London GAA are hoping to build on the impetus created by their senior footballer's impressive win over Offaly on Saturday.
The Exiles have landmark fixtures a week on at McGovern Park in Ruislip, with three games taking place during their gala day.
The London hurlers take on Kildare in the Christy Ring Cup in a top-of-the-table clash at 1pm. If London bounce back from their recent loss to Derry against the Lillies and manage to take something from this weekend’s fixtures, they will have a great chance of playing in the Christy Ring Cup final at Croke Park.
Although London have three wins from four, the task facing Brian Dowling’s unbeaten side will be significant, but a big crowd is expected to cheer the home team on.
The London Under-17 footballers will take on Warwickshire in a challenge game at 3pm – this is London's final preparation before they play Leitrim in the All-Ireland C series at the Connacht Centre of Excellence later this month.
That evening, at 6pm, Michael Maher’s senior footballers face top seeds Down in the second round of the Tailteann Cup.
This follows their magnificent victory against Offaly in Tullamore on Saturday – their first championship win in 11 years.
The London management put that performance down to six weeks solid training on a football pitch in the lead up to that game.
At early stages in the season the side had to train on rugby pitches, including one at Osterley in west London, with the weather making life very difficult.
But the past number of weeks have allowed the players and management to tighten their bond and refine their gameplan.
Under the watch of Maher, Michael Boyle and John Doyle, London have progressed this season.
Their year commenced with a one-point victory over Mayo in the FBD League at the Dome in Bekan and during the Allianz League they beat Waterford and drew with Tipperary in Division 4.
In the Connacht Championship, they were comprehensively beaten by Galway but kept their panel together and immediately targeted the Tailteann Cup.
Part of those preparations was a 12-hour round visit to play Tyrone club side Eglish, as well as an in-house fixture against the London junior team, who are developing in tandem with the seniors.
Led by Ciarán Diver and Shay Rafter, London have momentum coming into the Down game.
It resembles the 2022 Allianz League, which featured three victories.
This season alone saw 15 debuts handed out by the Exiles manager, who will be hoping to get points against either Down or Limerick to progress to the next stage of the competition.
In 2022, they took Sligo to extra-time in Markievicz Park in the Tailteann Cup, while in 2023 they came close to qualifying for the knockout stages.
With five London-born players in their team in the form of Aidan McLoughlin, Shay Rafter, Josh Obahor, Tadhg Barry and Liam Gallagher, they are keeping a close eye on the development of homegrown players to sustain themselves into the future.
A future that is looking steadily brighter with every year of Maher’s tenure.
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