Leinster Football Championship fixtures:
Sunday 22 May - Preliminary Round
Laois v Longford, Portlaoise
Kildare v Wicklow, Portlaoise
Sunday 29 May - Preliminary Round
Offaly v Wexford, Tullamore
Sunday 5 June - Quarter Finals
Meath v Kildare / Wicklow, Croke Park
Dublin v Laois / Longford, Croke Park
Sunday 12 June - Quarter Final
Westmeath v Wexford / Offaly
Carlow v Louth, Portlaoise
Sunday 26 June - Semi Finals
Wexford / Offaly / Westmeath V Carlow / Louth, Croke Park
Kildare / Wicklow / Meath V Laois / Longford / Dublin
SUNDAY 17 JULY - Final
COUNTY BY COUNTY
Carlow
Luke Dempsey’s first two years managing Carlow were somewhat fruitless, but he will have taken some pleasure from this year’s league. Ultimately, the Barrowsiders came up short in their search for promotion from Division 4, but recorded four good wins and a draw along the way.
As unlikely as it seems, Dempsey will also know that the county has never had as good a chance of progressing in Leinster as this year.
All of Leinster's big guns are on the far side of the draw and in the first round Carlow face a Louth side in the unusual position of having to manage expectations.
Dublin
Dublin are a team with plenty to prove in August but absolutely nothing to prove in Leinster. Arguably, losing to Meath last year was just the result Dublin needed at the time. In many ways, they have not looked back and only Cork have stood in their way since in two games that the Dubs left behind.
It would be tempting for manager Pat Gilroy to believe that a trip through the qualifiers is the route to success but that would be to ignore an intriguing provincial draw that sees Dublin on the same side of the draw as Laois, Kildare and Meath.
None of those teams will fancy putting the shackles on a forward line that bagged a whopping 16 goals in the league.
But each of those sides is capable of asking enough questions of the Dubs to make the annual jaunt through Leinster an interesting exercise for a team that must solve problems in its midfield and backline if it is to truly step up to the big time later on in the summer.
And just as important as winning Leinster for Dublin, will be signs that prospects such as Kevin McMenamin, Diarmuid Connolly and Eoghan O’Gara can take some of the creative pressure off the Brogan brothers.
If Bernard Brogan’s hamstring proves to be a persistent problem this summer that is going to be essential to their hopes.
Kildare
So the provincial championships don’t matter? Tell that to Kildare. Kieran McGeeney’s side would dearly love to generate the huge summer support of days gone by and give their fans something to really cheer about.
Watching the dominance of Dublin in the province in recent times has been a painful experience – not least in 2009 when the side should have dethroned the champions in a thrilling encounter in the final.
But it must have been even more painful last year when it was Meath and not the Lillywhites who finally broke Dublin’s dominance.
On paper Kildare appear to have the playing talent and the management skills to become real contenders. The side recovered well after last year’s shock defeat to Louth in Leinster.
After a good run through the qualifiers, they came up short against a Down side that showed the type of attacking potency that only Johnny Doyle truly provides for Kildare.
A good run through the tough side of the Leinster draw could provide the perfect preparation if they find themselves in a similar position come August.
The side had a mediocre league campaign in a competitive Division 2, suffering a drubbing against Tyrone. But McGeeney will have been pleased that his charges saw off two key Leinster opponents – Meath and Laois – in that competition.
Laois
Defeat to Tipperary in the first round of last year’s qualifiers was a dismal end to the championship for a county that has long hoped to convert underage talent into senior success. But Laois will have taken huge confidence from their showing in Division Two of the League this Spring.
Justin McNulty’s side lost narrowly to a strong Donegal in the Division Two final.
But there was enough grit and determination in that and other spring outings to show that they will be a tough prospect for any side in Leinster this summer - not least, if forwards such as Ross Munnelly and MJ Tierney can find the championship form of old.
Victory over an in-form Longford side on 22 May is by no means assured but it would provide good preparation and some momentum before a clash with the Dubs in early June.
With plenty of questions hanging over Dublin, Laois would fancy their chances of pulling off a shock.
Longford
Longford are on a high after ending a 39-year wait for silverware after beating Roscommon to win the Division 4 league final. But that is just the latest notch for a county that is in quiet building mode.
Glenn Ryan’s side beat Mayo in the qualifiers last year before putting up a good show against eventual All-Ireland finalists Down. Perhaps more importantly, the county is showing great progress at minor and under 21 levels.
That may not be of any great import when it comes to this year’s senior championship but any team with a player of the quality of Brian Kavanagh is always a threat.
