Division One
COUNTIES that should be thinking about pre-season are back in mid-season and, after a Covid-19-enforced six-month hiatus, the top flight remains as tight as the proverbial drum.
Form is gone, momentum has gone, spectators have gone and the final two rounds of fixtures are bound to throw up a few surprise results.
We take up where we left off on the first of March with three points separating top dogs Galway from sixth-placed Monaghan and only Meath, who've nothing to show from five outings, have only pride to play for.
Leaders Galway (eight points) hold a one-point lead over Kerry and host arch-rivals Mayo in Tuam on Saturday. The Tribesmen lost to Kerry in round two but then went on a three-game winning streak that included a 19-point victory over Tyrone.
Extending that sequence to four will leave Padraig Joyce's side (with Jim McGuinness now part of the set-up) in the boxseat, but a surprise Mayo win will make for a nail-biting final weekend. James Horan's men are second-from-bottom on three points and in urgent need of a result to put pressure on a Monaghan side that book-ended their pre-lockdown campaign with defeats but produced some excellent form - drawing with Dublin at Croke Park, beating Tyrone and hammering Mayo - in between. Monaghan finish with two home games - first up is Kerry and they finish against Meath.
Donegal are also on five points but face a more demanding run-in: Tyrone for starters and then a trip to Tralee to take on Kerry.
Dublin and Tyrone are both in the chasing pack on six. The Dubs' form had been patchy prior to lockdown - there had been two draws and a one-point win over Donegal. A defeat was coming and it arrived at Healy Park where Tyrone won by three points.
That victory kept Mickey Harte's men in touch with the leaders but they have away games (in Ballybofey and Castlebar) to finish and look unlikely to be in the hunt for the title.
The Dubs resume against Meath which looks, with all due respect to the Royals, a foregone conclusion even without Diarmuid Connolly and conclude with a trip to Galway who could already be champions by then if other results go their way.
Remaining fixtures:
Round six
Saturday, October 17
Monaghan v Kerry (Inniskeen, 2pm), Dublin v Meath (Parnell Park, 7pm)
Sunday, October 18
Galway v Mayo (Tuam Stadium, 2pm), Donegal v Tyrone (Ballybofey, 4pm)
Round seven
Saturday, October 24
Kerry v Donegal (Austin Stack Park, 2pm)
Sunday, October 25
Galway v Dublin (Pearse Stadium, 2pm), Mayo v Tyrone (Castlebar, 2pm), Monaghan v Meath (Clones, 2pm)
Division Two
TOP two Armagh and Roscommon meet at the Athletic Grounds on Saturday in what amounts to a promotion play-off. Armagh have looked the best side in the second tier and could have been home and hosed were it not for slip-ups against Westmeath and Laois.
Both sides have formidable points difference records (Armagh +26, the Rossies +17) and victory will take the winner to nine points with a game to go. Cavan (six points) are still in the hunt and can move into second if they can win in Kildare.
Laois and Westmeath are on five points and they meet on Saturday. The pressure is off for the winner but the loser could find themselves in the relegation mire if Kildare (on four points) get the better of Mickey Graham's Breffnimen.
At the bottom, Fermanagh are in serious trouble. After a one-point success against Roscommon in round two, Ryan McMenamin's men lost three in-a-row including a 13-point bruising at the hands of Armagh in their most recent game. The Ernemen resume against Clare, in Ennis, and McMenamin has attempted to get the game pushed back a week after Covid-19 infections in his squad disrupted training. As many as nine players tested positive and some will come out of quarantine on the day of the game against the Bannermen.
Remaining fixtures:
Round six
Saturday, October 17
Westmeath v Laois (Cusack Park, 2pm), Armagh v Roscommon (Athletic Grounds, 5.30pm)
Sunday, October 18
Clare v Fermanagh (Cusack Park, 1pm), (Kildare v Cavan (Newbridge, 2pm)
Round seven
Saturday 24 October
Cavan v Roscommon (Kingspan Breffni, 2pm), Clare v Armagh (Cusack Park, 2pm), Kildare v Westmeath (Newbridge, 2pm), Fermanagh v Laois (Enniskillen, 2pm)
Division Three
GIVEN that winless Louth are their opponents on Leeside at the weekend, Cork - the only county in the country with a 100 per cent record - look nailed-on to take one of the promotion spots.
