After last weekend's glut of football and hurling, it's a quieter weekend in the Championship, with Cavan and Armagh's clash in Ulster the pick of the four provincial quarter-finals down for decision on Sunday.
Mayo start their pursuit of a sixth consecutive Connacht title in London while Limerick, Clare, Waterford and Tipperary square off for the right to face Kerry and Cork in the last four.
SUNDAY 29 MAY
Ulster SFC quarter-final
Cavan v Armagh, Kingspan Breffni Park, 3.30pm
(Live on RTÉ One, Radio 1 Sunday Sport and live blog on RTE.ie)
Cavan will be aiming to seal a hat-trick of wins over Armagh this season, having recorded convincing victories over their rivals in the McKenna Cup (2-08 to 0-11) and Division 2 of the Allianz Football League (3-18 to 0-10).
Armagh won the last Championship meeting between the sides in 2014 but they have been moving in different directions recently, Cavan earning promotion to Division 1 and Armagh dropping to Division 3 in the spring.
Former Galway All-Ireland winner Ray Silke fancies Cavan to advance.
“I would expect Cavan to win and build on their league campaign," he told RTÉ Sport. "They’re 7/1 to win Ulster while Armagh are 18/1, which tells its own story.
“They haven’t won anything in a long time (last Ulster title was 1997) so I don’t think they would carried away with themselves.
“They hammered Armagh in the League and it’s a big carrot to play a very impressive Tyrone in a semi-final."
Silke has been impressed by the recent evolution in Cavan's gameplan to a more attacking style.
"Terry Hyland is in his fifth year as manager and they’re playing a very nice brand of football. They link the play well and they seem to be confident and happy.
“They were second top-scorers in the league. Joe Brolly famously called them ‘The Black Death’ but they seem to have reinvented themselves.
“They’re going to be in Division 1 next January, which is a fantastic achievement, and I’m sure they’ll want to have a rattle at Ulster as well.
“They’ve got a lot of good, young players. Gearoid McKiernan was fantastic against Galway in the league, he scored four or five points from play. David Givney at full-forward is a fine young player, Killian Clarke is an excellent player as well.
“Stefan Campbell was one of Armagh's standout performers in the League but with Jamie Clarke out I can’t see anything other than a Cavan win.
“It’ll be interesting to see, whether it’s Kieran McKeever or Brendan Donaghy, if whoever picks up McKiernan is able to stop him."
Silke is fearful for Armagh's prospects this summer.
2002 All-Ireland winning captain Kieran McGeeney made a positive start to his managerial reign last year in winning Division 3 and promotion but disappointing defeats to Donegal and Galway followed in the Championship and they will be back in the third tier next year.
“Kieran McGeeney is finding things tough in Armagh. Being relegated back to Division 3 was a disappointment," said Silke.
“Some of the younger Armagh guys haven’t pushed on and it’s been tough for Geezer up there.
“It may be lack of players. They won the All-Ireland in 2002 but that’s eons ago. They put it up to Donegal last year but they’re probably the fourth or fifth team in Ulster at the moment; Donegal, Monaghan and Tyrone are coming good now as well.
“He’s probably under a pressure but the guys before him found it tough as well. If you don’t have the players, it’s very easy to point the finger at the manager, but if you don’t have the raw materials it’s difficult.
“I don’t think the five or six top-class players that he needs are in Armagh at the moment.”
Connacht SFC quarter-final
London v Mayo, Ruislip, 3pm
Mayo's last trip to Ruislip almost ended in disaster when they needed late scores to force extra-time in 2011.
They went on to win that game and the Connacht title, which started their march to five provincial crowns in a row. They now stand on the brink of making history as the first team in the province to win six consecutive Nestor Cups.
Silke doesn't foresee a repeat of the difficulties Mayo suffered five years ago.
“Stephen Rochford has picked a very strong side and it’s very difficult to see anything other than a comprehensive Mayo win," he said.
“Cillian O’Connor is the captain and the spine of the team is very strong. You have Colm Boyle, Kevin Keane, Tom Parsons and Jason Gibbons, Aidan O’Shea...
“I’d expect the half-back line of Lee Keegan, Colm Boyle and Paddy Durcan to do damage. Durcan is a very impressive young player."
Silke believes Mayo have the strength in depth to make another push for the elusive Sam Maguire after falling at the semi-final stage in the 2014 and 2015.
“They’re the team to beat in Connacht again and it’s a nice start for them. I expect them to win easily enough and they’ve a nice build-up to the Galway match on 18 June in MacHale Park.
“Looking at the subs bench, you have Michael Hall, who was fantastic at centre-back for the U21s, Stephen Coen is a top midfielder and they’re without Diarmuid O’Connor and Ger Cafferkey.
“They’re not as strong as Dublin obviously but they seem to have a panel of 27/28 and that’s what you need.
“While in the past we might have said they haven’t had forwards, with Cillian O’Connor, Aidan O’Shea, Diarmuid O’Connor, when he’s available, Conor O’Shea and Evan Regan, they do have scoring forwards now. I think it looks good for Mayo.”
Munster SFC quarter-finals
Limerick v Clare, Gaelic Grounds, 2pm
Clare a team on the up and will play in Division 2 of the League next year. Limerick only managed a single point in their Division 3 campaign and were six points shy of the Banner when the sides met.
Corofin man Silke expects a similar scenario on Sunday.
“Clare were very unfortunate last year in the qualifiers against Longford. They should have won but Brian Kavanagh shot a few late ones for Longford to win," he said.
“Podge Collins is an exciting dual player, Gary Brennan is a fine midfielder who was excellent for Ireland in the international rules and they have David Tubridy up front as well.
“They have a few new guys like Jamie Malone, Keelan Sexton and Eoin Cleary.
“They beat Kildare in the Division 3 league final and they’re going up to Division 2. Limerick were relegated from Division 3 so it looks like a Clare win.
“Gearoid Hegarty went over to the hurlers and Ian Ryan has struggled a bit with injury.
“It’s in the Gaelic Grounds, and home advantage is a slight help, but it’s only down the road for the Clare boys.
“I would be very surprised if Clare don’t win that match. They look like a team that are building and Colm Collins would love to get a crack at Kerry in the Munster semi-final."
Waterford v Tipperary, Fraher Field, 3.30pm
Some of the optimism around Tipperary football has dampened a little after great recent success at minor and under 21 level.
Though they survived in Division 3 of the League, 11 of the 21 players who helped Tipp hammer the Deise by 1-24 to 0-05 at this stage last year are unavailable to manager Liam Kearns.
Last year's Munster U21-winning captain Colin O’Riordan pursuing an AFL career with the Sydney Swans and other panel members deciding to spend the summer in the USA.
“It’s disappointing for Liam Kearns that a few boys have gone to America and things like that," said Silke.
“If they could have kept more of those under 21s that got to an All-Ireland final last year, along with Clonmel Commercials winning a Munster title, you’d expect more from them, but it’s tough for them that these guys are moving on.
“But it’s even tougher on Waterford and Tom McGlinchey. They only won two matches in Divison 4, though a lot of their defeats were only by a point and the fact that it’s down in Waterford is a definite advantage
“They need Patrick Hurney, their top scorer and an impressive footballer, to have an absolute blinder.
“I’m going for a Tipperary win but I don’t expect it to be a huge one.”
