Our selections for Saturday's GAA action include a win for Dublin against Tyrone at Croke Park.
The All-Ireland Senior Football Championship has reached the quarter-final stage and this weekend sees four blockbuster knockout ties at Croke Park as the contenders for Sam Maguire are whittled down to just four.
On Saturday, there will be a march of the Ulster masses towards the capital, with Monaghan and Donegal the curtain-raiser before Tyrone and Dublin draw swords on Jones’ Road. Here are our GAA betting tips for Saturday’s action.
Saturday GAA tips
Donegal -2 vs Monaghan @ 4/6
Michael Langan anytime goalscorer @ 6/1
Dublin to beat Tyrone @ 11/10
Con O’Callaghan first goalscorer @ 6/1
Donegal to quell Farney march
A second Championship meeting of the season for Donegal and Monaghan, who met in the Ulster SFC quarter-finals in May.
That game was played in Clones, home advantage for Farney Army, but it was Donegal that led from the fifth minute onwards.
Jim McGuinness’ side were clear by six points at half-time, 0-14 to 0-08, but Monaghan’s long range shooting served them well in the second half, four two-pointers bringing them back into it, before they were left two points adrift when the hooter sounded.
Ciaran Thompson, Michael Langan and Peadar Mogan hit 13 points between them that afternoon, with Daire Ó Baoill also impressing alongside the tireless running power of Finnbarr Roarty and Ciaran Moore.
It’s that power off the ball that should serve Donegal well as they return to Croke Park for the first time since last summer’s All-Ireland semi-final loss to Galway – a game they can have major regrets over.
The talismanic Michael Murphy was a television pundit that afternoon but is now restored to the fray having emerged from retirement.
Such has been the impact of the 2012 All-Ireland-winning captain, he’s favourite to be named Footballer of the Year, though that accolade will rest on Donegal’s progress over the next five weeks.
Midfielder Langan has been ultra-impressive this season. He hit four points in that Clones clash and could be a goal threat on Saturday. The St Michael’s man would be a decent Man of the Match bet in this quarter-final too.
The attacking instincts of Micheál Bannigan and Stephen O’Hanlon are twin threats for Monaghan, but Gabriel Bannigan’s team may fall short against a more experienced Donegal side, with McGuinness able to draw on Hugh McFadden, Odhran McFadden-Ferry and Patrick McBrearty from the bench last weekend.
Ultimately that should lead Donegal to another semi-final as their pied piper McGuinness continues to threaten another second-season delivery of Sam Maguire to the Hills.
Dubs preferred against Red Hands
Dublin and Tyrone face off in the second of Saturday’s games and they are inseparable in the betting.
Both have impressed at times but consistency isn’t a trait displayed by either Dessie Farrell’s Dubs or the first-season Red Hands under Malachy O’Rourke.
Tyrone bested Donegal in Ballybofey last month – on a wet and wild evening – but followed up with an insipid home loss against Mayo.
They have the forwards to worry any side but it doesn’t always play out as such. They beat Dublin in Omagh in the Allianz League in March by seven points, but the cold air is long since gone and the confines of Croke Park on a summer’s evening will present a vastly different challenge.
Farrell revealed Dublin took a gamble by not bringing captain Con O’Callaghan off the bench for the closing stages of last weekend’s win over Cork. It paid off and the Cuala star should be raring to go now after his hamstring problem.
King Con is a decent 6/1 chance to score the first goal, but the value lies in siding with Dublin at 11/10 to win this game.
Shooting profligacy and ill-discipline cost them dearly in the defeat to Armagh here two games ago. If those concerns are ironed out, the Dubs should march onwards.
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