this stage, readers of this column would be forgiven for wondering about the tendency to side with Corofin time and again, but yours truly makes no apologies for having the world of respect for the North Galway club’s modus operandi. They get the job done, even if they did let us down by failing to hang on against Mountbellew-Moylough.

However this doesn’t change the fact that they are still the Connacht champions and a proven team who have very little standing between them and an All Ireland semi final. They know how to grind out results and it would be a huge shock to see them eliminated in this calendar year. Even though 1/3 the odds to finish in the first two is poor each way terms, it would still be remiss not to have a 2pt each way bet on Corofin at 10/1.

Looking further down the card, there are a couple of feasible long shots, even if they do have question marks hanging over them. There is no justification for the gulf in price between Ballyboden St Endas and St Judes, even if ‘Boden’s odyssey against Kilmacud caught the eye. People are clearly forgetting that Judes had their own giant-killing act when they took out Oliver Plunketts, and that final is a genuine 50/50 game. At 33/1, Judes could yet be more likely to make a sustained run than Boden.

Also, Navan O’Mahonys are a club who have served their apprenticeship in provincial competition, though their form this year is not quite at the level we would like to see. If they were playing at the level of their 2008 form they would be excellent value, but a draw with Wolfe Tones after extra time suggests that they aren’t quite where they need to be, so the best policy regarding Navan would be to see how they get on in the remainder of the Meath championship and perhaps keep an eye out for them at a big price in their first round match against Portlaoise, if both clubs make it that far.

The obvious selection would be Corofin to win by a narrow margin in the Galway decider, however at 9/4 for the champions to win by 1-3pts, the compilers are clearly thinking along very similar lines to this column. Corofin are not unlike Crossmaglen Rangers at their peak in that they win games – they rarely win by much, they don’t have any great style about them, but they win. So it is with Corofin in Galway and even beyond. They suffocate the life out of teams, strangling opposing forwards, as evidenced by their last three games where they conceded 2-5, 0-10 and 0-8, all against useful forward lines.

This weekend they meet Mountbellew-Moylough, a team not many would have expected to feature in a county final. After a disastrous league, the black and amber boys have put together an excellent championship run and their semi-final win over Caltra where eight players contributed to a 3-11 tally was an excellent performance, without doubt their best of the season. Manager Cyril Ryan is using county star Joe Bergin as a target man on the edge of the square this year and with Cathal Kenny pulling the strings around the middle of the field, the big man has been very difficult to handle.

Corofin too could find Bergin to be a very difficult opponent to handle. Kieran Fitzgerald is likely to be handed the responsibility and a stickier marker than Fitzgerald is hard to find in football, but Bergin’s physical presence is not something Fitzgerald will find easy to handle. When combined with Michael Comer’s injury, there are reasons for worrying about Corofin here.

It’s probably not worth gambling on them at 1/2, even though they still should win, while the margin bets are simply too skimpy at the prices offered. What does appeal is the Corofin/Corofin double result at even money. Corofin’s trademark style is to get a narrow lead and hold it. They tend to lead from early in games. Pearse Stadium is always a factor in that the strong winds that regularly blow down the field could play a part and introduce a random element to this bet, but nonetheless a 1pt bet on Corofin to lead at half time and full time at 1/1 is recommended.

Looking at the rest of the bets on offer, it’s odds on selections that appear to offer the best value. Most interestingly, Tír Chonaill Gaels are 4/9 to beat Neasden in the London SFC final and that looks to be well worthy of a 2pt bet. The Gaels are looking for three in a row and have been the dominant force in London football for some time. Neasden have added a couple of decent players including Galway’s Paul Geraghty, but Tír Chonaill have a few new recruits of their own and should be too strong in a repeat of last year’s decider. Their run of supremacy will come to an end in London at some point, but Neasden don’t look ready to usurp them.

Garrycastle at 4/9 are a class ahead of St Lomans in Westmeath and have rediscovered their form under the tutelege of Anthony Cunningham this year and they should win easily enough as well, while Cavan Gaels are a very safe bet, albeit at the prohibitively short odds of 1/6. No recommendation on these games, simply because the other two are stronger bets.

If one outsider bet was to be picked this week, it would have to be St Josephs of Laois to beat Portlaoise at odds of 5/1. Reasons for thinking Portlaoise should win this game are plentiful. Portlaoise have sliced and diced every opponent they have met so far this year, they are one of the best club sides in Leinster and they have an excellent mix of youth and experience in the team. If this game comes even close to following form, they will win with plenty to spare – however these two clubs have a lot of history dating back to the earlier part of this decade, and this St Josephs team, while they aren’t free scoring or hugely skilful, are masters at grinding out results. A free flowing match will see Portlaoise win this with plenty to spare, but one should never underestimate the value of a real grudge in games like this.

We’re not going to officially put a bet on record here, but at 5/1, those who like a punt would do well to have a small investment and then hope that sparks begin to fly in O’Moore Park on Sunday. After all, acrimonious games in Laois GAA, if ever anything was worth betting on…..

First to catch the eye among the range of games on offer is the Sligo senior football semi-final between Coolera/Strandhill and Eastern Harps. Harps started the year are strong favourites due to their status as champions, but they’ve been extremely inconsistent this season and could easily have fallen at the quarter-final hurdle against a quite moderate Calry/St Josephs team, who just about failed to secure the win on the first day before succumbing by ten point points in a replay. Ultimately it was always likely to prove beyond Calry/St Josephs to knock out Harps, but the same cannot be said about Coolera/Strandhill who have a championship pedigree and have been building up nicely this year. A score of 1-17 in the quarter final replay for Harps last Sunday suggests that they’ve hit a vein of form, but at 15/8, it’s well worth a speculative 1pt bet on Coolera/Strandhill to take out the champions.

Staying in Connacht, the Galway football championship semi finals are also down for decision and the meeting of Corofin and Salthill/Knocknacarra is likely to have a huge bearing on not just the Galway championship but also the provincial and All Ireland series, with the winner of this tie likely to be a single figure price for the All-Ireland title in March. The city club are well endowed with star names, but there was a lot to like about the efficient manner of Corofin’s win over Killererin in the quarter final and they look to have rediscovered their form from twelve months ago. The Corofin defence remains as good a club unit as exists in Ireland and while this is not going to be a high scoring game, the north Galway club are still good value to eke out a one or two point win here. A 2pt bet on Corofin at 5/6 is the recommendation.

Finally we have the Antrim football semi-final, where Cargin meet St Galls in what is likely to be a very tight encounter. Cargin are a very dangerous team and are capable of pulling off an upset here, but it would still be an upset, and at 4/5 it’s worth taking a chance on the favourites who approach this game in fine form. CJ McGourty is a wild card for Cargin and this is not a game for big stakes, but at 4/5 it’s worth putting a 1pt bet on St Galls to shackle the mercurial teacher and to secure the honours.