There’s already been a few upsets in the All-Ireland series and former Mayo star Colm Boyle believes there’ll be another one this weekend.
New York’s win over Leitrim and Roscommon’s defeat of his native county were the standout results from the opening weekend of action.
However, Boyle feels the first major shock of the Championship could come this evening and thinks Fermanagh could get the better of defending Ulster champions Derry in Brewster Park.
Read more: Kyle Coney insists Tyrone always believe they are genuine All-Ireland contenders
Writing in his weekly column in today’s Irish Mirror, Boyle stated: “The reigning Ulster Champions get their campaign underway this weekend. How will Derry cope with being the team that is now the hunted up north?
“They went into every game last year as underdogs and thrived on it, particularly against Tyrone and Donegal. The big question is whether this team has hit its ceiling or have they more to bring to the table?
“Fermanagh had a great League with promotion to Division Two. This is almost a shot to nothing for them. If they do end up in the Tailteann Cup, which looks very likely, it will be a serious chance for them to land a big title in Croke Park.”
He added: “If Conor Glass doesn’t play, Derry could be vulnerable. Fermanagh will need goals to win this game and Derry’s defence looked uncharacteristically shaky against Dublin.
“If Fermanagh can get out in front early they will have a serious chance and there might just be another shock in store. And that’s how I see it playing out, with Derry becoming the latest county forced to put their feet up ahead of the group stages.”
Boyle also delivered his verdict for Sunday’s Ulster SFC clash between Division One rivals Tyrone and Monaghan, who meet in O’Neills Healy Park in Omagh.
The Red Hands defeated the Farney by eight points in round six last month and he feels the hosts will prove too strong for Vinny Corey’s side.
“These two teams don’t particularly like each other, but it’s a rivalry that Tyrone have the upper hand in,” said Boyle.
“Sometimes you feel that Monaghan want to beat Tyrone so much that their performance suffers as a result, while Tyrone appear more focused and ruthless.
“They look like a team that knows they are superior to Monaghan and just go out and show it.
“There is no guarantee that Tyrone will bring their end of League form into the Championship, but I suspect they will in this one; the sight of a Monaghan jersey gets them going. They have too many scorers around the field for Monaghan to cope with.
“Monaghan will need a lot to go right for them and certainly for McCarron and McManus to be in top form.
“Maybe Vinny Corey might play the ‘we were disrespected in the media all week’ card to really rally his troops, but I suspect they’ll need much more than that to emerge from Omagh with a win.”
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