All-Ireland SFC: Permutations & team news for round three
Derry, Armagh, Donegal and Tyrone have much to play for this weekend in the final round of All-Ireland Football Championship group games
- Published
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The round-robin stage of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship reaches its conclusion this weekend with much still to be decided in the scramble to secure knockout football.
After a down week, all 16 teams are in action across Saturday and Sunday.
After this weekend, 16 will become 12 with the four group winners advancing straight to the quarter-finals. Teams that finish second in the groups will get home advantage in the preliminary quarter-finals, with third-placed teams away.
Seven counties - Armagh, Galway, Dublin, Mayo, Cork, Kerry and Louth - are all guaranteed knockout football but they will be keen to wrap up top spot in their respective groups and bag a week's rest before the quarter-finals on 29/30 June.
With much to be decided, here is all you need to know about the final round of All-Ireland group games.
Group One
Saturday: Derry v Westmeath, Pairc Esler, 19:00
Sunday: Armagh v Galway, Markievicz Park, 13:45
Armagh will top the group with a win or draw against Galway at Markievicz Park on Sunday. Both teams have four points from two games, but Armagh's superior goal difference means a draw would be enough to grab top spot.
Last year, Armagh edged Galway in the final group game in Carrick-on-Shannon to take top spot.
While Armagh are assured of at least a spot in the preliminary quarter-finals, Derry must beat Westmeath to remain in the competition. Derry's inferior scoring difference means a draw is no good to Mickey Harte's side.
Having lost to Galway and Armagh, Derry must park the hurt of recent weeks and ensure they remain in the conversation for the Sam Maguire.
Losing to Westmeath would be their fourth successive championship defeat, a remarkable downfall after winning the Division One title in March.
Group Two
Saturday: Cavan v Roscommon, Pearse Park, 17:00
Sunday: Dublin v Mayo, Dr Hyde Park, 15:45
Following their 19-point destruction of Cavan last time out, Dublin only need a point against Mayo on Sunday to finish top of group two.
But while Dublin swatted Roscommon and Cavan aside, Mayo are expected to provide a much sterner test for the reigning champions, having won a tight contest when the sides met in Castlebar in the league in February.
After a couple of heavy defeats, Cavan must beat Roscommon on Saturday to secure a preliminary quarter-final spot, while a draw will see the Rossies through.
Group Three
Saturday: Clare v Donegal, Castlebar, 15:00
Saturday: Cork v Tyrone, Tullamore, 15:00
After wins over Clare and Donegal, Cork will top group three with a victory or draw against Tyrone on Saturday.
If Cork get anything from the Tyrone game and Donegal beat Clare, Donegal will finish second behind Cork with Tyrone third.
Tyrone will win the group if they beat Cork and Donegal don't beat Clare.
Donegal could win the group if they overcome Clare and Tyrone get the better of Cork. That would leave Donegal, Tyrone on Cork on four points, meaning scoring difference would decide the placings.
In order to remain in the championship, Clare must beat Donegal and hope Tyrone pick up at least a point against Cork, which would see the Banner County pipping Jim McGuinness' side on the head-to-head.
Group Four
Sunday: Monaghan v Meath, Breffni Park, 15:00
Sunday: Kerry v Louth, Portlaoise, 15:00
Like Armagh and Dublin, Kerry only need a point when they face Louth to guarantee top spot.
If Louth pull off a huge upset against the Kingdom, the Wee County will qualify for the last eight as group winners and drop Kerry into the prelims. Both counties are assured of a place in the last 12.
Monaghan will seal a spot in the prelims with a draw against Meath. Monaghan can still finish second with a comfortable win over Meath and a heavy defeat for Louth against Kerry.
Meath must beat Monaghan to remain in the championship.
Knockout schedule
The preliminary quarter-finals will be played on the weekend of 22/23 June.
The quarter-finals will be played on 29/30 June.
The semi-finals will be staged on 13/14 July with the final at Croke Park on 28 July.
Conor Doherty drops to the Derry bench as Mickey Harte instead picks Ciaran McFaul and fit-again Enda McEvoy in the half-back line
Team news
Derry's two personnel changes from the 3-17 to 0-15 hammering by Armagh see Ciaran McFaul and fit-again Eoin McEvoy drafted into the half-backs as Conor Doherty and Niall Toner drop out, with Emmett Bradley moving from wing-back to centre half-forward.
