Sport

Dublin avoid old rivals after drawing Derry

GAELIC GAMES: Leinster champions Dublin will play Derry, the surprise packages of this season's qualifiers, in the All-Ireland…

Gavin Cummiskey reports
Mon Jul 30 2007 - 01:00

GAELIC GAMES:Leinster champions Dublin will play Derry, the surprise packages of this season's qualifiers, in the All-Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park on Saturday, August 11th. The winners progress to the semi-final against the winners of Kerry and Monaghan, who meet the following day, also in Croke Park.

Despite a disappointing provincial campaign that ended in defeat to Monaghan, Derry recovered to beat Armagh, Mayo and then Laois last Saturday to earn their rite of passage. Monaghan beat National League champions Donegal, also on Saturday.

The other fixtures from yesterday's football draw pit Ulster champions Tyrone against a rejuvenated Meath, while Cork will be favourites to see off Connacht champions Sligo. The winners of these matches meet in the All-Ireland semi-final on August 19th. The Leinster/Munster semi-final is set for August 26th.

Times, dates and venues for the football quarter-finals will be confirmed by a meeting of the Central Competitions Control Committee this afternoon.

READ MORE

A date and venue for the replay of the hurling quarter-final between Cork and Waterford will also be confirmed following the meeting. That game will be played in Croke Park or Thurles. It is expected to be next weekend so it could go to Semple Stadium as a stand-alone fixture or Croke Park on Saturday but this will cause a clash with two All-Ireland football quarter-finals.

Tyrone, Meath, Sligo and Cork are all expected to play in Croke Park.

The other All-Ireland hurling semi-final between Kilkenny and Wexford is already set for Sunday but this fixture is not expected to draw anything near full capacity so the replay may be put on the same card although the Christy Ring Cup final and a minor semi-final are currently pencilled in.

Thurles remained an option last night. Either way, the venue for the replay doesn't look set to receive any criticism from Cork. "I've no real preference," said manager Gerald McCarthy. "It's just a long journey for Cork and Waterford people to travel. Thurles would be a more central venue but I wouldn't have any hard views on that one."