Meath to face Dublin first

FOOTBALL devours most of the attention as the main features of next year's football and hurling championships sink in. Last night's draw in RTE saw three of last summer's provincial finals set to recur in the first round.

Most attention will focus on the meeting of All Ireland champions Meath and Dublin in the Leinster first round, reviving memories of their clash in the preliminary round five years ago which took four matches to conclude.

In Ulster, Tyrone provincial champions for the last two years and now under new management - are to face 1991 and 94 All Ireland champions Down, whom they defeated in last July's final, in next May's preliminary round.

Beaten All Ireland finalists Mayo also have a tough start when, in the first round, they come up against Galway whom they have faced in the last two Connacht finals.

Munster pits Cork against Clare, probably in Ennis, in the semi final, a draw that replicates that of the last two years, with the difference that Cork will not have a match under their belt by the time the teams play. Kerry play the winners of the preliminary pool, consisting of Limerick, Waterford and Tipperary.

Hurling hasn't thrown up comparable drama in the early stages although in Leinster, Offaly, Laois and Wexford are on the one side of the draw. Munster sees the main contenders spread more evenly than last year with Cork and Clare, and Tipperary and Limerick on opposite sides.

The hurling draw will not be completed until next summer. Under the terms of the two year championship experiment, the beaten finalists in Leinster and Munster will go into the quarter finals with the Connacht and Ulster champions. The draw will not, however, be made until after those provincial finals.

Kerry, Meath, Westmeath, Roscommon, Down and Derry are all graded intermediate which means that they can enter the Intermediate championship provided they lose their first match at senior level.

Other interesting angles in the football draw include the certain emergence of a dark horse finalist in Leinster where Wicklow, Carlow, Louth or the winners of the preliminary pool are on the opposite side of the draw to Kildare, Laois Meath and Dublin.

Connacht is similarly lop sided with the last three provincial champions all on the one side of the draw. Leitrim, assuming they beat London, will play the winners of the Mayo Galway tie.

The Ulster meeting of Tyrone and Down will get the championship off to a lively start but the rest of the draw features familiar pairings. Donegal played Ant rim three and four years ago whereas Monaghan and Derry have met five times already this decade. Armagh will be slightly disappointed as they must face the winners of Tyrone and Down.

The All Ireland semi finals match the Ulster and Munster champions, and the Connacht and Leinster title winners. Because of the revised hurling calendar, next year's All Ireland hurling final will be on September 14th and the football two weeks later.