Fresh from their heavy defeat in yesterday's Guinness Munster hurling final, Waterford have been drawn against Galway in next week's All-Ireland quarter-finals at Croke Park. Leinster finalists Offaly will play Antrim for the first time in the championship since Antrim's famous victory in the 1989 All-Ireland semi-final.
It is a demanding turn of events for Waterford, who now face a third successive Sunday of intense inter-county activity after the drawn and replayed final against Clare over the past fortnight.
Injured full back Sean Cullinane must be doubtful after missing yesterday's match because he pulled his hamstring in the drawn match. Michael White, who was sent off yesterday, automatically misses next week's match.
The winners of the Galway versus Waterford quarter-final will play Leinster champions Kilkenny on August 16th; Clare will take on the winners of Antrim and Offaly a week earlier.
All Star full back Brian Lohan will await news of his suspension from this week's Munster Council to see if he will be available to play after his sending-off yesterday.
Although the rains drowned out chances of another Waterford celebration, the 25,000 spectators who were enthralled by a tense Connacht football final at Tuam Stadium yesterday can go through it all over again, as Galway and Roscommon ended up on level terms.
The final scoreline of 0-11 apiece will create plenty of talking points, not least Galway's 17 wides, which ultimately destroyed their chances.
Roscommon will ponder some of the refereeing decisions that left them open for the draw. Gary Fahy was given a free, although he appeared to have earlier lifted the ball from the ground, and Galway quickly moved the ball the length of the field to fire over the final point of the match.
The replay takes place on Saturday week, August 1st, at Hyde Park. Galway will be taking every minute of the lead-up to work on their accuracy.
For a while it looked as if Laois could pull off a surprise at Croke Park yesterday, but it was Kildare who took command in the closing stages to book their place in the Leinster final.
Two goals in the second half left the scoreline 2-13 to 0-8, but few will have come away from this encounter in any way convinced about Kildare going any further. They struggled against a courageous Laois and showed more ambition than achievement. Kildare's performance certainly won't worry Meath unduly.
Laois manager Michael Dempsey was trying to think long-term after the loss. "We are disappointed with the way we played but this is a team that is building for the future and we believe our day will come," he said.
It was a sad day for Donegal at St Tiernach's Park in Clones when Derry handed them a 1-7 to 0-8 defeat in the Ulster football final. Steady rain made it a rather dull affair, but Derry continue to move ominously through the championship.
"We lost a classic last year, but this was a big game for us," said Derry's Gary Coleman, "maybe a draw would have been fairer to Donegal but we took the break."
