New Croker sod well up to holding four games

THE GAA has absolutely no worries about the new pitch in Croke Park taking all four quarter-finals of the Bank of Ireland football championship this weekend even if it rains.

Two games each will be played on Sunday and Monday, with the pairings designed to maximise the attendance both days. Once the Games Administration Committee was obliged to fix Armagh's game with Sligo for Sunday becausehere is no bank holiday on Monday in Northern Ireland it was just a question of which of the two big games would be paired with it. The GAC opted for the 2000 All-Ireland repeat of Galway and Kerry, with Cork and Mayo meeting ahead of Dublin and Donegal on Monday.

Both fixtures have the capacity to attract 60,000 but the belief is that the attendance will not approach the record 78,000 figure which was reached on the occasion of the Leinster final between Dublin and Kildare.