Posts Tagged ‘Garrycastle’
For those who might happen to be watching Garrycastle vs Portlaoise on TG4, currently standing at 0-7 to 0-3 at half time, the betting in running prices appear to offer a touch of value for those who can move quickly. The wind advantage blowing down O’Connor Park is very strong, and a four point lead is perhaps not even “level par” for the degree of advantage that is involved.
Factor in the red card to Peter McNulty, which will hit Portlaoise on two levels (leaving them a man down, and costing them an excellent runner who would play a big role into the wind) and this is a game where Garrycastle are in with every chance.
Portlaoise’s experience could potentially see them hold on and sneak over the line, but at 6/5, Garrycastle plus three points is worth punting. We won’t put it on the record since most people won’t get to read this in time, but if you do, then getting on is well advised.
Fewer games than might have been expected fell by the wayside last weekend, with three of the five games that had been arranged playing out to a conclusion. The Connacht decider was unsurprisingly called off relatively early, while in Portlaoise, referee Joe Curley was left with little choice but to bring matters to a premature conclusion when he saw the conditions that prevailed at the start of the second half.
Indeed for those who follow this blog and its recommendations, the Meath official’s decision was extremely welcome. Portlaoise had played with the advantage of a stiff but tricky breeze in the first half, and Clara were definitely the happier team going in at half time level pegging. Stephen Deehan’s point at the start of the second half was taken with the kind of relaxed kicking stroke that simply wasn’t an option in the first half, and with Thomas Deehan also playing extremely well in the inside line, Clara were definitely odds on to progress had the match played to a natural conclusion.
After several costly near misses last week, when we opposed Tullamore, Newtownshandrum and Kilcoo and failed to get paid on a single one despite none of these clubs succeeding in covering their spread, it would be understandable to feel like pulling the reins in a little bit this weekend. Looking at the five games down for decision, that sentiment is even harder to quash, with most of the prices looking reasonably accurate and the value bets looking more than a little elusive.
Nonetheless, while going in all guns blazing in order to make up a deficit would be the wrong course of action, there are still some selections worthy of a second look this weekend.
As we discussed last week, provincial and All Ireland club honours are very hard to win at the best of times, and usually impossible to secure if clubs don’t serve an apprenticeship of sorts. In almost every instance, teams need to by win their club championship on a couple of occasions and learn the art of inter-county club competition before any silverware comes their way. In an All Ireland context, that still leaves plenty of contenders at this time of year, but at provincial level, there can be some excellent betting opportunities as a result, with many candidates simply not viable winners.
There are some caveats to this rule to be borne in mind all the same. De la Salle came from nowhere last year, but the important point was that their first game was against a similarly inexperienced outfit, and their narrow win over Sarsfields suddenly left them in a Munster decider. If a new team can get a run going, then they can often cause a shock, but without that launching pad, they have little or no hope.
