THE START CERTAINLY didn’t help. The beginning of the second half was a disaster. It went downhill from there.
Forget Poznan, that was just the first of our three bets from last week as Meath at -7 never looked as good as we thought it would.
Thankfully Cork at -1 cruised home to make amends and after many bets and many more words here, we are up the princely sum of €4.03. Laugh all you will but had you followed our advice that could have helped you drown your sorrows in another three-quarters of a pint or so by the time Croatia had finished having their fun with Ireland.
No worries though, jump on the bandwagon because there’s more money to be made this footballing weekend.
Bet One: €10 on Kildare (-10) to beat Offaly at evens
So we were sure Kildare would bring home Sam in 1998, that they’d win Leinster last year, that they’ll win Leinster this year. But being from Athy has absolutely nothing to do with it. Honesty. But they were all mountains. This is an anthill. Offaly aren’t settled, they’ve a manager in for his first game, they just got relegated, have four newcomers in key positions, have an ageing midfield, don’t have enough scoring forwards and don’t have any sort of physicality at the back. Kildare will walk it.
Bet Two: €10 on Kildare to score the first goal against Offaly at 4/7
Of all three bets, of which we are naturally confident of, this is the one we are most confident of and that says a lot. Kildare have a brilliant full-back line in front of a very good goalkeeper, they will dominate possession, and at the other end there is so much potential. Tomás O’Connor is big and has great hands but people forget his pace and play-making. He will roast John Moloney, and will have two natural goalscorers in James Kavanagh and Alan Smith flanking him. And we haven’t even gotten to the nine goals Kildare scored in Division Two yet.
Bet Three: €4.03 on Alan Smith first goalscorer at 8/1
While we are going all in… Smith scored four goals in the 2009 championship, another two in 2010 and while off-field issues saw form dissipate last season, he’s a confidence player, showed signs of a reemergence in the league and won’t be lacking in that very same confidence in a runaway victory for his side. Plus, his full-forward will win him plenty of ball, we just hope he gives it to Smith before James Kavanagh because that’s a bigger threat to this bet than the Offaly defence.
Left in the bank: €80
