Dublin made to wait as quarters drawn

ALL-IRELAND SENIOR FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP:KERRY WILL return to Croke Park in six days' time for a quarter-final clash with Galway as they continue their quest for a third successive All-Ireland football title.

Saturday's game, which has a 4pm throw-in, will be preceded by the meeting of the Ulster champions Armagh and Wexford (2pm).

The GAA last night confirmed the dates, venues and times of all four football quarter-finals but are likely to face a backlash from Dublin. Paul Caffrey's side are believed to have turned down the offer of a stand-alone date for their clash with Tyrone given their huge support prior to this weekend's quarter-finals, but that's exactly what's transpired.

The Cork footballers and hurlers will appear in Croke Park next Sunday, while Dublin must wait until Saturday week to take the field against Tyrone.

The Cork footballers take on Kildare in the curtain raiser to the All-Ireland hurling semi-final, in which the Rebels meet Kilkenny.

Cork football manager Conor Counihan admitted: "Kildare ground it out against Fermanagh and I'd expect nothing less than a tough match . . . It doesn't matter what route you take to the quarter-finals, scenic or otherwise. Everyone is here on merit."

While the Dublin-Tyrone clash will have no difficulty filling Croke Park as they did most recently for the first ever floodlit fixture - a National League match - at the venue, the Dubs won't be happy their period of inactivity has been extended by a week while Tyrone have been handed an extra seven days to recuperate. The match is scheduled for Saturday, August 16th, with a 4pm throw-in.

The teams last met at the same stage in 2005, when Tyrone won after a replay before going on to win the All-Ireland title.

Kerry and Galway also clashed at the same stage of the 2002 championship when Galway were the reigning champions. Kerry won that day, as they would do when the teams met in the league finals of 2004 and 2006.

Armagh beat Wexford in the 2005 NFL final. The last championship clash of Kildare and Cork was a 1956 All-Ireland semi-final.

The semi-finals will see Galway or Kerry playing Cork or Kildare and Dublin or Tyrone playing Armagh or Wexford.