Kerry class will tell

PICKING the winner of the Ulster Senior Football Championship used to take the toss of a coin – now it requires the roll of a die.

BY KENNY ARCHER
Over the past nine seasons it’s been Armagh or Tyrone for the Anglo-Celt Cup, but this season there are more challengers capable of stopping a decade of dominance from those rivals across the river Blackwater.
OK, it’s stretching things to suggest that there are six potential winners, but no fewer than five counties ARE serious contenders. Besides Armagh and Tyrone, leading the pack are current National Football League Division One champions Derry, followed by the previous holders of that title, Donegal, and last year’s defeated Ulster finalists Monaghan – who also happened to push Kerry hardest in 2007.
Fermanagh are deservedly up to Division Two next season, but the string of scalps needed to win their first provincial crown seems beyond them.
Both Derry, obviously, and Donegal finished above Tyrone in Division One proper, while Monaghan out-performed Armagh in Division Two, although they only snatched a last-gasp victory over them at Clones in the League.
No one would, or certainly should, be surprised if either Armagh or Tyrone continue their two-team game of ‘pass-the-trophy,’ with those two expected to meet in one semi-final.
However, both appear more vulnerable than in recent years. The Red Hands lack sufficient scoring power, even with the welcome return of Brian McGuigan.
Armagh’s attack can be over-reliant on Steven McDonnell and Ronan Clarke and, like Tyrone, there are concerns over their full-back line, although their half-back line
is fantastic.
Derry are the strongest side at the moment with quality throughout and, barring cockiness and complacency, can progress past Donegal, then earn revenge over Monaghan at the same semi-final stage as they lost at last year. That should set up a final against Armagh or Tyrone, probably the former, to show if Ulster’s top two truly has changed.
On to the All-Ireland stage, the key question won’t be answered until early August: that is, can anyone stop Kerry? The Kingdom will certainly reach the Munster final, so even if they lose to Cork they’ll go into round three of the qualifiers on the August Bank Holiday weekend; more probably they’ll resume action in an All-Ireland quarter-final a week later. That first competitive clash after a lengthy lay-off is the best time to ambush Pat O’Shea’s men.
Dublin will dream of one last hurrah for several players and manager Paul Caffrey but, like everyone else, they don’t appear to have enough class to deny Kerry a hat-trick of Sam Maguire successes.

Cats fancied to complete hat-trick
IN Ulster hurling, simply select the first name in alphabetical order (in English): so that’s Antrim.
The All-Ireland race is more interesting. This season’s altered format will fuel the debate about which is better: more matches or longer recovery periods? Kilkenny, under Brian Cody (right), seem certain to have a five-week gap between winning Leinster and competing in an All-Ireland semi-final. All their serious challengers, from Munster, will have at least one more game, apart from the champions of the south-western province – but they will have had tough hurdles to overcome within Munster.
Then there’s Galway to factor into the mix, but the Tribesmen must get through four matches to reach the last four.
The various paths to the semi-finals will take it out of the other chief contenders too, namely Cork and Tipperary.
The Cats won’t be taking it easy, watching rivals cut each other down as they bid for their own three-in-a-row.


Kenny Archer's Predictions
Ulster SFC: Derry
All-Ireland SFC: Kerry
Ulster SHC: Antrim
All-Ireland SHC: Kilkenny