All-Ireland SFC Weekend Preview: The Road to Sam Maguire Continues
Round one of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship continues on Sunday with two more matches taking place.
– GAA Fixtures & TV Guide This Weekend: May 30–31 2026
Dublin vs Louth
- Venue: Croke Park
- Date & Time: Sunday, May 31, 2:30pm
- TV: GAA+
A repeat of the Leinster Semi-Final where Dublin shut off all avenues for Louth and ran out comfortable ten-point winners in the end. This game should be much different, though.
Dublin looked lacklustre in the defeat to Westmeath in the Leinster Final, and Dean Rock and the backroom team will have work to do to get them back up to speed ahead of another clash with the Wee County.
Dublin were lucky to get over the line in their opening game down in Aughrim and then caught Louth a little on the hop and dominated from pillar to post. They simply ran out of ideas in extra time against Westmeath, and it will be quite interesting to see what Dublin will turn up.
Louth simply can’t be as poor as they were last time out, as Gavin Devlin’s team never got going and kicked 13 wides across the guts of seventy minutes plus. They also had four efforts that dropped short in the second half, and the likes of Sam Mulroy, Ryan Burns, and Ciarán Downey were kept relatively quiet.
Louth went 22 minutes without a score in the second half, alongside another 15-minute scoreless spell in the first half. They have had time to get over that disappointment, and a return to Croke Park will look to yield a positive result for them.
Verdict
A case of nobody knows exactly what will happen in this game, but if Louth show up and produce what they can, then I can see them getting back into their stride and putting Dublin firmly to the sword.
Selection: Louth (13/8)
Monaghan vs Mayo
- Venue: St. Tiernach’s Park, Clones
- Date & Time: Sunday, May 31, 4pm
- TV: RTE 2
Monaghan went down on the sword in the 70 minutes at a soggy St Tiernach’s Park in the Ulster Final. They won’t want a repeat of what happened in the league against Mayo, where they were dominated all over the field and ultimately were defeated by 19 points, 2-30 to 2-11. The league campaign looks to have gone out of the minds of many of the Monaghan players as they have shown in performances against Cavan, Derry, and also against Armagh.
This will be another test for them, and the bench will likely prove to be key, also. Jack McCarron and Ryan McAnespie showed what they can do off the bench in the Ulster Final, and the return of Gary Mohan could be a catalyst, too. They will be without Darragh McElearney due to his late red card against Armagh, so a shuffle of the defence will be needed.
Mayo haven’t had a game since April 26 and like a lot of counties who exited the provincial championship early, the main question is how ready will they be. They went to Ruislip to face London and came away from that with a convincing victory, and arrived to Castlebar full of confidence to face Roscommon.
The first half for Mayo went like clockwork, and Andy Moran’s side led by three at the break, 1-11 to 1-08. The second half wasn’t as successful, though, as they completely lost their way and Roscommon blitzed them. Defensive frailties have no doubt been worked on, and this will be a tough game for them to come into after such a long break.
Verdict
Monaghan will want to keep the momentum going from the Ulster Final, and even though extra time proved too much for them in the end, they will want revenge, no doubt, for the league defeat to Mayo.
Stephen O’Hanlon, Conor McCarthy, and Andrew Woods will all be key for the Farney, and if they have their shooting boots on, then Mayo could be in for a tough day at the office.
Selection: Monaghan (6/4)
