4 Talking Points Ahead Of This Weekends All-Ireland Football Semi-Finals | Balls.ie

With the All-Ireland football semi-finals and Tailteann Cup final all taking place in Croke Park this weekend, lets look at four talking points ahead of the weekend.

More ‘puke football’ from Kerry?

Are we going to swashbuckling all attacking football as we saw in the early 2000s classic? Do Armagh have the confidence to go full-blown attack because they have finally taken off the All-Ireland quarter-final curse? Will Kieran Donaghy’s inside info help the Ulster side get over the line?

Many questions are unanswered ahead of Saturday’s semifinal but a cagey affair seems certain.

Jack O’Connor’s side needs to get more out of Sean O’Shea and Paudie Clifford in attack, as they are once again too dependent on their star man to perform.

Does Donegal have the firepower to stop Galway?

Will Jimmy still be winning matches, or is the semi-final as far as this Donegal team can go? With Peadar Mogan and Oisin Gallen, they definitely have the long-distance bomber in their locker to kick scores, but their inside line just doesn’t have the spark McGuinness had in his previous tenure, when Michael Murphy and Colm McFadden lead the line.

Expect a high-scoring game with Galway about having just enough firepower to get over the line.

Doing it for Johno

The GAA lost a legend during the week when former Galway All-Ireland winning manager John O’Mahony passed away. With his former star player in Joyce leading the Tribesmen to Croker this weekend, he’ll surely be channelling his ‘Year till Sunday’ experience to once again get his team to an All-Ireland final.

Can Laois perform a dramatic U-Turn?

The Simpsons scene of Homer strangling the Hamburglar with a child crying stop stop, he’s already dead comes to mind when Laois played Down in last season’s Tailteann Cup semi-final, with the Ulster side winning 8-16 to 2-12 in Croke Park.

However, with manager Justin McNulty returning to the helm, Laois has been transformed, securing the Division Four League Title and a scalp against Leinster rivals Kildare, so expect a much tighter affair.

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