Sport

Football format shaping up nicely so far - but Cork have been Offaly hard done by in hurling

Kenny Archer

Kenny Archer

Kenny is the deputy sports editor and a Liverpool FC fan.

Tyrone sent Armagh down from Division One - the Orchard County return to Healy Park this Saturday seeking revenge.
Tyrone sent Armagh down from Division One - the Orchard County return to Healy Park this Saturday seeking revenge. Tyrone sent Armagh down from Division One - the Orchard County return to Healy Park this Saturday seeking revenge.

A wise old GAA head with whom I regularly converse via WhatsApp opined a few weeks ago that the only matches that would matter before the All-Ireland SFC quarter-finals would be the '2 v 3' games.

Given that our 'conversations' range diversely around Picasso's 'Guernica', Dorothy L Sayers, made-up interviews, chorizo, coffee, cycling, and Loughinsholin (and that was just over the last week), I'm not sure if he meant the preliminary quarter-finals or half of this second round of matches.

In the bigger picture, those prelims in late June are when and where the real shake-up and shakedown will start.

Yet there's no doubt that there will be added spice to several of this weekend's ties, between the teams who may now be jousting to finish second or third in the groups.

Mayo's win in Killarney puts them in the driving seat in Group 1, Galway are favoured to top Group 2 after defeating Tyrone, and Dublin will still probably take pole in Group 3, given their scoring power.

Group 4 was always likely to be tight, as a mini-Ulster Championship, with Derry, Donegal, and Monaghan joined by Clare.

If Monaghan drive home home advantage this Sunday, when Clare come to Clones, they'll be guaranteed progress to the knockout stages – but the Banner could still get through if they go on to defeat Derry in the last round of matches.

'Head to head' is the key to keeping groups alive.

If three or more sides finish level on points, scoring difference will separate them.

However, if just two teams are locked on points, the result of their meeting will be the decisive factor.

That's not a method I agree with in a league scenario but there's more of a case for it in a small setting.

The matches have already been closely contested.

Somewhat surprisingly, the joint-biggest winning margin was against Kerry, slipping to a first Championship defeat in Killarney for 35 years, by five points against Mayo. Clare also lost by that same margin at home, to Donegal.

Otherwise, though, there have been three draws (Sligo-Kildare, Derry-Monaghan, and Dublin-Roscommon), a one-point win (Armagh at home to Westmeath), and a three-point success (Galway defeating Tyrone).

Sure, we're dealing with a very small sample size so far, only eight matches, but the competitiveness bodes well, with the promise of more close encounters to come.

Derry edged out Donegal after extra time in last year's Ulster SFC Final; the counties meet again on Sunday in Ballybofey.
Derry edged out Donegal after extra time in last year's Ulster SFC Final; the counties meet again on Sunday in Ballybofey. Derry edged out Donegal after extra time in last year's Ulster SFC Final; the counties meet again on Sunday in Ballybofey.

Donegal v Derry and Tyrone v Armagh are always going to be tasty tussles, and Cork v Kerry can be tight and entertaining on occasions.

Factor in that Tyrone demoted the Orchardmen from Division One earlier this year, and that Derry defeated Donegal in last year's Ulster SFC Final after extra time, and there's ample revenge on the agendas.

Only one of those is a '2 v 3' match-up in terms of the Pots before the groups were drawn (Armagh and Tyrone), but the fact that Mayo v Louth is a '3 v 2' says more about the idiosyncrasies of the provincial formats than the accuracy of those pots in terms of seedings.

For all the (probably valid) criticisms about there being too many matches, at least one good aspect of the format is that no team will be completely out of it before the final round.

What's more, even if the likes of Donegal, Galway, and/or Mayo seal their progress this weekend by winning for the second time, they still might not be sure of topping their group.

Yet if 'dead rubbers' have been killed off, some might say that much of the drama has too.

Yet while the atmospheres have not been as great as in provincial championship clashes, then that was always the case in the qualifiers too.

There may be tweaks in the seasons ahead – there almost certainly will be – but the new football format has got off to a good start.

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Cork and Patrick Horgan miss out harshly on this year's Liam MacCarthy Cup. Picture: Seamus Loughran
Cork and Patrick Horgan miss out harshly on this year's Liam MacCarthy Cup. Picture: Seamus Loughran Cork and Patrick Horgan miss out harshly on this year's Liam MacCarthy Cup. Picture: Seamus Loughran

In contrast, there's at least one major question mark hanging over the top tier of the All-Ireland senior hurling championship: the Liam MacCarthy Cup will now contain both Carlow and Offaly – but not Cork.

I'm not arguing for the exclusion of those two midland counties. That would be extraordinarily hypocritical, even by the standards of certain columnists, given that last week I suggested that it would be better for hurling to have Westmeath staying up in the Leinster SHC rather than Wexford.

However, there will in increased pressure for another look at the hurling format, not least because the Rebels were so unlucky to miss out.

Cork were inches from making the Munster Final: they drew with Tipperary, then lost by a point to Clare and again by the same margin to Limerick last weekend, in what was a shoot-out to reach the provincial decider.

Just as the football format is still loaded against Ulster, so the hurling system is unfair to Munster, the strongest provincial championship by far.

Perhaps having the safety net of fourth place in the Munster championship leading to a potential place in the All-Ireland series would lessen the intensity of the south-western showdowns – but I doubt it.

There's plenty of room in the calendar for Munster Team 4 (Cork) to play the losing Joe McDonagh Cup Finalists (Offaly) before the winner goes on to play Munster Team 3 in the preliminary quarter-final.

Instead, Cork's senior inter-county hurling season is over before the end of May, despite them being clearly among the top eight teams in the country.

One more match would pose no scheduling problems – and if Offaly merit their place against Tipp, then surely they should be able to see off Cork first?