Kerry bare fangs as league's Super Sunday approaches

The week of St Patrick's Day was once dominated by the club finals but in this brave new era, it heralds the final round of the league.

I was asked to be the grand marshal of the parade in the town this year.

Fearful of being branded as Westport's answer to Vogue Williams, I politely declined. Our local celebrity publican Matt Molloy stepped in to perform the honours. (No offence to Vogue, I'm sure she did a stellar job.)

Despite the festivities, the mood around Mayo football isn't as chipper as it was this time last week. It was a sobering reality check for Mayo in Tralee.

It was arguably sobering for everyone else too - a reminder that Kerry are comfortably the best team in the country at the minute. One wide over the course of 70 minutes is scary shooting. At the moment, it's hard to make a logical case that they won't sweep all before them again this year.

Donegal, despite their setback in the wind and hail in the Hyde, are the next best, while Armagh on their day have the running power and the athleticism to rattle the champions. I'd imagine they'll both fancy a crack at Kerry at some stage to test the above hypothesis.

Mayo, of course, made it all too easy for Kerry, with their desperate shooting and slack defending. The wide count went well into double figures by the end but Andy Moran was more annoyed afterwards by the first half display.

In particular, there was far too much 'straight' kick-passing into the forwards, which drove him up the wall. Ideally, you'd want angled runs and diagonal ball.

If you're kicking straight passes into the forwards, the receiver will be facing the opposite way to goal and the defender on his tail will have all the momentum as they're arriving to meet the ball. It's easy for any defender worth their salt to break the ball in that scenario or else intercept it altogether. And Kerry have no shortage of good defenders.

There were problems at the other end. Mayo's defence has probably been porous throughout the league. They got away with it in Salthill, for instance, when Galway missed a bucket-load of goal chances that would have made it a very different game. They weren't as fortunate last Saturday and Kerry found it all too easy to work scores into the wind. At 13-10 at half-time, the game was over really.

While it's been a decent league for Mayo so far, it's telling that they shipped bad defeats to last year's All-Ireland finalists - and now likely league finalists.

I'd fancy a bounce-back win against Roscommon this Sunday, if only because it's badly needed heading into championship. The Rossies were exceptional in the final quarter against Donegal.

When the clock hit 50 minutes, I thought there was no earthly way that Roscommon could win the game from there. Conor Carroll could barely reach the '45 with his kickouts, Donegal had brought an 11-point deficit down to two and they were clipping over two-pointers like they were 13-metre frees.

Somehow, the Rossies found a second wind. Enda Smith was a colossus in the closing stages and they managed to get a stranglehold around the middle again, especially on the Donegal kickout.

In previous years, we've always acknowledged that Roscommon produce great footballers but their defence was suspect. Last Sunday, I thought their defence and their workrate without the ball was phenomenal. They forced several crucial turnovers late in the game, just through pressure and harrying.

Mark Dowd has done a super job so far and they've integrated the St Brigid's contingent back into the set-up, with Conor Hand palming home the decisive goal. It underlined again that we could be in for a dinger of a Connacht championship.

Sunday's game in Castlebar may or may not give us a league finalist but it'll be a hell of a dress rehearsal for a likely Connacht semi-final.

Funnily enough, I have a hunch that Dublin could beat Galway in Salthill. Mainly because it would be in keeping with the rollercoaster nature of their league campaign so far.

My permutations adviser had to remind me that Galway aren't, in fact, safe. They laboured a bit last weekend and weren't especially impressive against a team who, as Gabriel Bannigan admitted, would have gotten it hard to stay in Division 2 on the basis of their form this year.

A four-point win will definitely keep the Dubs up, regardless of what happens elsewhere. I don't know if they'll manage that but a Kerry victory in Armagh will be enough to keep Ger Brennan's team in the division.

Based on Kerry's form and their perception of Armagh as a serious rival, I reckon Jack O'Connor will want to make a statement again this Sunday. We'll tip a narrow Kerry win which will see them into another league final - and send Armagh into the Division 2 bear-pit alongside their dear neighbours Tyrone.

It probably won't be as confusing and as madcap a finale as it was last year - well, maybe it will in Division 4 - but it should be an exciting afternoon nonetheless as the table changes shape from minute to minute.

Division 2 has been thrilling at times this season and heading into the final weekend, no one is sure of promotion. Louth are again coming with a serious burst of form and they halted Derry's gallop last Saturday, though a lot would have to go their way if they're to get promotion.

Meath look to be almost there. They only need a result against an Offaly team who are already relegated. You'd assume Derry will beat Cavan at home - they've run riot in their last two home games.

So, it'll all hinge on Cork's visit to Tyrone. Any sort of result will put Cork into the top tier. Although Tyrone have nothing to play for, you don't want to ship another defeat heading into championship.

It's been a difficult enough league for them as it is, they could do with a morale boost of finishing with a significant win at home. Although they lost in Croker last week, there was enough evidence to suggest they have a victory in them this week.

So, I'm tipping Derry to go up, alongside Meath, with Kildare heading back where they came from, with Offaly.

Watch Allianz League Sunday from 9.35pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on the RTÉ News app and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1

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