Fraher Field, Dungarvan, 3.30 Referee M Deegan (Laois) In this week's Clare Champion, there's a headline used annually now in the press of whichever county plays a certain football team around this time of year . . .

'Waterford looking for first championship win since 1988.'

It's the second-longest famine in championship history but they'll never get a better chance to win than today. They're at home, against a team that has written the manual on how not to prepare for championship;

what, for instance, possessed Clare to pick two unwinnable challenge games against Cork and Mayo? In Rory Donnelly, Clare have the best forward on view, but he's surrounded by nine debutants. Fifty years ago, the championship career of two great Kerrymen . . . O'Connell and O'Dwyer . . . started with a shock defeat to Waterford. Today the managerial career of another could end with one.

Verdict Waterford

WATERFORD T Wall; J Walsh, T O'Gorman, S Briggs; J Phelan, E Rockett, P Ogle; M Ahern, J Hurney; D Wall, G Hurney, G Power; L O'Linnane, A Hubbord, W Hennessy CLARE Joe Hayes; L Healy, C Whelan, G Kelly; John Hayes, D Russell, G Lyons; F O'Dea, G Brennan; D Connole, E Coughlan, M Murphy; E Talty, S Hickey, R Donnelly CORK v LIMERICK Pairc Ui Chaoimh Referee P Fox (Westmeath) A game featuring probably the two best defences in Munster, and in Johnny McCarthy and Graham Canty, two of the best five full backs in Ireland, but which side has the attack to get to the 11-point mark first? (If that; last year only six would have been required). The titanic battles between Galvin and Murphy in midfield and Cussen and McCarthy on the square will probably break even, but we can see Cork's superior pace along the wings and James Masters' class shading this for Cork.

Verdict Cork, by something like 1-11 to 0-10 CORK A Quirke; M Shields, G Canty, K O'Connor; N O'Leary, G Spillane, A Lynch; D Kavanagh, N Murphy; C McCarthy, P O'Neill, K McMahon; J Masters, M Cussen, D O'Connor LIMERICK S Kiely; D Carroll, J McCarthy, S Gallagher; P Ahern, P Browne, P Ranahan; T Carroll, J Galvin; S Lavin, J Ryan, T Cahill; J Cooke, S Buckley, M Reidy

LEINSTER SFC ROUND ONE LOUTH vWICKLOW

Croke Park, 2.10 Referee B Crowe (Cavan) We rather the scientific over the spiritual when it comes to football so please, no more talk about oracles, miracles or O'Dwyer intervention.

Here are the facts. Only Donegal scored more than Louth in Division One, despite that Seamus McEnaney's side were shocking in front of goal at times, notably in their loss to Kildare. Louth played and competed against a higher level of opposition. They've been improving steadily in recent summers. Wicklow meanwhile couldn't make the top four in Division 2B and haven't looked a threat to any reasonable championship side in years.

Verdict Louth

LOUTH S Reynolds; D Brennan, C Goss, A Page; R Finnegan, P McGinnity, J Carr; P Keenan, R Carroll; C Grimes, M Brennan, J O'Brien; A Hoey, S Lennon, D Clarke WICKLOW B Norman; C Hyland, D Power, A Byrne; L Glynn, D O hAnnaidh, B O hAnnaidh; J Stafford, T Walsh; T Hannon, P Dalton, JP Dalton; T Gill, D Jackman, P Earls