2012 Championship Draws

Munster
Qtr: Waterford v Limerick
Qtr: Kerry v Tipperary

SF: Clare v Waterford / Limerick
SF: Cork v Kerry / Tipperary


Connacht
New York v Sligo
London v Leitrim
Galway v Roscommon

Mayo v London / Leitrim
New York / Sligo v Galway / Roscommon


Ulster
Preliminary : Cavan v Donegal

Cavan / Donegal v Derry
Fermanagh v Down
Monaghan v Antrim
Armagh v Tyrone

Armagh / Tyrone v Cavan / Donegal / Derry
Fermanagh / Down v Monaghan / Antrim


Leinster
Westmeath v Louth
Westmeath / Louth v Dublin

Longford v Laois
Longford / Laois v Wexford

Meath v Wicklow
Meath / Wicklow v Carlow

Offaly v Kildare

Offaly / Kildare v Meath / Wicklow / Carlow

Westmeath / Louth /Dublin v Longford / Laois / Wexford

The bottom half of the Ulster draw is one of the toughest I've ever seen, probably the toughest. One would expect Down to emerge from the other side though I think Monaghan might give a better account of themselves in 2012.

Dublin, Meath and Kildare will all have been satisfied to avoid each other until the last four. For the three sides, it looks like they have comfortable passage to the semi-finals, but the remaining semi-finalist is tougher to predict with Longford, Laois and Wexford all evenly matched.

Mayo had fortune on their side in Connacht where they can book a place in the last twelve with a win over London/Leitrim. To put this into context, another side who'd be a similiar standard to Mayo, e.g. Cavan, they have to overcome Donegal, Derry and Tyrone/Armagh to get to the same stage. A bit of an imbalance there.

Cork and Kerry drawn in the same side in Munster provides a nice opportunity for Limerick, Waterford or Clare to qualify for the last twelve. Again Cavan would be of similiar standard to these teams and have a far tougher route to negiotiate to get to the same stage.

Looking at the bigger picture of this draw, and what the outcome might be, I think it's nicely poised for a Meath / Derry final.

Tough draw for us. Another preliminary round and the most of the Ulster big guns on our side of the draw.

RMDrive wrote:Tough draw for us. Another preliminary round and the most of the Ulster big guns on our side of the draw.

I'd expect Donegal to beat Cavan, Tyrone to beat Armagh, Derry to beat Donegal and Derry to beat Tyrone.

RMDrive wrote:Connacht
New York v Sligo
London v Leitrim
Galway v Roscommon

Mayo v London / LeitrimNew York / Sligo v Galway / Roscommon

Great chance here for London to overcome Mayo in Castlebar and reverse this years heartbreak in Ruislip.....
From a Leitrim perspective, its' better to enter the qualifiers in Round 1, where we might meet a county of equal status ***

*** I'm giving this some thought.

Tough draw for Cavan BTW.

RMDrive wrote:Tough draw for us. Another preliminary round and the most of the Ulster big guns on our side of the draw.

Thats a much tamer use of phrase than my initial reaction

I'm glad we'll have the chance to give Kildare a beating before we get to the Leinster final

Cork/Kerry at S/F stage might be interesting
Kerry might well be better serverd by taking a wander through the qualifiers
I could also see Donegal taking the scenic route as a Quarter finl bearth is the target and the Ulster title monkey is off the back a a narrow loss (after experimenting with two forwards) to Derry/tyrone will not be the end of the world -defeat to cavan however would be a set-back.

OMAR wrote:Cork/Kerry at S/F stage might be interesting
Kerry might well be better serverd by taking a wander through the qualifiers
I could also see Donegal taking the scenic route as a Quarter finl bearth is the target and the Ulster title monkey is off the back a a narrow loss (after experimenting with two forwards) to Derry/tyrone will not be the end of the world -defeat to cavan however would be a heartbreak..

It's not that serious surely...

I am fairly happy with our draw. We are usually slow starters though played okay v Laois this year. All in all its not a bad draw with Wexford again in the way. I would rate them ahead of any other Leinster team except Kildare.

London seem to have got a handy draw too. Roscommon will feel a bit unlucky but will face into the game with a new manager as will Galway. If Horan builds on 2010 then Mayo must be fancied to retain their title.

Ulster may look tough but in fairness the overall quality there is the poorest in maybe ten years. The games will of course be competitive but it is a big year for both Armagh and Tyrone. Can the Red Hands rebuild and will the management finally bite the bullet and throw in a large and much needed sprinkling of younger lads? Can Armagh improve on the false dawn of 2010 when they knocked out the All Ireland finalists and then nosedived. The other half will re-invigorate Monaghan who will see only Down between them and a final though the same could be said of Down.

Tipperary may see a chance to catch Kerry cold. That will be interesting.

Royal_Girl2k9 wrote:I'm glad we'll have the chance to give Kildare a beating before we get to the Leinster final

I feel the same way.

hurlingguru wrote:

Royal_Girl2k9 wrote:I'm glad we'll have the chance to give Kildare a beating before we get to the Leinster final

I feel the same way.

Don't worry only a joke. I know better than to write teams off against us

Sligo returned to training on Monday. Walsh has them in the gym doing weights sessions for the time being.

Whether it'll make any difference to them and maybe cause them to actually look like winning a game remains to be seen

Of the counties who will have aspirations of playing football late into the summer, Mayo and Dublin look to be the clear winners, both of them having very favourable paths to their provincial finals and, by virtue of this, the last 12.

By contrast, the qualifiers will be very crowded and challenging this year, with either Cork/Kerry, Kildare/Meath and Galway/Roscommon going to be in the mix quite early. This is even more pronounced in Ulster, with three sides out of Tyrone/Armagh/Donegal/Derry headed for the scenic route early on. The provincial route, with more time between games and solid dates you can plan towards, definitely looks the preferred trip this year.

The Ulster draw is very lopsided, with the four best sides in the province all on the same half of the draw. On the other side, Monaghan, Down & Antrim will all have eyes on the final.

Very early days to be making predictions though - the league will give a better indication of what we might expect.

Thomas Clarke wrote:Of the counties who will have aspirations of playing football late into the summer, Mayo and Dublin look to be the clear winners, both of them having very favourable paths to their provincial finals and, by virtue of this, the last 12.

By contrast, the qualifiers will be very crowded and challenging this year, with either Cork/Kerry, Kildare/Meath and Galway/Roscommon going to be in the mix quite early. This is even more pronounced in Ulster, with three sides out of Tyrone/Armagh/Donegal/Derry headed for the scenic route early on. The provincial route, with more time between games and solid dates you can plan towards, definitely looks the preferred trip this year.

The Ulster draw is very lopsided, with the four best sides in the province all on the same half of the draw. On the other side, Monaghan, Down & Antrim will all have eyes on the final.

Very early days to be making predictions though - the league will give a better indication of what we might expect.

was this posted on a wrong thread earlier? maybe i was drunk

Podger wrote:
was this posted on a wrong thread earlier? maybe i was drunk

Yes, maybe I was drunk.

Thomas Clarke won't be impressed...

Thomas Clarke wrote:

Podger wrote:
was this posted on a wrong thread earlier? maybe i was drunk

Yes, maybe I was drunk.

Pal if you were drunk at 8ish a.m god help you! Good post though.