Sunday<\/p>\n
Leinster SFC quarter-finals<\/p>\n
Meath v Westmeath, O\u2019Connor Park, 2pm<\/p>\n
Meath<\/a> are favourites but recent fixtures between these neighbours indicate there might not be as much between the sides as some believe. Mark McHugh\u2019s Westmeath<\/a> were impressive in their 21-point dismissal of Longford last weekend. But Meath boss Robbie Brennan did have the luxury of watching those sides go at it last Sunday, so the Royals should be that bit fresher and have acquired some more intel on their opponents. Meath\u2019s attacking threat should give them an edge too. They were the second highest scoring team across all four league divisions \u2013 with different forwards leading the scoring charge at various stages across the campaign. Verdict: Meath<\/p>\n Louth v Wexford, Dr Cullen Park, 2.30pm<\/p>\n Wexford<\/a> have built some decent momentum under John Hegarty, securing back-to-back league promotions over the last two seasons. They kicked more two-pointers (29) during this year\u2019s league than any other team in the country. They certainly won\u2019t fear the Wee County, and in fact will no doubt relish the opportunity of possibly dethroning the champions. Against that backdrop, this could be a dangerous fixture for Louth<\/a>. So Gavin Devlin\u2019s side must set out the terms of engagement early, get on top and deny Wexford the oxygen of belief. Verdict: Louth<\/p>\n Wicklow v Dublin, Aughrim, 3pm<\/p>\n It hasn\u2019t been a smooth opening period as Dublin<\/a> manager for Ger Brennan \u2013 with relegation to Division 2 and the controversy of a suspension hanging around the set-up since the last round of the league. On the field, Dublin have mixed some encouraging spells with some fairly pedestrian displays as well. But while they don\u2019t carry the same fear-factor with them as was once the norm, Dublin should still have the depth of talent to come away from Aughrim with a win. For Wicklow<\/a>, this is a free hit. Still, to have any chance of pulling off a shock they will probably need Mark Jackson to nail several two-pointers. Verdict: Dublin<\/p>\n Kildare v Laois, St Conleth\u2019s Park, 3.45pm<\/p>\n Brian Flanagan will know his Kildare<\/a> side underperformed during the league. The Lilywhites are a better team than their relegation from Division 2 suggests, so there might well be a championship<\/a> kick in them here. Laois<\/a> battled out a decent win over Offaly last weekend but the Faithful County were very poor in that match. The kickout battle will be pivotal so if Kildare can keep Kevin Feely on the pitch, they should have enough quality to progress. Verdict: Kildare<\/p>\n Ulster SFC quarter-final: Monaghan v Cavan, St Tiernach\u2019s Park, Clones, 3pm \u2013 Live on BBC NI<\/p>\n The drumlin derby, it has its ups and downs! But for Monaghan<\/a> and Cavan<\/a>, this season hasn\u2019t quite taken off yet. Monaghan are in transition right now with Gabriel Bannigan handing out 16 debuts during the recent Division 1 campaign, in which they lost all seven games. Cavan retained their Division 2 status but it was a generally mediocre league in Dermot McCabe\u2019s maiden season at the helm. Still, Monaghan appear to be significantly limited in terms of scoring power and posted the second lowest tally (118) across all four divisions, ahead of only Waterford (109). Don\u2019t be surprised if we see extra-time in Clones. Verdict: Cavan<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Saturday Ulster SFC Quarter-final: Derry v Antrim, Celtic Park, 5pm \u2013 Live on BBC NI After a worryingly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614421,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[64,63,596,26435,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-614420","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-football-championship","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614420"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614420\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614421"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Meath](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/7TR4ZOKAEVFDNFOB65BV4OG7LY.jpg\")
Meath face a tough challenge against neighbours Westmeath at O’Connor Park on Sunday. Photograph: James Lawlor\/Inpho <\/p>\n![\"Dublin](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/A2JANBDGIJCN7OWPDO2ZYRYDMU.jpg\")
Dublin manager Ger Brennan watches on from the stands after being red carded during the Division 1 game against Galway at Pearse Stadium. Photograph: James Crombie\/Inpho <\/p>\n