The real action is the battle for second and Down, joint second with Longford on seven points but with an inferior points difference, are right in there. When the lockdown arrived, Paddy Tally's men had the wind in their sails and would have been a good bet to finish off their campaign with wins against bottom two Leitrim and Louth. But the six-month break has robbed the Mournemen of form and momentum and allowed opponents who were low-on-confidence time to regroup. Will that make a crucial difference? We'll soon know.
Longford have a much tougher run-in than Down. They travel to Derry before finishing against Cork and Derry (joint fourth with Offaly on five points) can get back into the shake-up if they win at home on Saturday.
At the other end, Louth are looking dead-and-buried, while the winners of final weekend meeting of Leitrim and free-falling Tipperary (they were All-Ireland finalists in 2016) could join them in Division Four next season.
Remaining fixtures:
Round six
Saturday, October 17
Cork v Louth (Pairc Ui Chaoimh, 4pm), Derry v Longford (Celtic Park, 4.30pm), Down v Leitrim (Newry, 5pm)
Sunday, October 18
Tipperary v Offaly (Semple Stadium, 1pm)
Round seven
Sunday 25 October
Longford v Cork (Glennon Brothers Pearse Park, 2pm), Louth v Down (Drogheda, 2pm), Leitrim v Tipperary (Carrick-on-Shannon, 2pm), Offaly v Derry (Tullamore, 2pm)
Division Four
ANTRIM'S final act before lockdown was a 12-point mauling of League leaders Limerick. That win lifted them to second and, if the action had continued, the boost to their morale and the damage it would have done to the Treatymen's, could have seen the Ulstermen canter out of the bottom tier.
All that is in the past now but Lenny Harbinson will be very disappointed if his Saffrons fail to seal the deal. The crucial game for them is against Wicklow (in Aughrim on Saturday) and victory there could be enough if Limerick can beat Wexford.
Sligo are also in with a shout but will need to win in Carlow to maintain their chances going into the final round of matches. London will play no further part in the season.
Remaining fixtures:
Round six
Saturday, October 17
Wicklow v Antrim (Aughrim, 2pm), Carlow v Sligo (Netwatch Cullen Park, 5pm)
Sunday, October 18
Limerick v Wexford (Rathkeale, 1pm)
Round seven
Saturday, October 24
Antrim v Waterford (Portglenone, 2pm), Sligo v Limerick (Markievicz Park, 2pm), Wexford v Wicklow (Wexford Park, 2pm)
Tables
Division 1
P W D L +/- Pts.
Galway 5 4 0 1 22 8
Kerry 5 3 1 1 4 7
Tyrone 5 3 0 2 -14 6
Dublin 5 2 2 1 4 6
Donegal 5 2 1 2 18 5
Monaghan 5 2 1 2 2 5
Mayo 5 1 1 3 -14 3
Meath 5 0 0 5 -22 0
Division 2
P W D L +/- Pts.
Armagh 5 3 1 1 26 7
Roscommon 5 3 1 1 17 7
Cavan 5 3 0 2 2 6
Westmeath 5 2 1 2 -8 5
Laois 5 2 1 2 -8 5
Kildare 5 2 0 3 -2 4
Clare 5 2 0 3 -6 4
Fermanagh 5 1 0 4 -21 2
Division 3
P W D L +/- Pts.
Cork 5 5 0 0 24 10
Longford 5 3 1 1 14 7
Down 5 3 1 1 7 7
Derry 5 2 1 2 4 5
Offaly 5 2 1 2 -4 5
Tipperary 5 1 1 3 -9 3
Leitrim 5 1 1 3 -17 3
Louth 5 0 0 5 -19 0
Division 4
P W D L +/- Pts.
Limerick 5 4 0 1 -5 8
Antrim 5 3 1 1 27 7
Wexford 5 3 0 2 16 6
Wicklow 5 3 0 2 11 6
Sligo 5 3 0 2 8 6
Carlow 5 1 2 2 -6 4
Waterford 5 1 1 3 -10 3
London 5 0 0 5 -41 0
