20 July 2007 Armagh Happy To Take Long Road Share this Article 0 0 0 Shares! 0 Shares! Armagh Happy To Take Long Road Armagh fresh from an Ulster final victory over Tyrone will embark on a protracted route through the all Ireland series this weekend, four groups.. many expected to throw up some surprises will start the ball rolling and the beaten all Ireland finalists of 2006 face Kildare. A new champions league format was unveiled this year and with sixteen live games on the way on TG4 the future of the new look championship could prove to be a winner. The jury is still out though claims Armagh mentor Hayley Boyle, I am not convinced yet, it will take a while for things to settle down and for the new format to take shape, I am sure that when we get a couple of games under our belts then it might be okay, but the jurys still out Last year as Ulster champions Armagh were safely through to the knock out stages of the all Ireland series, now winning the provincial championship really only gave them the silverware and a seeded place in the groups. In Armaghs case thats Kildare, Down and Meath. Is then the future of the Ulster and other provincials under threat?, Geraldine Giles is the president of the ladies association, No, the provincial championships are vital to the association, this is a revamping of the championship and it offers teams a chance to face opponents they may not have a chance of playing and indeed a chance for some to go further than they even imagined in the past, its a new format and if it needs adjusting then we will look at that, but it is an exciting time The support of TG4 has also been a major boost, this weekend Mayo play Waterford and all Ireland champions Cork face Galway in two live Saturday games. Armagh will feature as a live game next Saturday as they face Meath while in round three its Tyrone up for the TV audience as they play Sligo, but already there could be some problems as the Tyrone men face an all Ireland quarter final on the same day. Some tweaking may yet be a necessity and a bit of co-operation by fixtures committees may certainly be needed. The feeling in some quarters is that the provincial champions should have been escorted through now to the quarter finals and in turn let the other sides battle it out for their right to face the four, thats not the case and for teams up and down the country its a matter of getting on with it. Down are indeed in with Armagh in group four, Donegal who lost to Tyrone in the Ulster championship too will face Jimmy McCloughans side again in group three. McCloughans side have had a steady build up but expect a tough outing on Sunday. Mullaghoran plays host to their meeting with Laois, Down take on Sligo at Newry and Donegal will play Sligo. Armagh boss Boyle was happy to see her side claim the Ulster title but knows the new route could prove a minefield, Whoever you play out of Ulster its always going to be difficult; I dont expect anything different now Tyrone are expected to make several changes for the trip to face Laois, McCloughan though is happy with the way things have turned out, We are going the right road, I watched the minors last week and some of the girls we have with us in the senior squad from that side impressed me, we have a couple of very experienced players back in the squad and I will make changes this weekend, we struggled at times in the Ulster final and we cant let that happen in this championship group. Its going to be hard but I think we have the measure on most of the sides in our section Share this Article 0 0