“It’s definitely the tie of the round.”
The draw was made, on Monday morning, for the second round of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifiers and there were some tasty fixtures thrown up. Football fans in Armagh were up bright and early for it.
Former Armagh star Oisín McConville joined GAA president John Horan and Darren Frehill on Morning Ireland as 16 counties learned their fate.
Some big dogs were in that pack, with Monaghan, Tyrone, Mayo and Armagh all tuning in to see who would stand in their way as they charted their way back to the main championship draw.
The final two counties to be drawn were both from Ulster and it was left to McConville to confirm Monaghan’s home draw against the Orchard County. “You had one job, Oisín,” Frehill joked.
McConville, who won seven Ulster titles, a National League and an All-Ireland during his Armagh career, replied, “I might just stay down here in Dublin.”
Horan was straight in – “I’ll put you up!”
As the draw sank in, McConville was correct in calling it the tie of the second round. “A lot of teams in the semi-finals, who lost, would have wanted to avoid Monaghan.”
The Farney men had been knocked out of the Ulster SFC by Cavan, who went on to eliminate Armagh after a semi-final replay.
McConville also provided some insight, from the Armagh camp, about midfielder Jarlath Og Burns being taken to hospital after the semi-final loss to Cavan.
“[Sunday] was nothing to do with concussion,” he stated. “He was dehydrated and exhausted… I believe he’s doing fine now.”
FULL DRAW FOR QUALIFIERS ROUND 2
- Westmeath v Limerick
- Longford v Tyrone
- Antrim v Kildare
- Clare v Leitrim
- Mayo v Down
- Derry v Laois
- Offaly v Sligo
- Monaghan v Armagh
The qualifiers will be played on the weekend of the June 22/23
