Inside Track: Three teams aiming for a winning weekend

They’re the Inside Track trinity, Louth senior football team, Dundalk FC and Ireland’s rugby crew. All are in action this weekend and there’s varying degrees of importance attached to each of their fixtures.

Only one of them, Dundalk, didn’t lose last time out. Their home match with Treaty United last Friday night ended in a draw. But because it looked for long time that a fourth successive win was there for the taking, it’s being viewed as a point dropped.

Ciaran Kilduff’s side were being cheered home by another big Oriel Park crowd with just five minutes remaining. Two up, all it needed was to keep mistakes at bay. That didn’t happen.

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The loss of a point did no damage to placings at the top of the table. Dundalk continue to lead, and in a bid to consolidate their position take another trip this Friday night.

There won’t be any need for air travel this time; avoiding the worst of the Dublin traffic, supporters shouldn’t be on the road for more than it takes to play a game to get to Bray for the meeting with the local Wanderers.

With ten points from a possible 12, Dundalk have been fast away from the traps. But this league is much more than a sprint – it’s a four-rounder, and being able to stay the distance is crucial.

That was a real downer at The Aviva on Saturday, a defeat by France that was even more comprehensive that the dividing margin of 15 points would suggest.

To an admittedly uneducated eye, there were far too many mistakes, and it didn’t help that this page’s favourite player, Bundee Aki, had to retire.

Having only a short time ago been in line for a clean sweep, Triple Crown, Grand Slam and the championship, Ireland now find themselves in danger of finishing with just one prize, the Triple Crown, and might not even take second place in the championship. A huge score, loaded with tries, is needed in Saturday’s game with Italy, and that might not even be enough.

Dundalk and Ireland will have thrown the dice by the time Louth face up to Cork. Talk about two-pointers – this is a four-pointer if ever there was one.

Win and Louth get some breathing space; lose, and the spectre of relegation looms large. As said elsewhere on these pages, if the latter were to happen, there’d not only be a drop to Division Three, but also the loss of a place in this year’s All-Ireland competition.

Louth are playing for more than the other two in the trinity.