How the All-Ireland SFC Group Stage looks after two of the three rounds.
By John Harrington
The final round of group matches in the All-Ireland SFC taking place this weekend will determine which 12 teams progress to the knock-out rounds.
Of the 16 teams in the group stage, only Clare are already out of the running for the knock-out rounds.
Where teams finish on the same amount of points in their group after this weekend’s Round 3 matches, they will be ranked by the following criteria in this order.
(i) Where two teams only are involved – the outcome of the meeting of the two teams in the group
(ii) Score difference – subtracting the total scores against from the total scores for
(iii) highest total score for
(iv) highest total goals for
(v) A play-off
The four table-toppers will proceed directly to the quarter-finals, while the second-placed teams have a home match against the four third-placed teams.
The preliminary quarter-finals will take place on the weekend of June 24/25 with the four second-placed teams drawn at home against the four third-placed teams, subject to the avoidance of repeat Provincial Final pairings and, where possible, repeat pairings from Round 1.
The quarter-finals take place on July 1/2 with the the venues nominated by the CCCC, and once again the draw is subject to avoidance of repeat provincial final pairings and, where possible, repeat pairings from Round 1.
The semi-finals take place on July 15/16 based on a draw that’s subject to avoidance of repeat pairings from earlier in the championship, where possible, with the All-Ireland Football Final then being played on July 30.
There’s a lot to play for this weekend then, and here’s how the various permutations are looking in each of the four groups.
Aidan O'Shea has been a key player for Mayo during the All-Ireland SFC Group Stage.
GROUP 1
Sunday, June 18
Kerry v Louth, Laois Hire O’Moore Park, 2pm.
Mayo v Cork, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 2pm (GAAGO)
After two rounds, Mayo have four points, Kerry and Cork have two points each, and Louth are pointless.
Table-toppers Mayo can claim a direct route to the quarter-final if they defeat or draw with Cork. If Mayo beat Cork and Kerry beat Louth, then Kerry will have a home preliminary quarter-final tie, Cork will have an away preliminary quarter-final tie and Louth are eliminated from the championship.
If Cork beat Mayo, then where they and everyone else in this group ends up in the final rankings will depend on the Kerry v Louth match.
If Cork beat Mayo and Kerry beat Louth, then Cork, Mayo, and Kerry will all finish on four points each and will be ranked by scoring difference. Mayo currently have the edge there with a scoring difference of +6, though Mayo (0) and Kerry (-3) are well within reach of them.
If Mayo beat Cork and Louth beat Kerry, then Louth, Cork, and Kerry will all finish on two points and would be separated by scoring difference. Louth and Kerry are both on -3 so a win for Louth there would see them at least sit above Kerry in the table and be guaranteed of a home or away preliminary quarter-final.
In that scenario, it would all come down to the margin of victory for Mayo and Louth to determine whether Cork or Kerry would be eliminated from the championship.
Finally, if Louth beat Kerry and Cork beat Mayo, then Cork and Mayo would both have four points but Cork would be table-toppers based on the head to head rule. Louth and Kerry would both have two points but Louth would claim third spot on the head to head rule and Kerry would be out of the championship.
Stefan Campbell of Armagh is tackled by Cillian McDaid of Galway during the 2022 GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Quarter-Final match between Armagh and Galway at Croke Park, Dublin. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile
GROUP 2
Sunday, June 18
Galway v Armagh, Avant Money Pairc Sean MacDiarmada, 4pm (RTE2)
Tyrone v Westmeath, Kingspan Breffni, 4pm (GAAGO)
After two rounds, Galway have four points, Tyrone and Armagh have two points each, and Westmeath are pointless.
Table-toppers Galway can secure a home quarter-final by either drawing with or beating Armagh.
If Galway beat Armagh and Tyrone beat Westmeath, then Tyrone will have a home preliminary quarter-final tie, Armagh will have an away preliminary quarter-final tie, and Westmeath are eliminated from the championship.
If Armagh beat Galway, then where they and everyone else in this group ends up in the final rankings will depend on the Tyrone v Westmeath match.
If Armagh beat Galway and Tyrone beat Westmeath, then Galway, Armagh, and Tyrone will all finish on four points each and will be ranked by scoring difference. Galway currently have the edge there with a scoring difference of +11, with both Armagh and Tyrone currently on -1.
If Galway beat Armagh and Westmeath beat Tyrone, then Westmeath, Armagh, and Tyrone will all finish on two points and would be separated by scoring difference. Westmeath with a scoring difference of -9 have some ground to make up here.
