Not much on sports wise this weekend, only the Olympics, the USPGA Championship, an All Ireland hurling semi final and a couple of football quarter finals, the start of the Coca-Cola Football League Championship, the Eircom Premier League, oh, and the Community Shield! Here’s a little more info on the weekend’s top sporting events.

Friday – 8^th August

Golf - USPGA Championship

The USPGA Championship started yesterday and runs till Sunday at Oakland Hills. Our man Padraig Harrington is still in contention after a topsy turvy first round.

Check out the betting markets on this weekend’s USPGA Championship here.

Eircom Premier League

Cobh Ramblers and Derry City get the weekend’s soccer underway at St Colman’s Park at 7:45pm.

Check out the betting markets on this weekend’s Irish soccer here.

Saturday - 9^th August

The Olympic Games

The Olympic Games got off to a spectacular start at eight minutes past eight Beijing time on Friday. The highlights of the opening weekend should be the men’s 400m Freestyle and the women’s 100m Butterfly events.

Check out the betting markets on the 2008 Beijing Olympics here.

All Ireland Senior Football Championship Quarter Finals

Armagh take on Wexford (2:00pm) before Galway do battle with Kerry (4:00pm) in Croke Park on Saturday. The Orchard men will be strongly fancied to progress as the “Yellow Bellies” still have a number of question marks hanging over their defence.

The Kerry v Galway game on the other hand, is a little more difficult to call. Galway have impressed with their direct style of play this year, but have lost four possible starters due to injury (Joe Bergin, Declan Meehan, Sean Armstrong and Nicky Joyce). That blow and the attacking prowess of the Kingdom may prove decisive.

Check out the betting markets on this weekend’s GAA here.

Coca-Cola Football League Championship

The Coca-Cola Football League Championship kicks off on Saturday at 12:45pm when Birmingham host Sheffield United at St Andrew’s. There are 11 fixtures in all, with Nottingham Forest v Reading on Sunday. Don’t worry; the cold turkey is nearly over.

Sunday - 10^th August

The Community Shield

For the first time in twelve years a team from outside the “big four” of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool will contest the FA Community Shield, as Portsmouth take on the aforementioned Man U at Wembley on Sunday at 3:00pm. Thanks be, I hear you say. Come on you blues!

Check out the Community Shield betting markets here.

All Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Semi Final

Kilkenny face Cork in Croke Park at 4:00pm on Sunday in what should be an absolute cracker. Cork are on a strong run at the moment and with young stars like Cathal Naughton and Shane O’Neill shining, they will be seeking to dash Kilkenny’s dreams of three-in-a-row.

Check out the betting markets on this weekend’s GAA here.

Eircom Premier League

After a narrow 4-3 aggregate defeat at the hands of Dynamo Kiev in the Champion’s League mid-week, Drogheda United will be hoping to bounce back at Richmond Park on Sunday evening when they take on St Patrick’s Athletic (7:00pm).

Check out the betting markets on this weekend’s Irish soccer here.

Brendan

Agree with them or not, the football qualifiers have provided us with some bright spells this summer. However, this weekend’s fixtures may finally light the touch paper for the football season. Last Sunday’s draw has thrown up some intriguing ties as the beaten provincial finalists all re-enter the race for Sam.

Down v Wexford

Saturday afternoon’s encounter is perhaps the toughest to call as Down face Wexford in Croker, for the simple fact that we don’t know how “The Yellow Bellies” will react to their humiliating defeat to the Dubs. Punters should remember that Wexford are not as bad as their 72 point defeat (or whatever it was!!) to Dublin. This is a side who came back from the dead at half time against a fancied Meath team. I’m putting forward my entry for “Obvious statement of the year award” here, but an awful lot will depend on the sometimes unmarkable Mattie Forde. This Saturday though, I’m looking for the likes of Adrian Morrissey, Ciaran Lyng and Eric Bradley to step up to the plate.

Down owe a depth of gratitude to MJ Tierney for their continued presence in this year’s championship. The Laois man had a glorious opportunity to send their qualifier into extra time only to sky the ball over the bar. They survived, just, and now will look to build on this encouraging display. Dan Gordan’s red card looked extremely harsh and a lot will depend on whether the big midfielder can get his ban overturned.

In the end I think the outcome of this qualifier will boil down to the form of the two sharp shooters on show. In the yellow corner, Mattie Forde will look for a more fruitful outing than against the Dubs (only scored 0-2) and in the red corner, Benny Coulter (1-2 against Laois), would grace any full forward line in the country.

Verdict: Benny to lead Down through but only just…

Tyrone v Mayo

I never thought I’d be seeing a Tyrone team look as toothless in attack as the current side. The likes of Peter the Great and Stephen O’Neill are now watching from the sidelines and studios, and have left the side looking uninspiring and devoid of ideas. For me, one of the top three midfielders in the country is being togged out at full forward in this campaign. Now I know you put Sean Cavanagh at any position and the Moy man will do a job for you, but I see him being wasted at No. 14. Against Westmeath they were too reliant on Tommy McGuigan and very wasteful in front of goal.

Mayo on the other hand have major problems in their defence to sort out. Two changes in the first half hour against Galway, shows they are far from the finished article at the back. Fullback and cornerback remain problem positions for John O’Mahony. Up front Aidan Kilcoyne will look to start after impressing once more when he came off the bench against Galway, whereas Conor Mortimer (0-3) and Alan Dillon (0-6) will look to recreate their form of the 2004 quarter final against Tyrone.

Verdict: This one may need another day out. Tyrone in a replay!

Have a look at this weekend’s All-Ireland football qualifier markets here.

Raymond