The draw has been made for the Tailteann Cup and All-Ireland SFC Group Stages this afternoon at GAA HQ, with plenty of interesting ties on the cards, especially in the race for Sam Maguire.
An inaugural draw for the All-Ireland SFC, Group 1 and 2 are tough but we will have to see results in the provincial finals, before casting judgement on the draw, as half the draw is yet to be determined with four finals to be played in the coming weekends.
First up in it’s second season, the Tailteann Cup draw features teams that didn’t make their respective provincials or finish high enough in the Allianz League to qualify for the Sam Maguire, Limerick and Meath are included after their relegation from Division 2 while promotion from Divison 3 was not enough for Cavan and Fermanagh.
Westmeath were crowned the inaugural champions last season and were now in the draw for the SFC championship, the second tier championship will for sure be entertaining based on the draw phase, the teams that top the group advance directly to the quarter-finals, the four second-placed teams will play one of the three best third-placed teams or New York in preliminary quarter-finals.
Games begin the weekend of 13/14 May.
Cavan, Offaly, Laois and London were drawn in Group 1, Offaly came so close to promotion in Div 3 but had to settle for fifth spot but did make the Leinster semi-finals, while Cavan missed out on seedings despite their promotion, knocked out in the Ulster QF stage, Laois also missed out on promotion in Div 4, with London bottom of the same division.
Group 2 has Meath, Down, Tipperary and Waterford, the Royals are the highest ranked seed coming from the league stage, a disappointing season thus fat following the league an exit at the hands of Offaly in the Leinster QF has them needing a good showing here.
Tipp suffered relegation to Div 4 and were thumped by Kerry in the Munster semi’s, while for Down just missing out on promotion to Div 2 saw them make the last four in Ulster but suffered a 12 point loss, Waterford looked sharp against Tipp in the Munster QF but finished second bottom in Div 4.
Limerick, Wicklow, Longford and Carlow are paired in Group 3, Limerick will be favourites to make it out of this group, despite their relegation they are ranked a higher seed than Wicklow who got promoted, narrowly missing the Munster decider.
Wicklow lost by ten points in their Leinster QF to Kildare, but will be optimistic that they can control this group, Longford were relegated from Div 3 after a poor campaign and failed to make it out of the prelim stage in Leinster, they join Carlow in Div 4 next year who also failed to make it past the prelim round.
The final Group, Group 4 has Fermanagh, Antrim, Wexford and Leitrim, high flying Fermanagh despite their defeat to Derry in the Ulster QF have had a great campaign this year and look to add some silverware, Ulster neighbours Antrim lost in the prelim round in the province and just about survived relegation from Div 3.
Two Div 4 sides make up the last two spots, Wexford also got dumped out early in Leinster, while Leitrim missed out on promotion from Div 4 and a penalty shootout saw Andy Moran’s men fall to New York in the Connacht QF, both look for a solid campaign.
Sam Maguire will be an interesting battle this season, as reigning Champions Kerry look to defeat all comers to keep onto the coveted trophy for another season, but face a tough draw amongst other sides elsewhere if they can make the knockout stages.
The group winners will advance straight to the quarter-finals, which will subject to the avoidance of repeat provincial final pairings and group stage pairings where possible.
The second-placed teams will host a third-placed team from another group in preliminary quarter-finals.
The round-robin series will begin on 20/21 May with round one continuing on 27/28 May. Round two will take place on 3/4 June with the final round on 17/18 June.
The home/away venues for the fixtures were predecided. Each team will play once at home, once away and once at a neutral venue.
Round 1
(Home and away) – 20/21 May or 27/28 May, Seed 1 v Seed 3 & Seed 2 v Seed 4
Round 2
(Home and away) 3/4 June, Seed 3 v Seed 2 & Seed 4 v Seed1
Round 3
(Neutral) 17/18 June, Seed 1 v Seed 2 & Seed 3 v Seed 4
Group 1 could see All-Ireland champions Kerry face Mayo and Cork and even the prospect of Dublin if they suffer defeat to Louth in the Leinster decider, the winner of Kerry and Clare in the Munster decider will determine who joins this group. Both Mayo and Cork suffered early exits from their provincial championships, with Mayo having the better league campaign of the two as unbeaten Div 1 champions.
A battle of previous All Ireland finalists could be on the cards in Group 2 as if Galway win Connacht they meet 2021 winners Tyrone in the group, Div 4 winners Sligo could upset the applecart in this group if they overcome the Tribesmen, while Tailteann Cup winners last year Westmeath look to make the quarters, the same will be said for the loser of Armagh/Derry in the Ulster decider.
Div 2 league champions Dublin are favourited to win Leinster and make Group 3, joined by the loser from Galway/Sligo, Roscommon and Kildare, a repeat on the cards between Dublin and Kildare from their Leinster SF could occur, while Roscommon lost the Connacht SF to Galway, should they suffer a shock defeat to Sligo this group would be a treat for the neutrals.
Finally, Group 4, features three Ulster teams, with plenty of mileage as the other grouping is the loser of Kerry/Clare, the Ulster Championship winner, Monaghan and Donegal are the final pairings, should Armagh win it would be the three teams who finished in the bottom of Div 1 in this grouping.
Monaghan were spared the trip to Div 2 at Armagh’s expense on the final day as Donegal finished bottom, Monaghan made the SF in Ulster beaten by Derry who were Div 2 winners and should they claim Ulster silverware would face the Farney Men again, Donegal were beaten in the QF stage in Ulster, Colm Collin’s Clare look likely to be the fourth side here unless they overcome a tough Kerry side on Sunday.
The Draws In Full:
Tailteann Cup Group Stage
Group 1: Cavan, Offaly, Laois, London
Group 2: Meath, Down, Tipperary, Waterford
Group 3: Limerick, Wicklow, Longford, Carlow
Group 4: Fermanagh, Antrim, Wexford, Leitrim
All-Ireland SFC Group Stage
Group 1: Clare/Kerry winner, Dublin/Louth loser, Mayo, Cork
Group 2: Galway/Sligo winner, Armagh/Derry loser, Tyrone, Westmeath
Group 3: Dublin/Louth winner, Galway/Sligo loser, Roscommon, Kildare
Group 4: Armagh/Derry winner, Clare/Kerry loser, Monaghan, Donegal
Diarmuid Kearney
Diarmuid Kearney is a freelance Sports Journalist based in Co Kerry. He has more than 5 years experience covering domestic and international soccer for different media organisations, while also working for local and national print and digital organisations covering GAA.