Three mouthwatering games from the 2026 Championship draw

History is in Cork’s favour though and on their own sod they will be fancying themselves to live up to their side of setting up a first Cork-Kerry Munster final in five years.

Fri, 28 Nov, 2025 - 06:44

John Fogarty

Three fixtures to fancy

Armagh v Tyrone, Ulster SFC preliminary round, Box-It Athletic Grounds, April 10/11.

Massive. Just when you thought the extra week between the divisional finals and the start of the provincial championships would keep teams honest in the league, along comes this fixture. Tyrone, seeing as they are in Division 2, can’t afford not to try and make the final whereas Armagh, with this game in mind, could cool the jets if they consolidate their top-flight status early. After having little luck in the league last year, this was a draw Tyrone manager Malachy O’Rourke would have preferred to avoid. Kieran McGeeney, on the other hand? The tougher, the better.

Cork v Limerick, Munster SFC quarter-final, SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, April 10/11.

Coming off promotion to Division 3 and backing it up with a Tailteann Cup final appearance this year, confirmation of this short trip south will fill Limerick with little trepidation. Should they gain promotion ahead of Clare from Division 3 and Cork are relegated from Division 2, they will receive a semi-final bye in 2027 too. History is in Cork’s favour though and on their own sod they will be fancying themselves to live up to their side of setting up a first Cork-Kerry Munster final in five years.

London/Mayo v New York/Roscommon, Connacht SFC semi-final, April 25/26.

Castlebar will be the venue for this last-four game should Mayo and Roscommon put The Exiles to the sword. New Mayo manager Andy Moran, who on Thursday appointed Jack Coyne as his captain for the new season, won’t be looking past London, not when he was part of the James Horan side that had their troubles all that way back in 2011 and having managed a Leitrim side that lost to New York two years ago. Nevertheless, the Ballaghaderreen man should be sharing the whitewash with his old club manager Mark Dowd at the end of April.