All Ireland Club Football: Gooch & Dr. Crokes to Prevail

This Saturday sees two mouthwatering clashes in the semi finals of the AIB All Ireland Club Championship. First up at 14:00 is the clash of St Vincent's (Dublin) vs Slaughtneil (Derry) followed by Corofin (Galway) vs Dr Crokes (Kerry) at 16:00. All four teams have an abundance of county players at their disposal and all boast experience of mixing it with the best in the latter stages of previous campaigns. 

Recommendations:

Dr Crokes to beat Corofin at 7/4 - 1.5pt

Corofin head the Outright market at 6/4 (Ladbrokes) and have won this competition as recently as 2015 where they defeated Slaughtneil in the final. That season will be remembered by how they overcame St Vincent's in an epic semi final clash by four points. That year everything went right  and their stock seems to be on the rise again, having defeated last years beaten finalists Castlebar Mitchell's in this years Connaught Semi Final clash. This was a momentous victory, not only for the fact the game was played in Castlebar, but it also allowed them to gain revenge for last years loss to the same team. Gary Sice, Ian Burke, Daithi Burke and 2001 All Ireland winner with Galway, Kieran Fitzgerald are their stand out players.

St Vincent's are next in the market at 9/4 (Paddypower) and have in their ranks the gifted but temperamental Diarmuid Connolly. What he can do with a football is astonishing and Vincent's will need him in full flow if they are to be collecting the Andy Merrigan Cup on St Patrick's Day. They won this competition back back in 2014 so experience won't be an issue. Old stalwart Mossie Quinn will be crucial to their chances along with Ger Brennan, Eamon Fennel and New York born Shane Carty. 

Dr Crokes of Kerry can be backed at 10/3 (Paddypower) and will look to Colm Cooper to guide them. Surprisingly Crokes have never won a Club All Ireland and their hunger to win will sure to be a big factor for them. They reached the semi final back in 2014 only to come up short against Castlebar, with the game most likely remembered for the Gooch doing his cruciate. Kerry seniors Johnny Buckley, Fionn Fitzgerald and Kieran O'Leary will be supporting acts to playmaker Cooper. 

Wonder Club Slaughtneil are available at a general 6/1 in the outright market. It is simply incredible what this club has achieved in 2016/2017 and everyone associated with them deserves a huge amount of credit. In 2015 they played Corofin in the final but never really got going. I'm sure their game plan will have developed since then and they will look to keep things tight and hit teams on the break. Chrissy McKaigue is their leader and I'm sure all the locals will cherish these next few weeks as they battle it out to win both the hurling and football club All Ireland's .

So this brings me to this weekends games. We have one selection for Saturday's games and that's Dr Crokes to beat Corofin. Yep you read that right, we are going with the Kerry champs! Let me explain. Corofin are by far the best team in Galway and never get tested until they enter the Connaught championship. Their game against Castlebar went to extra time and they won eventually but it so easily could have went either way. In the Connaught final they played St Bridget's who never should have gotten that far, an old team that had boxed in one round too many. We just question what sort of form Corofin will be in and if they have it in them to rise to this challenge. On the other hand, Crokes are coming into this completely under the radar. Cooper will be desperate to add a Club medal to his illustrious collection. Fionn Fitzgerald can do a job on Ian Burke, Buckley matches up well to Daithi Burke while Kieran O'Leary should relish facing veteran Kieran Fitzgerald. Everything will need to go right for Dr Crokes and a fast start would certainly. They showed in the Munster final what they can do, by smashing in three goals before the 15min mark. Anything like that on Saturday and we would be laughing!!  We like their chances to cause a shock and are happy to have a 1.5pt stake at 7/4 (Boylesports) to win against Corofin