Quarter-final draw sees Monaghan face Dublin while Tyrone take on Armagh
Tuesday 1 August 2017 22:05, UK
Defending All-Ireland champions Dublin will face Monaghan in the quarter-final next Saturday at 6pm while old rivals Tyrone and Armagh will face either other at 4pm as part of the double-header in Croke Park, with both games live on Sky Sports.
Champions Dublin will be looking to make it eight semi-finals in a row. They again strolled through Leinster with easy wins over Carlow and a 31-point win over Westmeath before defeating Kildare by nine points in the Leinster final.
It was their seventh Leinster title in-a-row and they will have had three weeks off before facing the Ulster side.
Monaghan had to take the scenic route to get to the quarter-finals. Down shocked Monaghan to reach the Ulster final for the first time in five years with a dramatic 1-14 to 0-15 victory in the semi-final.
They regrouped and had to travel down to Wexford but won on a scoreline of 3-23 to 1-11. In round three, they faced Leinster opponents again and had five points to spare over Carlow, winning 1-12 to 1-07 in Carlow.
They then got revenge on Down in Croke Park in the fourth round, winning comfortably on a scoreline of 1-24 to 1-16.
Monaghan last played Dublin in the championship in 2014, losing 2-22 to 0-11 at the quarter-final stage. Conor McManus got 0-06 that day and Sky Sports' Dick Clerkin contributed 0-02.
The Farney County have qualified for three All-Ireland quarter-finals over the last five seasons but have lost all three, Tyrone in 2013, Dublin in 2014 and then losing to Tyrone again in 2015 .
This season, Mickey Harte's Tyrone claimed back-to-back Ulster titles with victories over Derry, Donegal and Down. Their 2-17 to 0-15 win over Down sealed their 15th Ulster title and first back-to-back provincial win since the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
Armagh suffered an Ulster exit at the hands of Down in the quarter-finals. Kieran McGeeney's side lost 0-15 to 2-07. Since then it has been a roller-coaster of a ride for the Orchard county supporters with a 0-20 to 0-11 win over Fermanagh in the first round of the qualifiers.
They then followed this up with a scrappy 1-12 to 1-07 win over Westmeath in Mullingar. Armagh were then drawn against 2016 surprise team Tipperary and they produced a great performance in Thurles to win out 1-17 to 1-15.
In the fourth round double header in Croke Park on Saturday, Armagh met Kildare for the first time in the championship and the game was settled by Jamie Clarke and the rest of Armagh's classy forwards, on a score of 1-17 to 0-17.
A brilliant return of 1-14 from open play underlined Armagh's form in front of goal - they only kicked six wides - while 1-8 of that tally came from the sparking full-forward line of Clarke, Andrew Murnin and Gavin McParland.
The form of Clarke and Murnin has been one of the many positives for Armagh and Tyrone will have to watch them both closely if they are to advance to the semi-final.
The draw will bring back memories of the 2003 All-Ireland final when Tyrone edged Armagh 0-12 to 0-09, with Peter Canavan scoring 0-05. It was Tyrone's first All-Ireland senior title.
The quarter-final replay between Mayo and Roscommon will be on (Irish) bank holiday Monday, August 7 with throw-in time to be confirmed.