Westmeath boss Dessie Dolan makes one change from the narrow defeat by Galway as Luke Loughlin replaces Robbie Forde in attack.
Derry: O Lynch; C McCluskey, C McKaigue, D Baker; C McFaul, E McEvoy, D Gilmore; C Glass, B Rogers; E Doherty, E Bradley, Paul Cassidy; E Mulholland, S McGuigan, L Murray.
Subs: R Scullion, M Bradley, D Cassidy, C Doherty, M Doherty, S Downey, R Forbes, D McDermott, C McMonagle, C Murphy, N Toner.
Westmeath: J Daly; J Gonoud, C Drumm, K Maguire; J Dolan, R Wallace, D Lynch; R Connellan, A McCormack; J Lynam, R O'Toole, S McCartan; L Loughlin, J Heslin, S Baker.
Subs: J Connaughton, S Allen, C Dillon, D McCartan, R Forde, E Mulvihill, M Whittaker, D Scahill, L Dolan, J Smith, K Martin.
Armagh make two personnel changes from their thumping win at Celtic Park as Ciaran Higgins replaces the suspended Connaire Mackin in the half-back line. Mackin was handed a one-game ban by the Central Hearings Committee (CHC) for "kicking with minimal force" following an incident with Derry captain Conor Glass in Armagh's win over the Oak Leafers a fortnight ago.
Andrew Murnin takes over from Stefan Campbell in a side that also has a number of positional switches.
Galway also make two changes in personnel from their narrow win over Westmeath as Sean Kelly and Robert Finnerty take over from Johnny Heaney and Cian Hernon, with John Maher switching from midfield to centre half-forward to accommodate skipper Kelly's return.
Damien Comer remains unavailable for the Tribesmen following the injury he sustained in the incident that led to Gareth McKinless' red card in the round-one contest against Derry.
Armagh: B Hughes; B McCambridge, A McKay, P McGrane; C Higgins, T Kelly, A Forker (capt); N Grimley, B Crealey; J McElroy, R O'Neill, O Conaty; R Grugan, A Murnin, C Turbitt.
Subs: E Rafferty, P Burns, G McCabe, R McQuillan, D McMullan, S McPartlan, O O'Neill, J Duffy, A Nugent, S Campbell, J Og Burns.
Galway: C Gleeson; J McGrath, S Fitzgerald, J Glynn; D McHugh, J Daly, L Silke; P Conroy, S Kelly (capt); M Tierney, J Maher, C Darcy, R Finnerty, S Walsh, C McDaid.
Subs: C Flaherty, S Mulkerrin, E Kelly, D O'Flaherty, K Molloy, C Hernon, P Egan, C Sweeney, J Heaney, T Culhane, L O Conghaile.
Raymond Galligan's Cavan side must beat Roscommon to keep their season alive
Cavan opt for three changes in personnel and several positional switches from the 5-17 to 0-13 drubbing by Dublin for their contest against Roscommon.
Gary O'Rourke replaces Liam Brady in goals with Ryan Donohue taking over from Killian Brady and Cormac O'Reilly in for Castlerahan's Oisin Kiernan.
Roscommon boss Davy Burke makes four changes from the narrow defeat by Mayo as Ruaidhrí Fallon, Ultan Harney, Dylan Ruane and Shane Cunnane take over from Niall Daly, Tadhg O'Rourke, Conor Hand and Ciarán Lennon
Cavan: G O'Rourke; L Fortune, B O'Connell, C Reilly; P Faulkner, N Carolan, O Kiernan (Denn); Ciaran Brady, R Donohue; R O'Neill, Cian Madden, G Smith; O Brady, J Smith, C O'Reilly.
Subs: L Brady, M Magee, O Kiernan (Castlerahan), J McLoughlin, R Brady, C Rehill, J Galligan, T Madden, D McVeety, Conor Madden, D Lovett, K Brady, P Meade.
Roscommon: C Carroll; N Higgins, B Stack (capt), R Dolan; D Murray, R Fallon, E McCormack; E Smith, U Harney; D Ruane, D Murtagh, S Cunnane; D Cregg, C Cox, D Smith.
Subs: C Lavin, N Daly, P Gavin, R Daly, K Doyle, A Glennon, C Hand, A McDermott, T O'Rourke, C Hussey, C Lennon
Corner-back Mark Curran returns to the Donegal side for their game with Clare as Jason McGee is ruled out of the matchday squad
Donegal make one change from their surprise defeat by Cork which sees Mark Curran returning at corner-back with Jason McGee not named in the 26 as Ciaran Moore moves from the full-back line to midfield.
