Senior Footballers ready to hit the road

After playing all their championship games in Croke Park since beating Longford by two points in Pearse Park in the Leinster quarter-final in 2006, Dublin begin the defence of the Leinster and All-Ireland titles in Nowlan Park, Kilkenny this Saturday (7.0) when they take on Laois in the quarter-final.

There’s quarter-final action in Ulster too when defending champion, Monaghan host Down in Clones on Sunday (2.0)

DUBLIN v LAOIS

Laois will be having their second out in this year’s provincial campaign, having beaten Wicklow by 3-16 to 0-18 in the first round in O’Moore Park on May 14 in a game where Donie Kingston scored 1-6 for the winners.

Laois are seeking their first championship win over Dublin since 2003, which was also the last time they won the Leinster title.

Dublin have beaten them six times since then, the most recent coming two years ago. Dublin are bidding to win the Leinster title for a sixth successive year, a feat last achieved by the county in 1974-75-76-77-78-79.

Dublin’s last defeat in Leinster was in 2010 when Meath beat them in the semi-final. Since then, Dublin have won 15 successive provincial games.

Laois are attempting to reach the Leinster semi-final for the first time since 2009.

LAST FIVE CHAMPIONSHIP CLASHES

2014: Dublin 2-21 Laois 0-16 (Leinster quarter-final)

2012: Dublin 1-11 Laois 0-12 (All-Ireland quarter-final)

2011: Dublin 1-16 Laois 0-11 (Leinster quarter-final)

2007: Dublin 3-14 Laois 1-14 (Leinster final)

2006: Dublin 3-17 Laois 0-12 (Leinster semi-final)

MOST RECENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Dublin 2-21 Laois 0-16 (2014 Leinster quarter-final)

Laois led by 0-10 to 0-8 at half-time but goals by Diarmuid Connolly and Michael Darragh Macauley in the second-half helped Dublin on their way to an 11-point win.

2016 ALLIANZ LEAGUE

Dublin: Division 1 champions: Played 9, Won 9

Laois: Bottom Div 2 – relegated (Played 7, Won 1, Drew, Lost 5)

MANAGEMENT

Jim Gavin is in his fourth season as Dublin manager; Mick Lillis is in his first term as Laois boss.

DID YOU KNOW?

This will be the 33rd championship clash between the counties with Dublin leading 25-5 with two draws from their previous 32 meetings.

THE ROAD AHEAD

The winners play Meath or Louth in the Leinster semi-final on June 26; the losers will enter Round 1 of the All-Ireland qualifiers on June 18.

DOWN v MONAGHAN

Monaghan, who have won two of the last three Ulster championships, have home advantage for the start of their title defence against Down, who haven’t won the provincial crown since 1994, a year they went on to win the All-Ireland title.

Down are seeking to win their opening Ulster game for the first time since 2013 while Monaghan haven’t lost their first game in Ulster since 2011.

Down have won six of their last seven championship games against Monaghan, the most recent coming in 2012 when they won by a point in the Ulster semi-final.

LAST FIVE CHAMPIONSHIP CLASHES

2012: Down 1-14 Monaghan 1-13 (Ulster semi-final)

2007: Monaghan 2-15 Down 1-15 (Ulster quarter-final)

2003: Down 1-12 Monaghan 0-13 (Ulster quarter-final)

1996: Down 0-14 Monaghan 0-9 (Ulster quarter-final)

1994: Down 0-14 Monaghan 0-8 (Ulster quarter-final)

MOST RECENT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Down 1-14 Monaghan 1-13 (Ulster semi-final)

Monaghan led by 0-11 to 0-2 late in the first-half before a goal by Aidan Carr for Down cut the lead to six points at the break. Down were the dominant power in the second-half, which they won by 0-12 to 1-2.

MOST RECENT GAME

Monaghan 0-13 Down 0-11 (Allianz FL, Clones 7 February 2016)

Monaghan led by 0-9 to 0-6 at the interval and extended their lead to five points in the second-half before Down battled back to cut the deficit to two.

2016 ALLIANZ LEAGUE

Down: Bottom Div 1 - relegated (Played 7, Lost 7)

Monaghan: 6th Div 1 (Played 7, Won 3, Lost 4)

MANAGEMENT

Malachy O’Rourke is in his fourth season with Monaghan; Eamonn Burns is in his first with Down.

DID YOU KNOW?

Six counties - Armagh, Cavan, Derry, Donegal, Tyrone, Monaghan – have won the Ulster titles since Down were last successful in 1994,

THE ROAD AHEAD

The winners play Donegal or Fermanagh in the Ulster semi-final on June 25; the losers enter Round 1 of the qualifiers on June 25.

2016 GAA FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS

CONNACHT

May 1: Preliminary Round: Roscommon 1-15 New York 0-17, Gaelic Park.

May 22: Quarter-final: Roscommon 1-21 Leitrim 0-11, Carrick-on-Shannon.

May 29: Quarter-final: Mayo 2-16 London 0-9, Ruislip

June 12: Semi-final: Roscommon v Sligo, Dr.Hyde Park.

June 18: Semi-final: Mayo v Galway, Elverys MacHale Park.

July 10: Final

LEINSTER

May 14: First Round: Louth 2-24 Carlow 3-11, O’Moore Park; Laois 3-16 Wicklow 0-18 O’Moore Park.

May 15: First Round: Offaly 2-21 Longford 2-13, O’Connor Park, Tullamore.

May 21: Quarter-final: Kildare 0-9 Wexford 0-8, Croke Park.

June 4: Quarter-final: Dublin v Laois, Nowlan Park.

June 12: Quarter-final: Meath v Louth, Parnell Park; Westmeath v Offaly, TEG Cusack Park.

June 26: Semi-finals: Laois/Dublin v Louth/Meath; Offaly/Westmeath v Kildare, Croke Park.

July17: Final, Croke Park.

MUNSTER

May 29: Quarter-finals: Tipperary 1-15 Waterford 1-7 Fraher Field, Dungarvan; Clare 0-16 Limerick 0-13, Gaelic Grounds

June 11/12: Semi-finals: Cork v Tipperary, Semple Stadium; Kerry v Clare, Fitzgerald Stadium, Killarney

July 3: Final

ULSTER

May 15: Preliminary Round: Fermanagh 1-12 Antrim 0-9, Brewster Park.

May 22: Quarter-final: Tyrone 3-14 Derry 0-12, Celtic Park

May 29: Quarter-final: Cavan 2-16 Armagh 0-14, Kingspan Breffni Park.

June 5: Quarter-final: Monaghan v Down, Clones

June 12: Quarter-final: Donegal v Fermanagh

June 19: Semi-final: Tyrone v Cavan.

June 25: Semi-final: Down/Monaghan v Fermanagh/Donegal

July 17: Final: Clones

ALL-IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 18: Qualifiers – Round 1A

June 25: Qualifiers – Round 1B

July 2: Qualifiers – Round 2A

July 9: Qualifiers – Round 3A; 2B

July 16: Qualifiers – Round 3B

July 23: Qualifiers – Round 4A

July 30/31: Qualifiers – Round 4B

QUARTER-FINALS

July 30/31: Connacht winners Round 4A winner; Munster winners v Round 4A winner

August 6: Leinster winners v Round 4B winner; Ulster winners v Round 4B winner.

SEMI-FINALS

August 21: Connacht v Ulster, Croke Park

August 28: Leinster v Munster, Croke Park

FINAL

September 18: Final, Croke Park.