After a slow start, the football championship is finally starting to hot up, after a full summer playing second-fiddle to a frankly extraordinary hurling championship. Quarter-Final weekend is upon us, and four mouth-watering clashes are in store. Cork-Dublin is likely to attract a sell-out 82,500 people into Croke Park this weekend, and with good reason. The 2010 champions meet the 2011 champions, and one of them will be out of the 2013 championship by Saturday evening! Leinster champions Dublin have been imperious in their defence of their provincial crown, and go into this clash as odds-on favourites. Easy wins over Westmeath, Kildare, and Meath have cemented their defence of Leinster, and they will be eager to make up for the disappointment of last year's championship, where Mayo scraped past them with a 0-19 to 0-16 victory in the semi-finals. Cork also fell at the semi-final stage last time out, with a narrow two-point defeat (0-16 to 1-11) defeat to eventual All-Ireland champions Donegal. It's been a bit of a rocky path to the semi-finals for Cork. After comfortable Munster championship wins over Clare and Limerick, the Rebels were defeated by old rivals and neighbours Kerry in the Munster final by 2 points (1-16 to 0-17), and barely scraped past Galway last week in the Qualifiers, coming from behind with a goal in the last five minutes, and winning by a single point, 1-17 to 1-16. Nevertheless, manager Conor Counihan has named an unchanged side, despite the performances of his substitutes last weekend. Dublin are overwhelming favourites for this one, and to win the Championship with the bookmakers, and deservedly so. The 2011 All-Ireland champions have been on top-form all year. Cork floundered and barely survived relegation in the National League in the spring, whereas Dublin topped the table, and edged out Tyrone in the final. But everyone knows Championship is the important one, and this may be an unfancied Cork side, but they still have an extremely strong squad, containing most of the players who won an All-Ireland in 2010. If a shock is to occur this weekend, this is where it'll happen, but Dublin should still have too much for Cork here. Prediction: Dublin by 4 points Dublin S Cluxton; K OBrien, R OCarroll, J Cooper; J McCarthy, G Brennan, J McCaffrey; MD MacAuley, C OSullivan; P Flynn, C Kilkenny, D Connolly; P Mannion, E OGara, B Brogan. Cork A Quirke; E Cadogan, M Shields, T Clancy; D Cahalane, G Canty, J Loughrey; A OConnor, P ONeill; M Collins, A Walsh, J ORourke; D Goulding, C Sheehan, B Hurley
Diarmuid is a freelance student and studious sports journalist operating out of the wilds of Dublin, Ireland. His specialist subjects include the English Premier League, the GAA, and track and field athletics.
