Emmet Moloney writes for the 'The Irish Farmers Journal' and is a former sports columnist with 'The Kerryman'.

The big ball is all the rage this weekend. And what a line up. Emmet Moloney can’t wait for the action...

There are some great games of football this weekend. Dublin versus Kildare, Galway versus Mayo and the best possible draw for neutrals in the qualifiers: Louth versus Meath. Those are just three of the 12 (yes, 12!) GAA championship football matches scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.

It’s one of these packed couple of days in the GAA when we see the strength of Gaelic football in the country. Twenty-four counties are on football duty this week and nearly all of them will be fancying their chances. The hurlers of Cork and Offaly, Antrim and Carlow will play to tiny crowds – almost unnoticed on Saturday. Instead, the cameras will be rolling into Breffni Park to witness the second act of Louth and Meath. Carlsberg don’t do fixed qualifier draws, but if they did, this would be it. This game has niggle written all over it. The history between the sides is new but very saucy. Louth were robbed of a Leinster title last year because Joe Sheridan, the entire county of Meath – and of course the GAA as a whole – didn’t grant them a replay after the worst injustice known to man was inflicted on them.

Well, that’s their story. Meath’s version is a little different, something to do with Joe Sheridan soloing 50 yards before blasting to the net from about 10, count them, 10 yards out.

So the Wee County are on a revenge mission. Instead of pitching up in Croke Park on Sunday playing Wexford for a place in the Leinster final, they are consigned to Saturday night and playing the Royals for survival.

Both counties began the year with quite a lot of expectation: Meath on the back of their, ahem, hard-won Leinster title; Louth on the back of their hard-lost Leinster title. Both counties have gone off the rails over the past month: Louth losing to Carlow; Meath losing to Kildare. The circumstances around each of those defeats were not ideal. Meath’s problems were the more publicised with their Graham Geraghty soap opera which caused deep divides in the county, while Louth let a late three-point lead slip against Carlow.

While last year’s match will dominate the build-up, that was a year ago and it’s time to move on – for Louth in particular. Maurice Deegan is the man with the whistle on this occasion and he’ll have his work cut out. Extra time is a possibility but Meath are the confident tip to progress.

Dublin and Kildare will attract most of the attention in Croke Park on Sunday but this year’s fairytale story might have happened by the time these two take to the field. Carlow are battlers in football and hurling, but like all small counties they never seem to get the breaks. They made their own to beat Louth and Wexford wouldn’t want to be looking too far past them in the first of the Leinster semi-finals.

Just think of what it would mean for Carlow to get to a Leinster final. It’s what the GAA is all about and it’s football’s greatest strength. So, up the Dolmen County, do yourselves justice and, sure, who knows what could happen. Of all the weekend matches, this is one to keep an eye on.

It will be impossible to keep an eye on them all mind you, with eight matches on Saturday and four on Sunday. Some will take care of themselves, of course. Down, for example, will be too strong for Clare, but some of the rest of the matches have spice.
Once again we ask will this be Micko’s last time patrolling the sideline? Wicklow have Sligo, but they have them in Aughrim – a place that rarely suits a visiting team. Once more for the maestro? Probably.

There’s always a springer in the qualifiers, be it a Laois, Monaghan or a Westmeath. One county will come out of Saturday with huge momentum and, who knows, the road could open up a bit for them.

Sunday is the traditional championship day and the GAA are staying with this tradition. No Sabbath for the qualifiers just yet. Instead we have potential mouth-watering clashes in Leinster, Connacht and Ulster.

Dublin and Kildare will be a humdinger if the Lilywhites have continued their progression this year. My money would be on the Dubs because their forwards will always score at least 16-18 points, a tally usually enough to win matches like these. Kildare still struggle to make umpires lift flags, but have no problem getting them to wave their arms. Kieran McGeeney is noted for his attention to mental detail. If he can get the Kildare forwards to overcome that point-kicking deficiency (one that can also reach epidemic levels in Mayo), he’ll have some team. This will be a good game to watch because both sides have a physicality we won’t have seen on Saturday night: there are All-Ireland aspirations on show here.

Tyrone and Donegal will probably be thinking something similar. A win in this game will be the making of either of them. Mickey Harte’s team, like himself, just keep going year after year, always hard to beat and now and again they win an All-Ireland. They don’t quite have that look about them this year, but they’re a little more streetwise than an improving Donegal. Smart money usually goes on Tyrone for a reason.

Galway and Mayo have songs written about their matches, such was the intensity of the rivalry. It’s a little subdued now. Mayo’s get-out-of-jail-free card was played in London and the poverty of that performance has dampened expectations so low in the famed football county that they’re almost extinct. Now that’s the perfect way to go into a game against Galway. So, Mayo will win that and the Connacht title and before we know it, they’ll be talking about the All-Ireland again.

Well, I hope so, there’s something very soothing about hearing talk about Mayo winning Sam. It wouldn’t be the summer without it. To catch Emmet's latest column, get 'The Irish Farmers' Journal' every Thursday...