Away trip to Longford a difficult assignment for Derry

ALL-IRELAND SFC QUALIFIERS FIRST ROUND:OF THE 16 counties who went into yesterday's All-Ireland football qualifiers first-round draw, Derry are the top performers over the 11 years since the format was introduced.

During that time the county have won 16 of their 25 matches for a win percentage of 64. John Brennan’s side are also involved in what is seen as the tie of the round, the meeting with Division Three league winners Longford.

As Longford were drawn away in last year’s first round of the qualifiers, they will have home advantage for the match. The pairing is also the one that has the most history of the eight fixtures drawn yesterday on RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland.

Twice the counties have met, coincidentally both times in Longford, and they have one win each. Ten years ago Derry, All-Ireland semi-finalists a year previously, travelled to Pearse Park and emerged unscathed with a 10-point victory, 2-13 to 0-9, Anthony Tohill scoring 2-1.

In 2006, however, the home side sprang a surprise, winning by a point, with current player Brian Kavanagh kicking seven points, while Paddy Bradley, who is likely again to be on the opposing side, amassed an impressive 2-7, as Derry went down 2-12 to 1-16.

Longford have won just nine out of 19 qualifiers since 2001 for a win percentage of 47.

The third highest win percentage after Derry belongs to Westmeath, at 60, who have been successful 12 times out of 20 matches. Pat Flanagan’s team have been drawn against Louth and are another of the sides entitled to home venue. The counties met just last month in the first round of the Leinster championship and Louth won with an injury-time goal from Daniel O’Connor.

They also met in the very first year of the qualifiers in Navan 11 years ago when a Martin Flanagan goal gave Westmeath a 1-13 to 0-13 win. Two other fixtures have been played previously. In 2003 Fermanagh beat Cavan 0-16 to 1-10 in Enniskillen and in 2002 Laois travelled to Carlow and prevailed 0-18 to 0-11. The GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee will today draw up the dates and times for the fixtures.

QUALIFIER WIN PERCENTAGES

Derry 64% (16 wins, 9 loses)

Armagh 62% (8 wins, 5 loses)

Westmeath 60% (12 wins, 8 loses)

Fermanagh 55% (11 wins, 9 loses)

Laois 53% (9 wins, 8 loses)

Longford 47% (9 wins, 10 loses)

Roscommon 43% (6 wins, 8 loses)

Louth 42% (8 wins, 11 loses)

Wicklow 40% (6 wins, 9 loses)

Offaly 38% (6 wins, 10 loses)

Cavan 27% (4 wins, 11 loses)

Antrim Carlow 25% (3 wins, 9 loses)

Tipperary 23% (3 wins, 10 loses)

Waterford London 11% (1 win, 8 loses)

ROUND ONE DRAW

(Weekend June 30th/July 1st)

Laois v Carlow

Louth v Westmeath*

Roscommon v Armagh

Fermanagh* v Cavan

Offaly v Tipperary*

London v Antrim

Wicklow v Waterford

Derry v Longford*.

* Asterisked counties entitled to home draw, as they were drawn away in last year’s qualifiers round one.