There are many things which conspire against the annual GAA championship draws bringing the nation to a halt. They have to take place with the old championship scarcely cold in the archives and in the knowledge that the really important draws will take place next summer, but scheduling demands that the fixtures be organised before the end of the year.
For all the talk of championship novelty next year, the provincial football championship draws brought everyone back to earth. With the experimental All-Ireland quarter-finals round-robin format trialling for the next three years, the provinces provided plenty of déjà vu.
The Munster draw threw Clare the prospect of a fourth championship meeting with Kerry in what will be little more than two years – should they defeat Limerick, another pairing up for the third year running. If, as expected, Tipperary get past Waterford then they too will have a third successive encounter, with Cork.
Familiar draw
Connacht did much the same, bringing Galway and Mayo out of the bowl together also for what will be a sixth successive meeting in championship and a third in the early rounds. It adds up to a familiar draw for champions Roscommon who, in a rerun of 2017 and ‘16 will have to beat Leitrim, should they survive the rigours of a trip to New York.
Dublin’s attempt to stretch their new record of seven Leinster titles will begin with a quarter-final against the winners of Offaly and Wicklow, which promises a little novelty as the current All-Ireland champions haven’t played either in a long time. They are on the same side of the draw as Meath with last season’s finalists Kildare in with a good shout of emulating that achievement in the other half.
In Ulster the champions in four of the past five years, Tyrone and Monaghan, have been thrown together in the first round. Tyrone are in pursuit of a third successive title.
On the other side of the draw Down, having laboured through years of having to travel, get another home fixture. New selector Gearóid Adams will be up against his old team, Antrim as manager Eamonn Burns tries to return his team to the provincial final.
Despite the predictability the old system has its advocates. Speaking on Thursday, Sligo’s Cian Breheny had a simple reason for wanting the provincial championships to remain as they are.
“Yeah because that’s our chance of silverware. Connacht is a small province so it’s always realistic. Everyone can have a good game. Even Roscommon were big underdogs this year and you saw what they did to Galway.”
Down’s Conor Maginn, a veteran of the 2010 All-Ireland final, maybe unusually for an Ulster man, wasn’t as convinced.
“An Ulster championship is something that I’d love to win before the end of my career but to be honest I’d be open to seeing what other options are available and I’d be happy to hear about various alternatives.”
He was however looking forward to the new quarter-final format.
“It’s definitely I think a positive thing. It gives us as a county in our situation something to aim for and which we think is attainable, something we look forward to being a part of.”
Hurling championship
Hurling has also taken the plunge with the provincial championships in Munster and the expanded Leinster, now to take place on a round-robin basis for the next three year. The winners of the provincial finals, between the top two counties, will go straight to the All-Ireland semi-finals whereas runners-up will as now go to the quarter-finals.
Thursday saw the announcement of the fixture lists and most attention focused on who got to play what opposition at home. In Munster the 2017 provincial final will be revisited in the first round with Cork hosting Clare, but the defending champions will have to travel to Thurles again next year in the second round.
But both counties will have to travel to beaten All-Ireland finalists Waterford, although indications from the latter county this week have been that they will seek to play their home matches elsewhere due to capacity restrictions in Walsh Park.
Key matches in Leinster include this year’s finalists Wexford having to go to Nowlan Park to face Kilkenny, who they defeated in one of the highlights of the summer in Innovate Wexford Park last June but in a key fixture, All-Ireland and provincial champions Galway will have home advantage against Kilkenny.
Last season’s Leinster final pairing will be played out in Wexford, as the champions have been drawn away. Dublin, under the new management of Pat Gilroy, will have home matches against Kilkenny and Offaly but they must travel to Galway.
Despite these challenges new format has the approval of Dublin hurler Cian Boland.
“It’s definitely a better way to do it because last year, I think after our first match, we were waiting five weeks to play another game. Summer is the time you want to be playing as well so I think it’s a good change. If you have consistent games it helps. It’s tough to keep the motivation going and keep the tempo going when you have gaps of six weeks in the summer.”
2018 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship
Munster
Quarter-finals: Clare play Limerick; Tipperary play Waterford
Semi-finals: Clare/Limerick play Kerry; Tipperary/Waterford play Cork
Connacht
Quarter-finals: Mayo v Galway; New York v Leitrim ; London v Sligo
Semi-finals: New York/Leitrim v Roscommon; Mayo/Galway v London/Sligo
Ulster
Preliminary round: Donegal v Cavan
Quarter-finals: Derry v Donegal/Cavan; Fermanagh v Armagh; Tyrone v Monaghan; Down v Antrim
Semi-finals: Down/Antrim v Derry/Donegal/Cavan; Fermanagh/Armagh v Tyrone/Monaghan
Leinster
First round: Laois v Wexford; Louth v Carlow; Offaly v Wicklow
Quarter-finals: Laois/Wexford v Westmeath; Louth/Carlow v Kildare; Offaly/Wicklow v Dublin; Longford v Meath
Semi-finals: Laois/Wexford/Westmeath v Louth/Carlow/Kildare; Offaly/Wicklow/Dublin v Longford/Meath
2018 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship
Munster round-robin
Round 1: Cork v Clare; Limerick v Tipperary
Round 2 : Tipperary v Cork; Clare v Waterford
Round 3: Waterford v Tipperary; Cork v Limerick
Round 4: Limerick v Waterford; Tipperary v Clare
Round 5: Clare v Limerick; Waterford v Cork
Leinster round-robin
Round 1: Dublin v Kilkenny; Offaly v Galway
Round 2 : Kilkenny v Offaly; Wexford v Dublin
Round 3 : Offaly v Wexford; Galway v Kilkenny
Round 4 : Dublin v Offaly; Wexford v Galway
Round 5: Kilkenny v Wexford; Galway v Dublin
