The GAA gets its fair bit of criticism about how they conduct the draws for the All-Ireland football championship and two weeks back they annoyed a lot of genuine supporters by having the draws for the first round of the All-Ireland series before the provincial finals. But there is no doubt that by dropping the round robin system where in the past the third round invariably threw up a few dead rubber, they have pulled off a master stroke. Last Tuesday there was much anticipation among GAA supporters around the country when the draws were made for Round 2A and 2B of the All-Ireland football championship. It’s not a perfect system, but certainly better than the Round Robin. A friend said to me last week, how can this be a proper championship when 6 of the 16 counties in Round 2 have already lost two games each? The six are: Cavan, Derry, Dublin, Kildare, Meath and Monaghan.
Well it’s not perfect, but unless you drop the provincial championship and go for an open draw it really cannot improve much more. An open draw sounds very fair, but attendances would drop dramatically; the provincial championships are good to balance the books.
Meanwhile, the GAA will review its arrangements for its All-Ireland football series for 2027, particularly the home venue aspect and the scheduling of early draws. President Jarlath Burns said they would be open to tweaking arrangements to allow for neutral venues in round three and even home advantage for provincial champions for the first two rounds of the All-Ireland series. He added: ‘‘These are all things that we could look at when we have had a full year through. Neutral venues can be messy.’’ Burns accepted having early first round draws allowed teams to size up their provincial final opponents, but stressed that the logic behind it was to allow more time for travelling teams to find accommodation. He added: ‘‘I would imagine that we will split the draw to avoid what happened this year. Even with almost four weeks’ notice, Donegal still only managed to find accommodation in Tralee, not in Killarney where their game was played.’’ Burns also acknowledged that progress on the development of Casement Park remains slo
DONEGAL TIPPED
IN RD 2A VS. CORK
Six of the weekend’s eight games will be in the northern half of the country, the exceptions are Galway vs Westmeath in Salthill and Kildare vs Kerry in Newbridge. That Round 2B game in St Conleth’s Park, should give Kerry an opportunity to get back on the horse following their controversial loss to Donegal in Killarney last month. With Jack O’Shea and his coach Cian O’Neill both having managed Kildare in recent years, they should know all about the Lilywhites at this stage.
The action gets under way at 3pm on Saturday in Round 2A when Cork make the long journey to McCumhaill Park, Ballybofey to play Sam Maguire Cup favorites Donegal. Jim McGuinness was probably lucky to escape with a ban after his antics on the sideline in Killarney and with home advantage Donegal will be odds-on favorites to progress. Two more games on Saturday, I fancy Derry might be too strong for Meath at Celtic Park, while home advantage at Clones should help Monaghan overcome Roscommon. Monaghan will be without young Bobby McCaul who was excellent when he was introduced in the second half against Mayo. But the young Aughamullen clubman is going to be out for some time after suffering a cruciate injury against Mayo. Twelve months ago he suffered a cruciate injury in the same knee while playing for Montha’s under 20 team.
Good news for Dublin followers with confirmation that manager Ger Brennan’s12-week suspension ends at midnight on Saturday and he will be he can sit in the dug-out in Breffni Park for their game against Cavan. Dublin are poor, make no mistake about it and with home advantage Cavan could put Dublin supporters out of their misery on Sunday. Also on Sunday I fancy Galway to beat Westmeath in Salthill and if Mayo can beat Tyrone in Omagh, then we will have to consider them serious challengers for Sam. The fourth game on Sunday is on the stony grey soil of Inniskeen between Louth and Armagh. The Wee County currently don’t have a pitch capable of hosting such a big game and they have opted for the home place of Patrick Kavanagh in Grattan Park. Armagh should progress to the next round.
