The Weather Goddess has spoken. Evelyn was decidedly downbeat on the telly last night, not, I hasten to add, about the chances of her native county, Laois, avoiding the drop from Division 1 of the NFL, but instead due to the inclement conditions that are due to sweep down upon us from polar regions tomorrow. The McHale Park bleachers will not, by the looks of it, be a place for the faint-hearted, making tomorrow’s game more like an FBD encounter rather than the hoped for pre-championship joust.

The crystal ball gazers are divided on this one but it’s Galway who come out the right side of the split decision. The Hogan Stand and Paddy Power favour us, while the Times (sub req’d), the Indo and RTE all go for the Herrin Chokers. The rationale put forward by both of the latter two for a Galway win is our injury list but someone should have perhaps told them that the crocked trio (BJ, Peadar and Trev) were all, to some degree, playing out of position and, as a result, were not really guaranteed a place in the starting fifteen. These pundits could still be right, of course, about the result but not for the reasons they’ve put forward.

That’s it – plenty to do today ahead of tomorrow’s day-trip to the wintry West. Back tomorrow evening with a report on the game.