Old format still throws up some tasty fare

Championship 2007 Provincial draws: The GAA threw the championship contenders in the proverbial hat on Saturday evening and, with much rolling of drums and opening of capsules, they managed to come up with an All-Ireland championship programme that should keep calls for an open draw at bay for another year.

In the football series, Leinster champions Dublin will play the winners of Meath and Kildare in what is guaranteed to be the first Croke Park sell-out of the summer.

Every province managed to produce at least one attractive tie, the most intriguing of those pitting All-Ireland finalists Mayo - whose county board is currently courting John O'Mahony - against Galway, with whom the Ballaghaderreen man established one of the best managerial reputations in the modern era.

The draw was a tough break for Peter Ford, the Mayoman and O'Mahony protege tasked with lifting Galway from their terrible crash against Westmeath in Salthill last summer.

But another Mayoman, John Maughan, came out smiling, with only New York or, more significantly, Sligo standing between his Roscommon team and a place in the provincial final.

In Ulster, the dice is loaded at one half of the draw. Almost inevitably, Armagh and Donegal were magnetically drawn to one another. The counties have produced sometimes ferocious and sometimes brilliant matches in the last five years, an Armagh victory at the end being the constant factor. This is, unquestionably, the key match for the Brian McIver era.

For Donegal, the whole Armagh factor is becoming reminiscent of the old tennis quip, where Vitas Gerulaitis, after defeating Bjorn Borg following years of crushing loss, declared with mock pride: "Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 11 times in a row."

The winners of that hour of attrition between Armagh and Donegal can look forward to a semi-final against either Fermanagh or Tyrone, meaning that by Ulster-final time, there will be several heavyweight Northern sharks on the loose in the heavyweight pool.

Paddy Crozier's Derry have a good shot at making it to the Ulster final (in Clones or Croke Park?), but the preliminary round will be the focus of intense interest as it features the championship debut of Down's managerial dream team led by Ross Carr.

In Munster, the luck of the draw points to the strong likelihood of another Cork-Kerry final.

Best pleased by the hurling draw will be Babs Keating and Richie Bennis. Tipperary and Limerick play each other for a place in the Munster final, which is about as good as it gets in that storied arena.

It seems Clare hurling can get no easy breaks these days, and Tony Considine has to square up against Cork in his championship debut, with the winners going on to face Waterford in the quarter-final.

All-Ireland champions Kilkenny cast a long shadow over the Leinster draw. Offaly are their likely opponents in the semi-final, a formidable date for John McIntyre's transitional side, while Wexford will be favourite to overcome Dublin in the other semi-final.

Kilkenny's dominance in the provincial championship is a reflection of their excellence, but it has been one of the reasons why the value of the provincial structure has been questioned in recent times. With Cork and Kerry and Galway and Mayo contesting the vast majority of the respective football finals in Munster and Connacht, the format can seem jaded at times.

However, the Leinster football championship has rarely been more competitive, the Munster hurling calendar remains rich, the Connacht football scene retains the capacity to surprise and, in Ulster, anything can happen.

Suffice to say that when the dates are fixed and the match days arrive, the turnstiles will whir.

Championship 2007

Football

Connacht Championship

Round One: New York v Sligo, London v Leitrim, Galway v Mayo.

Semi-finals: Galway/Mayo v London/Leitrim, New York/Sligo v Roscommon.

Leinster Championship

Round One: Louth v Wicklow, Westmeath v Longford, Meath v Kildare

Quarter-finals: Louth/Wicklow v Wexford, Westmeath/Longford v Laois, Meath/Kildare v Dublin. Carlow v Offaly.

Munster Championship

Round One: Clare v Waterford, Cork v Limerick.

Semi-finals: Kerry v Clare/Waterford, Tipperary v Cork/Limerick.

Ulster Championship

Round One: Cavan v Down.

Quarter-finals: Cavan/Down v Monaghan, Fermanagh v Tyrone,

Donegal v Armagh, Antrim v Derry.

Hurling

Munster Championship

Round One: Clare v Cork.

Semi-finals: Waterford v Clare/Cork. Tipperary v Limerick.

Leinster Championship.

Quarter-final: Offaly v Laois.

Semi-final: Offaly/Laois v Kilkenny, Dublin v Wexford.