Champions next as Laois hog the limelight

ALL-IRELAND champions Armagh will have to derail Mick O’Dwyer’s Laois bandwagon if they are to retain their football title in September.

Joe Kernan’s side came out of the hat for the quarter-final with the Leinster champions last night. The glamour tie of the last eight is likely to form part of a double-header at Croke Park on Sunday, possibly with the Galway-Donegal quarter final. Kerry will renew rivalries with Tommy Carr in their meeting with Roscommon. Because the GAC will be keen to avoid scheduling an Ulster side for a Bank Holiday Monday fixture, it is possible that the Kerry-Roscommon game will be played this day week. It is a repeat of the 1980 All-Ireland final, while Tyrone will be fancied to dispose of their provincial rivals, Fermanagh, in the other tie.

Armagh were defeated by Laois in the Allianz League semi-final by five points, but that will have no relevance for the quarter-final, Laois coach Mick O’Dwyer insisted last night. “Secretly, I was kind of hoping we might get Armagh. It’s the ultimate test for our young lads because Armagh proved against Dublin that they remain the finest side in the country. They are the benchmark we must test ourselves against. Our lads will have their feet firmly on the ground for this one.”

O’Dwyer added: “There was trouble in any of the possible permutations because at this stage of the championship, seedings mean little. I don’t know who are the hard teams and who are the soft teams. We might be better off playing Armagh now.”

Roscommon manager Tom Carr, in buoyant mood after his team’s thrilling win over Kildare, reacted very positively to the draw with Kerry. “It’s a great draw for us. We’re looking forward to it,” said Carr, who as Dublin manager lost out to Kerry in a quarter-final replay two years ago in Thurles. “We know what to expect. Kerry are Kerry. They have the tradition. But, it’s all on the day.”

Fermanagh manager Dominic Corrigan admitted that his outsiders had drawn the short straw against League and Ulster champions Tyrone. “I would have felt that Tyrone and Kerry, on current form, were the two best teams, but on Tyrone’s form in the Ulster final replay, they are the best team in the country. We have drawn the short straw.

The big plus for us is that we know their team. We met them in the League semi-final when they beat us by eight or nine points. We feel we have come on a lot since then but we will know for sure next weekend.”

Brendan Devenney is a serious doubt for Donegal’s quarter-final with Connacht champions, Galway, after suffering a recurrence of a troublesome knee injury. His manager Brian McEniff revealed that Galway had only beaten Donegal a week ago in a challenge game.

Galway boss John O’Mahony pointed to the fact that Donegal have won two qualifiers since the Tribesmen’s Connacht final success over Mayo.