Kildare to host Tyrone in pick of round three qualifiers

Tyrone must travel to play Kildare in Newbridge on Saturday night in the big draw of the All-Ireland qualifier round three, made this morning live on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland.

Under Kieran McGeeney, Kildare have reached the quarter-finals in each of his five years in charge and that record will come under scrutiny with the visit of Mickey Harte’s team, who were league finalists in April and defeated Kildare to reach that final. Saturday’s game will throw in at 7.0pm in Newbridge.

The winners will face yesterday’s defeated Leinster finalists Meath in round four, which will form the second part of a double header at Croke Park on Saturday week. The first game will see Cork take on the winners of next Saturday’s round three game between Galway and Armagh in Salthill.

If Alan Mulholland’s under-performing team need any encouragement it’s worth recalling that when the county won its last All-Ireland in the first year of the qualifier format in 2001, their round three and four matches were also against Armagh and Cork, both of whom they defeated at Croke Park.

Wexford will play Laois and the winners have been drawn against the losers of next Sunday’s Ulster final, All-Ireland champions Donegal or Monaghan.

Finally Derry will be at home against Cavan with the prize for whoever wins a match against the losers of next weekend’s Connacht final between Mayo and first-time provincial finalists London.

The venues and times for the final two round four games are still to be confirmed.

The All-Ireland hurling quarter-finals draw wasn’t necessary, as the pairings emerged after the weekend’s results. Once Cork lost yesterday’s Munster final, they were unable to meet Clare, as they had played them already in the provincial semi-final.

The two quarter-finals will take place at Semple Stadium in Thurles on Sunday July 28th, with the Cork v Kilkenny match at 2.0pm and the meeting of Galway and Clare following it at 4.0pm.

ROUND THREE – Saturday July 20th
Galway v Armagh, Pearse Stadium, 5.0pm
Derry v Cavan, Celtic Park, 5.0pm
Wexford v Laois, Wexford Park, 7.0pm
Kildare v Tyrone, Newbridge, 7.0pm

ROUND FOUR – Saturday July 27th
Galway/Armagh v Cork, Croke Park, 5.0pm
Kildare/Tyrone v Meath, Croke Park, 7.0pm
Wexford/Laois v Donegal/Monaghan, TBC
Derry/Cavan v Mayo/London, TBC
Ties to be played at neutral venues.

ALL-IRELAND HURLING QUARTER-FINALS
Sunday July 28th
Cork v Kilkenny, Semple Stadium, 2.0pm
Galway v Clare, Semple Stadium, 4.0pm