The new Sam Maguire Cup format is only in its second year and it has offered up some very interesting matchups heading into the final round of matches in this year's group stage.
The format sees the winners of the four groups progress to the quarterfinals while 2nd and 3rd place in each group will play in a quarterfinal preliminary round where the winners of those bouts progress to the quarters.
This means that in the final round the matches between Derry and Westmeath, Roscommon against Cavan and Monaghan against Meath are all pseudo-knockout matches with the winners progressing to the preliminaries.
Out of those 6 teams, 5 of them has lost both of their Round Robin matches so far while Monaghan have one draw. Derry haven't won a match since their Allianz League success and they still have a chance to win the Sam Maguire Cup this year.
The prospect of having sides lose three games and still be in with the chance of winning the whole tournament is something Lee Keegan isn't impressed with. The former Mayo man has been outspoken in the past about the faults with the new format but while on the Sunday Game he made it clear that he doesn't believe that teams with such a poor record should have a chance at winning.
On those three though, it still irks me that those teams have lost three Championship matches
If you're losing three matches in Championship, your Championship should be over, that's just the reality and there's just too many lifelines for those teams.
"Three defeats in the Championship and you should be out of the Championship."
There are some "knock-out" games to come in the final round of the Round Robin but the panel still aren't convinced.
📺 Watch live on @rte2 & @rteplayer https://t.co/ZfZ9mA9XTY pic.twitter.com/IHZg5Rvd4Y
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 2, 2024
However exciting next weeks matches are for the neutrals, Keegan has a point in questioning the sporting merit of giving teams multiple lifelines. The Sam Maguire Cup is still in its teething phase so hopefully the wrinkles can be ironed out sooner rather than later.
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