Next up in the National Football League is “calculator Sunday” because that’s what will be required to sort out what’s what at the end of it all.
Dublin, Tyrone and Kildare are already through to the semifinals and on Sunday we will find out which county will join that trio in the semifinals and which two counties will be relegated.
Cork are best placed to take final place with six points, while Mayo, Donegal and Kerry have four points each. And so Cork, who play Mayo at Pairc Ui Chaoimh on Sunday, must be favorites to make the semifinals. Down seem certain to be relegated, but who will join them in the drop to division two next year is going to make for an exciting afternoon of football. Kerry struggled in the earlier part of the league and it looked like they were certain to go down, but wins over Down and Cork has given them hope of avoiding the drop.
The Kerry squad are in Portugal this week for a warm-weather training and bonding session and should be in good shape for the trip to Omagh on Sunday where they won’t be expecting any favors from their great rivals Tyrone. Mickey Harte, the Tyrone manager said they are not worried about Kerry relegation fears. Harte said: ‘‘We won’t be thinking about what the result does to Kerry. We will only be thinking what it does to us. We want to stay with a bit of momentum and it’s good to know our league campaign won’t end on the seven game.’’
All-Ireland champions Donegal, who, like Kerry have only four points, are at home to leaders Dublin in Ballybofey and much will depend on the team Dublin field on Sunday as they are already through to the semifinals.
The fourth game on Sunday will see Kildare travel to Newry to face a Down side who have won only once. Westmeath are definitely one of the counties coming up from division two. They secured promotion two weeks ago with a win over Armagh, but it’s going to be a nail biting finish to see who will join them in the top flight next year. Derry, on nine points will be promoted if they get at least a point against Westmeath in Celtic Park on Sunday, but Galway, who are away to Armagh and Laois, who are away to Wexford, will be hoping to take advantage if Derry slip up at home. Longford are definitely going down to division three and they will be joined by either Armagh, Louth or Wexford. It would be a second consecutive drop for Armagh
