KEVIN CASSIDY: I can’t see anything other than a Donegal victory

THIS weekend’s All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-finals are sure to be exciting matches, with four evenly matched teams fighting it out for a spot in the final.

We have been treated to some absolute classics so far this season and hopefully that trend continues on Saturday and Sunday.

First up on Saturday evening is the mouth-watering clash of old foes Kerry and Tyrone. There is very little that needs to be said about this fixture and I’m sure both camps will be chomping at the bit this week, waiting for the ball to be thrown in.

If we look at both teams, there is no doubt that Kerry’s forward unit is what Tyrone must stop if they are to have any chance of progressing to the decider.

In order for Tyrone to progress, we know their defensive structure will have to do its job but I still feel the likes of Darren McCurry and Darragh Canavan will have to shoot the lights out on Saturday evening to ensure a Red Hand win.

I’m sure that most of the tactical work that has taken place over the last few weeks will be all about trying to curtail the influence of David Clifford and Seán O’Shea on one side and for Kerry the mission will be to try and stop McCurry and Canavan so sometimes when that happens, it’s someone else who has to step up to carry the fight.

For Tyrone I think a lot will hinge on the impact they get from their bench with the likes of young Eoin McElhom and Ruairi Canavan fit to contribute while from a Kerry point of view, the Geaney cousins will have to step up to the mark.

Kerry are understandably favourites going into the game but I think that anyone who knows anything about this fixture in the past just wouldn’t bet against Tyrone upsetting the odds.

The Sunday fixture will see Donegal and Meath go ahead to head for a place in the decider.

Now I’m not going to insult you by trying to state that Donegal see this as a tough fixture because the hard facts are that if you were given the scenario at the start of the season then Jim McGuinness and his players would have taken the hand off you.

This is a fixture that we simply must win because if Donegal were to let this opportunity slip through their hands, then there would be a lot of head scratching done over the winter months. Having said that, this Meath team has definitely improved over the last number of weeks.

I cast my mind back to the last league of the season in Inniskeen when Meath played Louth. I covered the game for TG4 and after the match on the way down the car I was chatting and I made the point that there was so much difference in class from Division One to Division Two.

Up until that weekend it was all Division One games we had covered so for me the difference in class was easy to spot. For anyone who was at that game or watched it then you will remember that it was riddled with handling errors with teams constantly coughing up possession and I remember making the point that those mistakes just would not happen in Division One.

Fast-forward a few months and Louth are now Leinster champions and Meath are in a semi-final but my point is that I just cannot see how a team capable of making those mistakes can then go on to reach an All-Ireland final.

Now don’t get me wrong, Robbie Brennan has done a tremendous job and he has some really talented players at this disposal, but I just feel that this weekend will be a step up in class compared to anything they have faced this season to date.

Prediction time and while this could be a long winded answer, I’ll keep it short and sweet – Kerry and Donegal to contest this year’s final.