Early season silverware has become burden in All-Ireland race

There is also a word of warning for provincial runners-up: only half of the last 12 have won their next game these last three seasons.

By the time Ulster champions Armagh face Derry in the All-Ireland SFC round 1, their opponents will have had the best part of a month to study them. Pic: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

Sorry to be the party pooper but the fate of in-season final winners (league and provincial) does not bode well for the newly inked provincial winners these coming couple of weekends.

In the 28 deciders between 2023 when the elongated All-Ireland series returned after the pandemic and this season’s National Football League showdowns, 17 winners have failed to win their subsequent championship game.

Eleven of those defeats came for divisional winners. Down this year became the first Division 3 champions since 2023 to win their opening SFC fixture after Cavan, Westmeath and Offaly all suffered defeats before them.

The last two Division 2 winners, Meath this season and Monaghan in 2025, followed up silverware with provincial defeats to Westmeath and Donegal respectively.

Kerry seem to be the only team impervious to the curse that is winning the Division 1 title. Donegal this season, Derry in 2024 and Mayo in ’23 have all fallen after their early successes.

The luxury of Down having 10 days together to focus on Donegal was mentioned in the aftermath of their Ulster quarter-final victory over them in Letterkenny last month.

Without any form of a distraction like a provincial final, the shoe is on the other foot as Donegal will have 19 days to train their sights on Kerry and this Saturday’s All-Ireland SFC, Round 1 clash in Fitzgerald Stadium.

Spare a thought for Armagh and Westmeath too – by the time they face Derry and Cavan the week after next, their opponents will have been studying them for the best part of a month.

As Kerry welcome Donegal to Killarney, it’s what happened to them there three years ago when they were also Munster champions that may give them pause for thought. One of the six times these last three seasons when those riding high in early and mid-May have been shot down at home a couple of weeks later:

2023 

Kerry 0-17 Mayo 1-19, Fitzgerald Stadium 

If the truth be told, Mayo knew they were going to be facing Kerry as soon as the draw to face the Munster winners was made, five days before the provincial final. They had 18 days to focus on Kerry and there were six weeks between Roscommon putting them out of Connacht and them returning to action. It was the equivalent of an ambush as Kerry’s proud 28-year record of never losing a senior championship game on home soil ended.

Dublin 1-11 Roscommon 0-14, Croke Park

After what was their 13th consecutive Leinster SFC title, Dublin should have been above and beyond provincial hangovers but they looked sluggish here and Roscommon led by four points early in the second half. The would-be All-Ireland champions came back to life in the fourth quarter and led going into additional time only for Donie Smith to square the game.

Derry 0-14 Monaghan 0-14, Celtic Park 

As has often proven to be the case down through the years, all-Ulster All-Ireland games are difficult for the provincial champions. Derry were coming off the back of a successful defence of their Ulster title but took a while for them to get going. Shane McGuigan was in mean form and put them a point ahead in injury time but that was cancelled out by Monaghan veteran Karl O’Connell.

2025 

Galway 2-14 Dublin 1-18, Pearse Stadium 

Dublin had vengeance in their nostrils after Galway dumped them out of the previous year’s All-Ireland quarter-final. Still, there would have been plenty of question marks around Dublin after surrendering their Leinster crown at the semi-final stage. Tom Lahiff’s kick after the hooter sounded proved to be the winning score.

Louth 4-8 Monaghan 1-23, Cedral St Conleth’s Park 

No home comforts for Louth here with the new stadium under construction. If ever a team was going to suffer from a collective heavy head, it was Louth after ending a 68-year wait for a senior provincial football title. That was a height they were never going to match for the remainder of the season and Louth’s goals papered over the cracks.

Donegal 0-20 Tyrone 2-17, MacCumhaill Park.

Anglo-Celt Cup holders Donegal may have thought they were safe in their backyard where Jim McGuinness had not lost a senior NFL or SFC game as manager (16 games in total). However, Tyrone, handsome winners in Ballybofey in a 2023 preliminary quarter-final, had other ideas. Peter Harte boomed over a two-pointer to claim the local bragging rights in this opening group game.

* And a word of warning to provincial runners-up: only half of the last 12 have won their next game these last three seasons. And three of them were Armagh.