By Pierce O’Reilly
Junior "B" Football
New Haven vs. Offaly
Noon
It’s nice to see new teams getting a chance to showcase their efforts at the GAA headquarters and New Haven and Offaly won’t disappoint. The out-of-staters have made great progress in recent years, and with Ronan Golding leading the attack they should be good enough to beat Offaly. The Leinster men have already got out of the blocks in the senior "B" grade, so they’ll be eager to continue their recent run of good form.
Senior Hurling
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Clare vs. Westmeath
1:30 p.m.
Dessie Costello and Tom Nugent are keeping quite about their winter training schedule. The question is, was there any? Westmeath disappointed their supporters last season and have failed to make the top cut for some time. Clare will be looking to their New York panelists for inspiration; if they perform, they may pull an upset.
Senior "A" Football
Leitrim vs. Stamford
3 p.m.
Lovely Leitrim will be watched closely on Sunday to see if they have any new aspirations for glory this year. The team of the ’90s has disintegrated of late, and with several players returning to Ireland, they have failed to compete with Donegal and Kerry. Cookie Meehan, Tommy Gee and Bill Dennehy are all back at the helm this year, so expect to see an improvement. Stamford will come prepared for battle. Mark Comerford, Keith Hennessey and Richie Purcell won’t be found wanting.
Senior "A" Football
Kerry vs. Sligo
4:30 p.m.
Kerry will be raging favorites to go top of the senior "A" division. Bingo Driscoll, Willie O’Donnell and Dave McCarthy will be the danger men up front, and if they click they’ll rattle the Yeats County. Sligo struggled last year and were lucky to avoid the drop at the end of the season. Enda Henry is no longer around for direction up front, but if they get two scoring weekenders, they’ll battle to the end.
Senior "B" Football
Rangers vs. Longford
6 p.m.
Rangers are an unknown package at this grade and manager Denis Twomey has revealed little in the closed season. His Waterford conteingent has got smaller, however, and Tomas Maher and Cormac Murray are no longer available. Longford are usually slow to start, but come midsummer they’ll be hard to beat.