With or without us the 2010 championship goes on and just 16 counties left. Despite some new challengers emerging at provincial level the last 16 in the All Ireland series is not that much different to last year ... but Connacht representation at this stage of the competition is down on last year and Connachts loss is Leinsters gain ...
Comparing the last 16 of 2010 with the same stage in 2009 shows that 12 (75%) of the teams are the same. This is a curious fact seeing as in both Connacht and Leinster provincial championships none of 4 counties that contested last years final made it to the 2010 final. Indeed only 3 counties in all 4 provinces have got to the their respective finals in both 2009 ansd 2010. Who are they? Interestingly Limerick in Munster and in Ulster, which is renowned as the most difficult from one year to the next, both Tyrone and Monaghan are back for a repeat of the 2009 final.
| 2009 and 2010 | 2009 | 2010 |
| Cork | Donegal | Armagh |
| Derry | Mayo | Louth |
| Down | Galway | Offaly |
| Dublin | Wicklow | Wexford |
| Kerry | ||
| Kildare | ||
| Limerick | ||
| Meath | ||
| Monaghan | ||
| Roscommon | ||
| Sligo | ||
| Tyrone | ||
| Provincial Representation | ||
| 2009 | 2010 | |
| Ulster 5 | Leinster 6 | |
| Leinster 4 | Ulster 5 | |
| Connacht 4 | Munster 3 | |
| Munster 3 | Connacht 2 | |
| League Representation | ||
| 2010 | ||
| Div1 : 6 Cork, Dublin, Derry(r), Kerry, Tyrone(r), Monaghan | ||
| Div2 : 4 Down(p), Armagh(p), Meath, Kildare | ||
| Div3 : 5 Sligo(p), Wexford, Louth, Offaly, Roscommon(r) | ||
| Div4 : 1 Limerick(p) | ||
Looking at the last 16 ....out from 2009 are Mayo, Galway, Donegal and Wicklow and their spots in 2010 have been taken by Armagh, Louth, Wexford and Offaly.
This changing of the guard means the provincial mix looks a little bit different.
In 2009 Ulster had 5 counties still in the last 16, Connacht and Leinster had 4 and Munster had 3.
In 2010 Ulster and Munster is unchanged with 5 and 3 respectively but Leinster have top representation with 6 counties still left while Connacht has just 2.
It's always interesting to look at how meaningful league positions are when it comes to the championship. Not surprisingly Division 1 is well represented with 6 of the 8 teams in the last 16. Not wanting to rub it in but Mayo and Galway are the exceptions while the 2 relegated teams (Derry and Tyrone) are still in the shake-up. From Div 2 there are 4 teams including the 2 teams promoted to Div 1 next year, Down and Armagh. Division 3 is well represented and has certainly boxed above its weight with 5 teams still left, while the sole team from Div 4 is Limerick who won promotion.
Next weekend we have R3 Qualifiers and another 4 will exit from:
Dublin v Armagh
Wexford v Cork
Derry v Kildare
Offaly v Down
And, just for the record, in 2009 Down, Derry, Sligo and Roscommon exited at this stage.