Laois favored over Kildare

By Sean Creedon

Following their win over Dublin at the quarterfinal stage, Kildare will start as favorites against Laois in the Leinster senior football semifinal at Croke Park on Sunday. And the Lilywhites could go all the way in Leinster this year after finally getting the proverbial monkey, in the shape of Dublin, off their backs. Laois have had success at minor and under 21 level in recent years and have a regular point scorer in Michael Lawlor. But if Kildare can convert even half of their possession into scores, they should be able to make it to the final where Meath await them.

In Connacht, Galway will be hot favorites to beat Roscommon, who scraped through against Sligo at the second attempt. Much is expected of this Galway team and many commentators agree that they will make it all the way to the All-Ireland final. But Roscommon will certainly make it tough on them, and Galway should win their first Connacht title since 1995.

Meanwhile, Mickey Moran has quit as manager of Sligo following their semifinal defeat by Roscommon.

And you would probably need a prophet to correctly forecast the outcome of the Ulster football final between Derry and Donegal at Clones. Derry looked good in their semifinal win over Armagh, while Donegal struggled against Cavan. It’s a close one, but I would go for the more experienced Derry side.

Offaly hurlers will have a new manager for their All-Ireland quarterfinal tie on July 26. Babs Keating quit after the Leinster final defeat by Kilkenny when he openly criticized the Offaly players for their performance.