WITH the inter-county season at a close, attention changes to the club championship scene that will run from now until the All-Ireland finals a week before Christmas.
As with the hurling and football championships, a selection of formats are in evidence across the counties.
In Down, Derry, Cavan and Antrim there will be round-robin group action leading into the knock-outs in September/October while Armagh and Tyrone are still straight knock-out format.
The Down senior championship gets under way this evening in the same format as in previous years. Three teams will qualify from each of two groups. The top team in each group will go through to the semi-finals, while the second and third teams in each group are involved in the quarter-finals.
In Group A, holders Liatroim are joined by Clonduff, Ballycran, Ballyholland and last year’s intermediate champions Kilcoo. Group B consists of four clubs – last year’s beaten finalists Ballygalget, 2021 champions Portaferry, An Ríocht and Mayobridge.
This evening, Ballycran are at home to Kilcoo and Liatroim host Ballyholland, while Portaferry travel to An Ríocht and Ballygalget have Mayobridge. The formbook would suggest wins for Ballycran, Liatroim, Portaferry and Ballygalget.
There are also round-robin fixtures for the Down intermediate (six teams) and junior (four teams) championships resulting in semi-final pairings at the end of September.
Derry will operate the exact same format as Down for their senior championship, with the eight teams divided into two groups of four.
Slaughtneil are chasing a 10th successive title and they have been drawn in the same group as Ballinascreen, Lavey and Glen. Last year’s beaten finalists Swatragh will face Bellaghy, Eoghan Rua and 2023 intermediate champions Newbridge.
The group games are scheduled for Friday evenings, with the opening round on Friday week, August 23.
Glen are at home to Slaughtneil and Ballinascreen to Lavey in Group B, while Group A sees Bellaghy travel to Swatragh and Newbridge host Eoghan Rua.
The quarter-finals are set for Saturday, September 14 before a three-week break to the semi-finals and then the decider on the weekend of October 19-20.
The Derry intermediate (10 teams) and junior (5) championships follow a straight knock-out format.
In Antrim, there is a slight change in the senior grade format from last year in that the top team after the round-robin stages goes straight into the final, while the teams finishing second and third will be involved in a semi-final.
There are just five teams in that championship with the first round of fixtures this Saturday.
Brídíní Óga will play Division One league champions Dunloy in Glenravel, while Ruairí Óg will host Loughgiel, who completed 10-in-a-row last October, and also claimed their sixth Ulster title.
Ballycastle have a bye, but face Brídíní Óga in round two next Wednesday.
At intermediate level, 11 teams are split into three groups that will produce four quarter-finalists and two semi-finalists. The same format is employed for the 11 teams in the junior championship.
The Cavan senior championship is fairly similar to Antrim’s except the top four from the five teams make the semi-finals on Thursday, September 26, with the final scheduled for the first weekend in October.
It is already under way with champions Crosserlough beaten 1-11 to 2-7 last week by Denn who are led by the Fitzsimons sisters. In the other first-round game, there was almost a replica scoreline with Laragh overcoming Castletara by 1-11 to 1-10.
The second round of fixtures is this evening with Denn at home to Laragh and Castletara hosting Lacken. Crosserlough will sit this one out.
There are four teams involved in both intermediate and junior, which are also run by round-robin, with just the top two in each going through to the final.
The Tyrone senior champions for quite some time have been Eglish, but last year they were taken to a replay in the final by Naomh Treasa, Dungannon. Eglish will be back in the final this year on September 29, with either Dungannon or Derrylaughan for company.
The Tyrone intermediate final is also set for September 29 with the junior decider a day earlier.
Armagh’s straight knock-out format will continue for at least another season. All-Ireland junior champions Granemore completed a three-in-a-row between 2016 and 2018 and are aiming to do so again this season.e draws for all Orchard grades will occur at the next board meeting.
