Introducing our new Game of 3 halves series. Every Friday, Caolán Conroy will provide his take on three different sporting developments across the UK and Ireland, and share his predictions for match-ups ahead. This week he looks at football – soccer and Gaelic – and golf.

 

Linfield v Celtic a no show; Dundalk Euro dream over before it started

Myself and a few mates went out for a few beers on Wednesday night to watch Dundalk, who were fairly unlucky to crash out of European competition. As I sat there, two things struck me.

Firstly, was the surprise that the Celtic versus Linfield game was not on TV. There must have been over 20 people who came to the pub with the intention of watching the game only to be told that it wasn’t being televised.

I would imagine that pub owners all over the country were as mystified as me and missed out on a nice earner on an otherwise quiet Wednesday night.

The second thing that occurred to me was that the buzz and anticipation that accompanied Dundalk’s European adventure last year would be missing this season.

Living in London, it was great to see them acquit themselves so well; it had many colleagues and football fans enquiring who exactly they were and how they got themselves into such a position.

I feel sorry for their fans who will have to wait another year before their team can try to recreate last year’s excitement.

I’ve been back in Armagh all week; unlike our neighbours in Dundalk, the atmosphere has certainly not been punctured over the last seven days.

 

Armagh march on

The buzz ahead of Armagh’s last twelve all-Ireland fixture against Kildare is starting to build. Last week’s impressive victory over Tipperary in Thurles will give the players the belief they can claim a place in the quarter-finals for the first time since 2014.

A trip to Croke Park is also a reward for the large and unbelievably loyal fan base. In their last two away trips to Mullingar and Thurles, Armagh fans have outnumbered the home teams four-to-one; a staggering figure. A trip to Croke Park means a lot to fans both young and old.

This year’s football championship has been epitomised by last weekend’s Ulster and Leinster football finals which were quite disappointing and predictable.

Hopefully the games this weekend and next see the football championship spark into life. Unable to attend, I’ll look forward to catching the games with a dodgy pint of Guinness in the company of Gaelic-mad locals in north London.

 

A British Open for everyone?

Over the last few weeks the debate surrounding the GAA’s deal with SKY Sports has re-opened. One other deal which SKY has picked up over the last couple of years has been the rights to the British Open Golf Championship.

Although less has been said about this, I do believe the move from BBC to SKY will be to the detriment of the sport throughout the UK.

In this writer’s opinion, the BBC golf coverage is far superior to that of SKY’s; and it will drastically limit the number of viewers who can watch it live.

Let’s hope that those who do get a chance to see it are treated to some magical links play.

 

Predictions for the weekend: 

GAA, football: Donegal v Galway – Donegal (possibly after extra time)

GAA, football: Mayo v Cork – Mayo by 2 points

GAA, hurling: Clare v Tipperary – Tipperary

GAA, hurling: Wexford v Waterford – Waterford

British Open Golf: I’ve backed Thomas Pieters and Rafa Cabrera-Bello

Tour de France: Can anyone catch Chris Froome? I doubt it!