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Luck of the Draw

Mayo v Galway and Kerry v Cork, as All-Ireland champions Tyrone open 2022 Ulster bid against Fermanagh

Next year’s provincial football draws took place this evening.

tyrone-celebrate-with-the-trophy Tyrone are the reigning Ulster and All-Ireland senior champions. Ryan Byrne / INPHO Ryan Byrne / INPHO / INPHO

REIGNING ALL-IRELAND SENIOR football champions Tyrone will open their 2022 Ulster championship campaign with a trip to Fermanagh in the preliminary round.

The winners of that tie will then face Derry in the quarter-finals, where there’s another mouth-watering clash in place store Donegal and Armagh.

Antrim and Cavan, and Monaghan and Down have also been pitted against each other in Ulster, after the 2022 provincial football draws took place on RTÉ Radio One’s Saturday Sport this afternoon.

There’s plenty of interesting fixtures ahead, with Mayo and Galway, and Kerry and Cork, both doing battle early on in Connacht and Munster respectively.

The 2021 Connacht finalists renew their rivalry in the quarter-finals of next year’s competition, with New York v Sligo, and London v Leitrim the predetermined fixtures in the last-eight stage, and Roscommon securing their passage to the semi-final. There, the Rossies will face the winners of Sligo and New York.

aidan-oshea-with-paul-conroy The Connacht quarter-final meeting of Mayo and Galway is an exciting one. Tommy Dickson / INPHO Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO

The 2021 Munster finalists, Kerry and Cork, go head-to-head in the semi-finals next season, with the two other successful quarter-finalists set to lock horns in the other last four battle. That means, it will be Tipperary/Waterford v Clare/Limerick.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty of exciting fixtures in the first round of the Leinster senior football championship, before long-time holders Dublin get their title defence — and of course, their bid to regain the Sam Maguire — underway against the winners of Offaly and Wexford in the quarter-finals.

There, the winners of Laois and Wicklow will face Meath, the winners of Louth and Carlow meet Kildare, and Westmeath and Longford will also do battle.

Des Cahill and Joanne Cantwell were joined in RTÉ studios by Oisin McConville and Kevin McStay for this afternoon’s draws, with the respective provincial officials also overseeing proceedings.

 

dessie-farrell Dessie Farrell's Dublin face Offaly or Wexford in the Leinster quarter-finals. Tommy Dickson / INPHO Tommy Dickson / INPHO / INPHO

Tyrone’s All-Ireland winning joint-manager Feargal Logan was on the programme, too, adding on his side’s fate: “It’s an early start, we’re out of the traps in the preliminary round. It’s a difficult one heading up to Brewster Park, it’s an extra hurdle.

“Nothing sounds easy in that Ulster draw so we’ll have to get up and at it.”

Asked about the prospect of stringing together back-to-back All-Ireland crowns, Logan called it an “attractive notion” — “If you’re at the top table, you want to be dining at it repeatedly” — but played down the huge challenge, mentioning the “rehabillitation” of Dublin, with Dessie Farrell’s side and Kerry “coming hot and heavy” in 2022.

He said they’d be focusing on Ulster: “Let’s just take it a step at a time up in Tyrone.”

It was confirmed in October that there would be no revamp for the football championship as Proposal B was defeated at Special Congress. Next season’s All-Ireland SFC will go back to the pre-2018 qualifier system.

2022 Provincial Championship Draws

Connacht SFC

Quarter-finals

  • New York v Sligo
  • London v Leitrim
  • Mayo v Galway

Semi-finals

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

Leinster SFC

First round

  • Louth v Carlow
  • Laois v Wicklow
  • Offaly v Wexford

Quarter-finals

  • Dublin  v Offaly/Wexford
  • Meath v Laois v Wicklow
  • Kildare v Louth/Carlow
  • Westmeath v Longford

Munster SFC

Quarter-finals

  • Tipperary v Waterford
  • Clare v Limerick

Semi-finals

  • Kerry v Cork
  • Tipperary/Waterford v Clare/Limerick

Ulster SFC

Preliminary Round

  • Fermanagh v Tyrone

Quarter-finals

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

Semi-finals

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

BTL 5

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