Clare also show one change from their 3-15 to 0-10 defeat by Tyrone as Micheal Garry replaces the suspended Darragh Bohannon at midfield.
Donegal: S Patton; M Curran, B McCole, E Ban Gallagher; R McHugh, C McGonagle, P Mogan; C Moore, M Langan; S O'Donnell, C Thompson, D O Baoill; P McBrearty, O Gallen, N O'Donnell.
Subs: D Roberts, K McGettigan, S McMenamin, O Doherty, C O'Donnell, J MacCeallabhui, H McFadden, A Doherty, J Brennan, D MacGiolla Bhride, C McGuinness
Clare: S Ryan; M Doherty, C Brennan, R Lanigan; A Sweeney, C Rouine, I Ugweru; B McNamara, M Garry; D Walsh, D Coughlan, G Murray; C Downes; A Griffin, E McMahon.
Subs: T O'Callaghan, C Murray, D Nagle, J Stack, D O'Donnell, M McInerney, J McGann, E O'Connor, C Burke, S Griffin, J Curran
Tyrone's sole change from the win over Clare for their crucial Cork contest sees Conn Kilpatrick returning to midfield in place of Joe Oguz as captain Peter Harte and Cathal McShane remain on the bench.
Cork name an unchanged starting 15 from the win over Donegal.
Tyrone: N Morgan; M McKernan, P Hampsey, A Clarke; K McGeary, M Donnelly, N Devlin; B Kennedy, C Kilpatrick; C Daly, R Canavan, M O'Neill; D McCurry, D Canavan, S O'Donnell.
Subs: O O'Kane, F Burns, R Cassidy, B Cullen, P Harte, N McCarron, L McGarrity, C McShane, S O'Hare, C Quinn, T Quinn.
Cork: C Kelly; K Flahive, D O’Mahony, M Shanley; R Maguire, T Walsh, M Taylor; I Maguire, C O’Callaghan; P Walsh, S Powter, B O’Driscoll; M Cronin, C Óg Jones, B Hurley.
Subs: M Aodh Martin, S Meehan, D Cashman, T Clancy, J O’Rourke, K O’Hanlon, F Herlihy, E McSweeney, R Deane, C Corbett, S Sherlock.
Conor McManus' return is Monaghan's only change from the team that started against Louth for Sunday's game against Meath at Breffni Park as captain Kieran Duffy misses out on the matchday squad and Karl O'Connell is also an absentee after coming on a sub last time out. The team also includes several positional switches.
Meath make four changes from the defeat by Kerry as Ronan Jones, Harry O’Higgins, Cian McBride and James Conlon return with Brian O’Halloran, Conor Gray, Michael Murphy and Sean Ryan dropping to the bench.
Monaghan: R Beggan; R Wylie, K Lavelle, J Irwin; R McAnespie, R O'Toole, C McCarthy; G Mohan, J Wilson; S O'Hanlon, M Bannigan, M Hamill; C McNulty, J McCarron, C McManus.
Subs: D McDonnell, C Lennon, S Mooney, K Loughran, D Treanor, D Garland, M McCarville, A Woods, B McBennett, S Jones, T McPhillips.
Meath: B Hogan; D Keogan, A O'Neill, R Ryan; H O'Higgins, D Campion, S Coffey; R Jones (capt), C McBride; C Caulfield, C O'Sullivan, C Hickey; J Conlon, M Costello, E Frayne.
Subs: S Brennan, M Murphy, S Ryan, B O'Halloran; R Ryan, C Gray; D McGowan, R Kinsella, J O'Connor, J Morris, A Lynch
What about the Tailteann Cup?
Yes, it's a busy weekend of football across both tiers of the championship with four Tailteann Cup quarter-finals down for decision.
On Saturday, last year's beaten finalists Down face Wicklow at Pairc Esler (16:30) in a curtain-raiser to the Derry v Westmeath All-Ireland game.
At 17:00, Sligo take on Limerick at Markievicz Park, while at 18:00 there's an Ulster derby as Fermanagh welcome Antrim to Enniskillen.
On Sunday, either Kildare or Laois will complete the semi-final line-up. They face each other in Tullamore (13:15).
The Tailteann Cup semi-finals will be played on 23 June with the final at Croke Park on 13 July.