Calendar change for football quarter-finals

QUALIFIER FIXTURES: The draw for round four of the All-Ireland football qualifier series will take place next Sunday with the draw for the quarter-finals to follow a week later.

This year the timetable has changed with the quarter-finals to be spread over the first two weekends in August rather than played on the Sunday and Monday of the Bank Holiday.

"The idea behind changing the calendar," says Tony O'Keeffe, chair of the Games Administration Committee, "was to facilitate the 13 days that we decided to give beaten provincial finalists. So we have to allow 13 days from the Leinster and Connacht finals next Sunday before playing those qualifiers."

That takes the teams up to the first weekend in August with the quarter-finals having to be put back until the weekend of the first All-Ireland hurling semi-final.

Neither Kerry nor Limerick will be able to avail of the 13-day break after drawing the Munster final at the weekend. The clock started running on that from Sunday rather than from next weekend's replay, which means whoever loses will face three successive weekends of action if they are to reach the semi-finals.

O'Keeffe isn't ruling out Bank Holiday fixtures on Monday fortnight: "That depends on the draw for round four. It could throw up a hugely popular pairing, which would make a good fixture for that day. But there are problems every year with the Monday because it's not a holiday in the north and Ulster teams can't play."

An additional problem is the potentially unequal interval between All-Ireland quarter-finals and semi-finals for different teams. This is because the semi-finals are already drawn with the champions (or the teams that defeat them in the quarter-finals) of Connacht and Ulster playing on August 22nd with the Leinster-Ulster pairing a week later.

In the meantime other fixtures to be announced include the hurling quarter-finals, which are fixed for Sunday week, the 25th, with Cork-Antrim likely to start at 2 p.m and Kilkenny-Offaly/Clare following at 3.40 p.m.

This weekend's round-three football qualifier between Derry and Wexford is likely to be played at Dublin's Parnell Park. Croke Park is unavailable because the two remaining qualifiers, Cork-Fermanagh and Galway-Tyrone, are both scheduled for headquarters.

But Derry and Wexford indicated a preference for playing Dublin and a likely evening throw-in would give the teams the chance to see the Croke Park action if they so wish.

Finally Kilkenny's awesome dispatch of Galway at the weekend has shot them to the top of the betting list for this year's All-Ireland. Cork, who also came through the qualifiers at the weekend, are second favourites.

Armagh have joined Kerry at the top of the football prices with Laois now running third.

John Leahy returns to inter-county action tomorrow night with the Tipperary intermediate side to play Cork. The former All Star and All-Ireland winner had the later years of his senior career wrecked by serious injury but had been linked with a possible return to the championship although with the county's qualifier defeat by Cork at the weekend that possibility has receded.

TIPPERARY (IH vs. Cork): D Hogan; B Lawlor, D O'Brien, M Phelan; S Sweeney, S Maher, E Hanley; B Hogan, C O'Brien; P Buckley, T Slevin, S McGrath; S Everard, B Gaynor, J Leahy.

ALL-IRELAND ODDS - Hurling: Kilkenny 11-10, Cork 5-2, Waterford 11-4, Wexford 6-1 Clare 25-1, Offaly 66-1, Antrim 175-1.

Football: Kerry 5-2, Armagh 5-2, Laois 7-1, Tyrone 8-1, Mayo 9-1, Galway 12-1, Dublin 14-1, Donegal 16-1, Cork 18-1, Limerick 25-1, Roscommon 25-1, Westmeath 25-1, Derry 40-1, Wexford 66-1, Fermanagh 150-1. ... * Courtesy Boylesports.