In that scenario, it would all come down to the margin of victory for Galway over Armagh and Westmeath over Tyrone to determine whether Tyrone, Armagh, or Westmeath would be eliminated from the championship.
Finally, if Westmeath beat Tyrone and Armagh beat Galway, then Armagh and Galway would both have four points but Armagh would be table-toppers based on the head to head rule. Westmeath and Tyrone would both have two points but Westmeath would claim third spot on the head to head rule and Tyrone would be out of the championship.
Donie Smith of Roscommon, left, and teammate Diarmuid Murtagh celebrate their side's second goal during the Connacht GAA Football Senior Championship Quarter-Final match between Mayo and Roscommon at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar, Mayo. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile
GROUP 3
Sunday, June 18
Dublin v Sligo, Kingspan Breffni, 1.45pm (GAAGO)
Roscommon v Kildare, Glenisk O’Connor Park, 1.45pm (RTE2)
Roscommon and Dublin are both on three points each after two matches while Kildare and Sligo are on one point each.
Roscommon currently top the table by a single point of scoring difference above Dublin. If they beat Kildare and Dublin beat Sligo, then the home quarter-final will go to the team with the best scoring difference.
In the simplest terms, Dublin need to beat Sligo by two points more than Roscommon beat Kildare to overtake Roscommon at the top of the table. Beating Sligo by one point more than Roscommon beat Kildare might also suffice if they manage to overcome the slightly inferior scores for total (they’re two behind Roscommon) along the way.
In a scenario where Dublin beat Sligo and Roscommon beat Kildare, then scoring difference will also decide who of Sligo and Kildare have an away preliminary quarter-final and who is eliminated from the championship.
Currently Kildare (-9) sit above Sligo (-10) on scoring difference in the table, but the margin couldn’t be finer. Sligo can move above top spot if they lose to Dublin by one point less than Kildare lose to Roscommon as they have scored one more point that Kildare so would finish above them in the eventuality of both teams finishing with the same scoring difference.
So, put simply, if both Kildare and Sligo lose this weekend, whichever team loses by more is out of the championship and the other team has an away preliminary quarter-final.
If Dublin beat Sligo and Kildare beat Roscommon, then Dublin top the table, Kildare finish second above Roscommon on the head to head rule and have a home preliminary quarter-final, Roscommon finish third and have an away preliminary quarter-final, and Sligo are out of the championship.
If Sligo beat Dublin and Roscommon beat Kildare, then Roscommon top the table, Sligo finish second above Dublin on the head to head rule and have a home preliminary quarter-final, Dublin finish third and have an away preliminary quarter-final, and Kildare are out of the championship.
If Sligo beat Dublin and Kildare beat Roscommon, then all four teams finish on three points and will be separated by scoring difference. In this scenario Sligo and Kildare would need to win by decent margins as currently the scoring difference stands at Roscommon (+10), Dublin (+9), Kildare (-9), and Sligo (-10).
Stephen O'Hanlon of Monaghan in action against Caolan McColgan of Donegal during the Allianz Football League Division One match between Monaghan and Donegal at St Tiernach's Park in Clones, Monaghan. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile.
GROUP 4
Saturday, June 17
Derry v Clare, Glennon Brothers Pearse Park 6pm
Monaghan v Donegal, O’Neills Healy Park, 6pm (GAAGO)
After two rounds, Monaghan and Derry are on three points each, Donegal are on two points, and Clare are pointless.
Clare are already out of the championship because the most they can finish on is two points and even if Donegal lose to Monaghan and also finish on two points they’ll still finish above Clare in the table on the head to head rule because they beat Clare in Round 1.
So, the final round of group games here will just determine which of Monaghan, Derry, and Donegal has a home quarter-final, a home preliminary quarter-final, or an away preliminary quarter-final.
Monaghan and Derry currently both have the same scoring difference (+5) but Monaghan currently sit above them in the table because they have scored three more points than them after two rounds.
So if Derry beat Clare and Monaghan beat Donegal, the margin of those victories will determine which team finishes top of the table. If they both win by the same amount, then Derry will have to over take that three-point scores for differential to jump above Monaghan in the table.
If Donegal beat Monaghan and Derry beat Clare, then Derry will finish top, Donegal will finish second, and Monaghan will finish third.
If Donegal beat Monaghan and Clare beat Derry, then Donegal will finish top, and scoring difference will determine who of Derry and Monaghan finishes second and third.
If Monaghan beat Donegal and Clare beat Derry, then Monaghan will finish top, Derry will finish second, and Donegal will finish third.