Louth
If the GAA fairy godmother is into dishing out justice then she is certainly smiling upon Louth. With Laois, Meath, Kildare and Dublin all on the other side of the draw, the Wee county has an excellent chance of making it to the provincial final.
When Meath’s Joe Sheridan bundled his sides winning ‘try’ over the line in that infamous match in Croke Park last year, there was a danger that Louth would get consumed in anger and forget the progress they had made.
However, Peter Fitzpatrick has shown great managerial nous to refocus his players to the point where they claimed this year’s Division 3 title (with full-forward Ronan Carroll promisingly bagging 1-3 in the final).
In the wake of that win, star player and all-star Paddy Keenan spoke of the desire within the camp to move on from their ‘bad luck’. But the truth is, in sport good teams make their own luck and Louth certainly have enough talent to get back to another final. But at that point they may just need that fairy godmother.
Meath
Meath may be the reigning champions in Leinster but they are also a shadow of their former selves. Right throughout the league their performances have been listless and the team is lucky not to have been relegated to Division 3.
The big question is can Seamus ‘Banty’ McEnaney inspire the Royals in a way no other manager has been able to since the departure of Sean Boylan from the job?
To date there is little evidence that the panel has bought into the gospel according to Banty.
But, to be fair, it is early days and the recently announced championship squad includes a host of new faces even if it still is heavily weighted towards big tall players that tend to lack pace and creativity.
The one exception, of course, is Graham Reilly who is more than capable of lighting up the Leinster championship on his own if given even half a yard.
There is a definite feeling that the Banty project will take more than a year to perfect but the possibility of meeting a fancied Dublin side in a Leinster semi-final at the end of June is bound to get Royal juices flowing.
Offaly
After meekly exiting Leinster to Meath last year, Offaly quietly racked up some good results in the qualifiers. They finally exited the championship in the third round of qualifiers when they were beaten by Down by a mere two points.
They followed this up with a respectable Division 3 campaign and finished up fourth from the top.
Yet the three teams that finished above Offaly in this division – Westmeath, Louth and Wexford – are the very teams that the Faithful county needs to beat on the so-called easy side of the Leinster draw.
Westmeath
Most of the second tier teams in Leinster can blow hot and cold but Westmeath have more settings than a hair dryer. They failed to build on their breakthrough provincial win in 2004 and have suffered some demoralising Croke Park defeats to the Dubs since.
But at times, not least in their recent Division 3 campaign, they have shown that they are a team to be reckoned with. If Denis Glennon is on form he will be a handful for any defence.
But the fact that Conor Lynam and Paul Greville both scored five points apiece in their league final defeat to Louth is an encouraging sign that they are becoming a more rounded side.
Wexford
There was much talk about the devastating end to the league for Dublin this year but it wasn’t a patch on what Wexford endured. They went into the final game against Limerick as Division 3 leaders with a final and promotion to Division 2 beckoning.
70 minutes of football later, Wexford had lost the game and allowed Leinster rivals Westmeath and Louth to leapfrog them in the table. It must be hard to generate enthusiasm on the training pitch after that.
Yet for inspiration, Wexford need only cast their minds back to last June when they very nearly shocked Dublin in Leinster and brought the then reigning champions to extra time.
But that of course was with the help of Mattie Forde and it remains to be seen how big a loss he will be this summer.
Wicklow
Will there be a final twist in Mick O’Dwyer’s great Wicklow experiment? It is hardly likely that the Kerryman can lead yet another Leinster team to a provincial final but he will relish the thought of having a crack at his old charges, Kildare, on 22 May. But the county is in the midst of an injury crisis.
Adding to the problems is the fact that dual stars Leighton Glynn and Stephen Kelly are due to play the Christy Ring Cup semi final just twenty hours before the Kildare match.
Micko always was a man who enjoyed a challenge.
OVERVIEW:
Leinster may not have provided an All-Ireland winner in quite some time but last year it certainly provided entertainment. Louth have a huge score to settle with Meath. And Dublin too will be out to avenge the ‘5 past Cluxton’ jokes that were all the rage around Navan last June.
Perhaps what is most intriguing about Leinster this year is the shape of the draw. All of the fancied sides are on the same side and whatever team wins through to the final in July from this side of the draw will have done it the hard way.
Louth look to be the best placed team to reach the final from the other side and they will pray that they get a chance of Leinster final re-match with Meath.
Laois and Kildare will both believe that this is the year that they can finally step up to the mark but, in truth, it is very difficult to look beyond Dublin. A tough Leinster draw is the perfect way for Pat Gilroy to find his best team.
Dublin may be struggling at times in midfield and often look confused at the back but no other team in Leinster has the firepower to outgun a forward line that can be sensational in full flow.
Verdict: Dublin
