And one mini-upset.
Before the championship, Roscommon boss John Evans was very bullish about his side’s potential. After winning promotion to Division One, he said the target was to challenge for an All-Ireland title in the next few years.
He may want to revise that expectation after today. His side led Fermanagh by five points at half time of their round three qualifier but Pete McGrath’s men roared back to pip Roscommon by a point, 1-14 to 0-16 in a big upset.
Evans angrily rebuked Newstalk’s Colm Parkinson last weekend for bringing up his earlier comments and he will no doubt be reminded of his excessive hubris in the aftermath of today’s loss.
It was also a disastrous day for Kieran McGeeney, as his Armagh side were beaten at home by Galway by 1-12 to 0-12 in their round two qualifier clash. McGeeney came into the campaign with high expectations after the Orchard County reached the All-Ireland quarter-final last year but he will have a long year of planning to get Armagh ready for next year.
So today’s results mean that Kildare and Fermanagh are into round four of the qualifiers while Tipperary, Tyrone, Galway and Derry will play each other to join them. We could end up with Kildare, Fermanagh, Sligo and Westmeath playing each other for two places in the All-Ireland quarter-finals, which would be surprising considering their pre-season expectations.
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