Down and Wexford both lost their opening fixtures and clash in Newry on Sunday. A win is important for either side if they want to push for promotion. This has the makings of being a real battle.
Roscommon and Louth recorded wins in their opening fixtures and clash in Kiltoom. The Rossies relegated Louth to the Junior Championship, the Wee County are out to avenge that result.
Clare v Sligo, Sun 28th Jan, Clarecastle, 12pm
Clare were impressive last weekend in their opening day victory away to Wexford. They’ll be hoping to pick up a second win when they welcome Sligo to Clarecastle.
Sligo drew with Offaly last weekend in what was an entertaining clash in Ferbane. With one point on the board they’ll want to add to that this weekend.
These two sides met in the opening game of the league last year with Clare recording a good win away to Sligo. They’ll be looking for a repeat result this weekend.
Down v Wexford Sun 28th Jan, Páirc Esler, 1pm
After defeats last weekend these two sides will want to pick up their first points of the campaign when they clash in Newry.
Down lost to Roscommon last weekend; they only kicked one point in the opening half. In the end there were seven points between the two sides. Wexford only kicked one point too in their defeat to Clare.
When the two sides met in the league last season Down had a narrow win away to Wexford. This will be another tight encounter.
Offaly v Antrim, Sun 28th Jan, Edenderry GAA, 2pm
After picking up a point at home to Sligo last weekend, Offaly look to build on that when they have another home game. This time Antrim visit Edenderry.
Antrim will be disappointed over last weekend’s defeat to Louth. They had started well and were ahead at the break. The Wee County came back at them and claimed a four point win.
The Saffrons will want to bounce back from that defeat. Every point is crucial in this division. They won’t want to make a swift return to Division 4.
Roscommon v Louth, Sun 28th Jan, Kiltoom, 2pm
These two sides will hope to be challenging for promotion. They both made a winning start to the league last weekend.
Roscommon had a seven point win over Down. They never looked troubled in the game and a good start set them on their way. Louth came from behind to defeat Antrim. They’ll not want to make the same start this weekend.
The last time these two sides met was in the All-Ireland Intermediate relegation play-off which Roscommon won and saw Louth relegated to Junior. This adds something to this weekend’s game.
Deniese O'Flaherty
Deniese is a freelance sports journalist/broadcaster. She has worked for several local and national media outlets. GAA and soccer are her great loves and she also follows rugby league and snooker. She's a big supporter of her local clubs St. Mary's GAA Granard and Longford Town. She also follows Celtic, Liverpool and Leeds Rhinos. She presented and produced a popular sports podcast last year where she interviewed Ray Houghton, Chris Kamara and John Hartson. Deniese is currently Head of Communications for Boccia Ireland