No shocks on this opening weekend so far. Moral victories for Waterford yesterday and Sligo today. Cork will be relieved that Mayo fended them off. Good to see some teams put up some fight anyway when faced with elimination from All Ireland qualification. I think Clare are the only county so far who started the provincial championships outside the league qualifier spots and without the benefit of a lopsided draw but made the All Ireland. Clare beat Cork in the 2023 Munster quarter final and made an All Ireland spot available for the semi final winner of Clare v Limerick. It would have been robbery if Limerick had beaten Clare! Meath then were consigned to the Tailteann Cup. Kildare or Westmeath versus Louth in a Leinster semi final could be the most likely opportunity this year for something similar. Cork had the buffer of Kildare and Meath below them when they lost to Clare. Louth have no buffer.
Isn't it crazy that teams qualify based on Prov results elsewhere - buffer or no buffer - it's nuts !
UCL are at it too - the 5th EPL will advance because of how other English teams performed this season - even those in the Conf League helping - Chelsea running up easy pts in the latter and shouldn't even be playing at that level.