Previews for Sunday's SFC clashes

Watch Longford v Westmeath and Cavan v Down on RTÉ Two and RTÉ.ie this Sunday and keep up with all the latest scores on RTÉ Radio 1, RTÉ.ie and RTÉ Aertel.

Ulster Senior Football Championship

Cavan v Down

Two teams with contrasting league fortunes come face to face in the Ulster SFC at Kingspan Breffni Park on Sunday, throw-in 4pm.

However, they are bonded by the expectation that neither will have too large a part to play in this year's Championship.

Cavan topped Allianz NHL Division 2B, racking up five wins and two draws, but under-performed when confronted by Roscommon in their semi-final at Croke Park.

Donal Keoghan's charges have a mixture of youth and experience in midfield, with Lorcan Mulvey the perfect youthful foil to veteran Dermot McCabe.

Providing they can win their share of possession and get it inside to the likes of Seanie Johnson and Gerald Pierson, Cavan could gain revenge for last year's five-point defeat by Sunday's opponents.

Down, for their part, had a miserable league campaign, picking up just one point from their seven Division 1B outings.

Ross Carr and DJ Kane were part of the All-Ireland winning sides of 1991 and 1994, but have their work cut out if they are to recreate anything like that with the Mourne County's current crop.

Benny Coulter is their shining light and if he performs then Down can expect to be competitive.

It was his goal in the corresponding fixture last year that propelled his side to victory and he will need to be equally influential this weekend.

Home advantage will be important to Cavan, but, if Coulter wakes up on the right side of the bed, expect Down to replicate last year's outcome.

Verdict: Down

Leinster Senior Football Championship

Longford v Westmeath

Longford were one of the surprise stories of the 2006 Championship.

They ran eventual Leinster winners and All-Ireland semi-finalists Dublin extremely close. Many put that result more down to Dublin's sluggishness than Longford's ability.

Subsequent qualifying system wins over Waterford, Tipperary and - most impressively - Derry, followed by a gutsy display in defeat against Kerry in Killarney, proved that their opening game was no fluke.

As usual, a heavy burden will lie on the shoulders of Paul Barden, but the tight confines of Pearse Park, throw-in 2.00pm, will be of the most benefit for Luke Dempsey's charges.

Westmeath will be mightily relieved to have ace forward Dessie Dolan available.

The former All-Star incurred a shoulder injury in training last week but has made a sufficient enough recovery to take his place on the '40'.

Veteran Martin Flanagan is back in the Lake County's ranks and will line out at midfield with David O'Shaughnessy.

Apart from the inclusion of teenager Kieran Gavin, the side has a very familiar look to it. Whether this breeds consistency or staleness will be quite apparent come Sunday evening.

Dempsey led the Lake County to All-Ireland U-21 glory before taking the senior reins, and will no doubt be confident he knows enough about his former troops to devise a game plan to upset the odds.

Verdict: Longford

Connacht Senior Football Championship

New York v Sligo

It is Sligo's turn to travel to the Big Apple, throw-in 8.30pm Irish time, in a game that has been pretty kind to visitors in recent years.

The big news is the new synthetic surface at Gaelic Park. It will the first Championship match to be played on an artificial surface.

However, any advantage this may have had for the Exiles is annulled by the fact that the Yeatsmen have been training on Sligo Rovers' all-weather pitch.

In fact, New York will have less experience of this surface, as they only got to use their new pitch for the first time last Sunday.

The hosts have just six starters from last year's respectable defeat to Roscommon in their line-up. Robbie Moran is one of them and he captains the side after he overcame a wrist injury.

The feats of 2002 seem a long way away now for Sligo. Eamon O'Hara is still crucial to their cause, and, as long as they avoid pre-match temptation in the 'city that never sleeps', they should be toasting a success come Sunday night.

The New York County Board, on the other hand, will be left cursing the Celtic Tiger.

Verdict: Sligo

Séamus Leonard