SATURDAY 29 MARCH
Division 4
Wexford v Limerick, Croke Park, 5pm
Division 2
Monaghan v Roscommon, Croke Park, 7.15pm
ONLINE
Live blog on RTÉ Sport Online and RTÉ News app.
TV
Live coverage of both finals on TG4.
Highlights and reaction to all the weekend's action on Allianz League Sunday, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, 9.30pm.
RADIO
Updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Sunday Sport, and RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta Spórt an tSathairn.
WEATHER
Some bright or sunny spells in the east at first tomorrow but otherwise cloudy with outbreaks of light rain and drizzle, particularly in the southwest and west in the morning. The rain and drizzle will turn lighter and patchier as it spreads eastwards across the country along with some mist, hill and coastal fog. A clearance to drier and brighter conditions will develop in the northwest in the early afternoon, extending southeastwards through the rest of the day. Highest temperatures of 11 to 15 degrees with moderate to fresh south to southwest winds developing. For more go to met.ie.
Division 2: Croke Park stage for free-scoring duo
And so it came to pass that Monaghan and Roscommon would make an instant return to the top flight. That was the expectation in advance, though it was something of a close-run thing for the Rossies, this after a final-day draw with Westmeath and Cavan's late surge that nearly yielded something against Cork.
Dara McVeety's two-point effort trailed just wide as the hooter sounded at Breffni Park. Cavan's chance to draw their match was spurned as parity would have taken them to Division 1. McVeety, possibly thinking time was running out as was the case prior to the rule tweaks which came in after round five, shot on sight from the wing. He need not have rushed it.
A week previous, Roscommon had lost to Cavan, their second defeat of the campaign, after Meath proved too good for them at Páirc Tailteann.
Following the reverse against the Breffni, Rossies boss Davy Burke felt his side had blown their chance.
"We weren't good enough. I'd say that’s our league campaign over," he told the press after the Hyde Park encounter.
"We’ll go to Westmeath next week to fill the numbers and then we’ll prepare for championship. We’ve no business being in a league final after that type of stuff. Two defeats in the national league, you’ve no business in a league final. You can’t win your home games."
Whether it was a case of Davy not reading the table properly or wanting to give his side a kick up the backside, the Connacht outfit were still masters of their own destiny. A point against Westmeath proved to be enough. Job done. A chance then to win a fifth Division 2 title in as many appearances - following on from 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2022.
This final comes a week out from their Connacht opener against London, but no doubt their antenna is firmly fixed on a likely provincial semi-final date with Galway on Easter Sunday.
From the get-go, Roscommon have really embraced the new rules. Opening up against Down, they seemed at ease with all the additions. They kicked 3-21 and continued to keep the scoreboard operator busy for the games that followed, just as Monaghan were also doing. They had 1-20 on the board at half time against Meath.
It was said that after making the drop to tier 2 the Farney would bounce back straightaway.
There tends to be a somewhat patronising tone when it comes to how the county seems to punch above its weight given its population and so on. After a decade dining with the big boys before last year's relegation, Monaghan have contested two All-Ireland semi-finals in recent time and were unlucky not to have reached the decider in 2018.
Gabriel Bannigan has come in as manager and while Conor McManus has hung up his boots, the side remain a potent force in attack, thanks to the contribution of Mícheál Bannigan, Stephen O'Hanlon (pictured below), Jack McCarron and David Garland. Conor McCarthy is a driving force around the middle while Rory Beggan is still carrying out a conductor-in-chief role with aplomb.
Like Roscommon, Monaghan also suffered two defeats during the regulation phase, going down to the Primrose and Blue at the Hyde and then to Down at home last weekend. On the latter reverse, manager Bannigan felt his side "were very flat in the first half", while also noting the "good improvement" in the second period. Needless to say he's happy to be in the final and playing Division 1 football next year.
Monaghan have a wait of three weeks before their Ulster bow against either Donegal or Derry, just far enough in the distance to give this decider a real cut.
It won't be too much of a stretch to say then that sides could deliver a scorefest at GAA HQ. And while Daire Cregg went off injured against Westmeath, Roscommon's attacking threat is still potent due to the presence of Ciaráin and Diarmuid Murtagh, Enda Smith, Conor Hand and Donie Smith and Ben O'Carroll.
High-scoring thriller then, without the intensity that both will require if they are to feature in the All-Ireland series come high summer. Most would settle for that and a further showcase of the new rules.
Paul Flynn's Allianz Football League finals verdicts
Division 4: Wexford only member of the 100% club tackle the Treaty
Action gets under way at GAA HQ with unbeaten Wexford taking on a Limerick side who just edged out Wicklow for the final promotion spot.
For John Hegarty's troops this elevation is a year delayed. A contentious penalty award for Leitrim, with the kick successfully converted, broke hearts in Carrick-on-Shannon over 12 months ago. It's fair to say that the locals in the crowd were somewhat confused themselves as to why the kick was awarded. Wexford were ultimately denied on the head-to-head rule as the Connacht men got the remaining promotion ticket.
"We knew our league was effectively over that day in Carrick-on-Shannon," Hegarty tells RTÉ Sport, when speaking ahead of the divisional decider.
"We really felt an injustice but there wasn't anything we could do with that. Our response was to try and accumulate as many points as we can and see where that takes us. Ultimately, it took us level on points with Leitrim and we'd a far better score difference."
Time, as they say, is a healer, even though Wexford did not make much of an impression in the subsequent Tailteann Cup.
2025 arrived, with new rules and all that. Wexford were ready. With two rounds to spare, Hegarty's men got the job done, seeing off Wicklow to ensure that their seven-year stay in the basement was at an end. They finished the campaign with wins against Tipperary and Longford, while their final opponents were accounted for in Round 2.
Both Wexford and Limerick are out in championship action next weekend, with the Slaneysiders hosting Laois in the Leinster preliminary round.
In spite of the proximity to that clash, Hegarty is keen to keep the momentum going and win some silverware.
"The primary objective was promotion but if you don't have a target beyond the target, it can fall apart quickly. To win six was important to us, to win seven last week in Longford was important and, ultimately, the league final is important.
"Wexford teams, in general, hurling and football, don't get the opportunity every year to compete for silverware. With Wexford footballers, that's certainly the case. So, it is important to us on Saturday."
Limerick's elevation was confirmed after accounting for Waterford on an afternoon when James Naughton (above) scored 4-12, 4-03 from play. We believe it is the highest recorded individual score by one player, pipping Tyrone's Frankie Donnelly, who hit 4-11 back in the day.
In 2004, Wexford's Mattie Forde delivered 4-05 against Galway in a Division 1B clash. The league was structured differently back then.
For Jimmy Lee and Limerick, promotion has markedly coincided with an upturn in their promotion. Successive relegations (Limerick were playing Dublin in tier 2 in 2023) saw them lose 17 matches on the spin. That unwanted streak came to an end with victory against London in round three this year.
A late free converted by James Naughton saw them escape with a draw against Wicklow in their penultimate game, a crucial point that was. They were always fancied to see off the Déise and that they did and now they have the bonus of a game at Croker, a week out from hosting Cork in the Munster quarter-final.
But first it's a chance to do something on a big stage, with manager Lee stating: "It is a big opportunity to put silverware in place but look, it's that development piece as well.
