Championship update 26/08/2020 – Further detail on Repeat Pairings

In order to avoid all doubt ahead of next weekend, this note is to provide detail on the cases in which a repeat pairing may be avoided in the quarter-finals of the County Championships in 2020.
It will not be possible to avoid repeat pairings at the semi-final stage, in order to preserve the integrity of the seeding system.
Please see NEW notes in bold and underlined below in addition to the procedures circulated last week.
Qualification to semi-finals / quarter-finals

Two teams will progress from each group of four to the play-off stages. This will result in six teams qualifying for the play-off stages in most competitions*, with the two top group winners qualifying for the semi-finals and the remaining group winner and the three second -placed teams qualifying for the quarter-finals. 

Teams (1-6) will be ranked as follows on completion of the group stages:
  1. Top Group winner
  2. Second Group winner
  3. Third Group winner
  4. Top Group runner-up
  5. Second Group runner-up
  6. Third Group runner up
Quarter-finals: (a) 3v6, (b) 4v5
Semi-finals: 1 v (b), 2 v (a)
NEW: A repeat pairing is possible in the quarter finals in (a) 3v6 above. If this arises 3 will instead play 5 and 4 will play 6.
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*Modification to above (i)

In the Premier Senior Hurling and Football Championships, only the top group winner will qualify for the semi-finals, with the remaining two group winners, the three second-placed teams and the divisions / colleges winner qualifying for the three quarter-finals.

Teams (1-6) will be ranked as follows on completion of the group stages:
  1. Top Group winner
  2. Second Group winner
  3. Third Group winner
  4. Top Group runner-up
  5. Second Group runner-up
  6. Third Group runner up
Quarter-finals: (a) 2v5,  (b) 3v4,  (c) 6 v Divisions / Colleges winner
Semi-finals: 1 v (b), (a) v (c)

NEW: A repeat pairing is possible in the quarter finals in (a) 2v5 and (b) 3v4 above. If either scenario arises, then team 2 will instead play team 4, and team 3 will play team 5.

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*Modification to above (ii)
In Intermediate A Football Championship there are four groups of four, so the top two from each group will qualify for the quarter-finals, where group winners will play a group runner up from another group.
Teams (1-8) will be ranked as follows on completion of the group stages:
  1. Top Group winner
  2. Second Group winner
  3. Third Group winner
  4. Fourth Group winner
  5. Top Group runner-up
  6. Second Group runner-up
  7. Third Group runner up
  8. Fourth Group runner-up
Quarter-finals: (a) 1v8, (b) 2v7, (c) 3v6, (d) 4v5
Semi-finals: (a) v (d), (b) v (c)
 
NEW: A repeat pairing is possible in all quarter finals here. If a repeat pairing occurs, the second team in the fixture will move down to the next fixture on the list, with group winners playing group runners up in all cases. If a repeat pairing occurs in the last quarter-final (d) (i.e. 4v5), then team 3 plays team 5 and team 4 plays team 6.
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Relegation
The relegation final will be a straight play-off between the two lowest ranked teams *(in terms of points won and scoring difference) amongst the three bottom placed teams from the groups. There will be no round robin. 
*Modification to above (i)

In the Intermediate A Hurling Championship, two teams will be relegated as per the format approved last year (in “italics” below) in order to facilitate the promotion of the 2021 County Junior A winners straight to Intermediate A. Therefore, a round robin between the bottom teams in each group will be required in this case.

“At the end of 2020, one team will be relegated from the new Lower Intermediate grade (5th grade). However, the Junior A winners from 2020 will go straight to Intermediate A (4th grade) along with Lower Intermediate winner (5th grade), with two teams relegated from Intermediate A (4th grade) to Lower Intermediate (5th grade).  

*Modification to above (ii)
In Intermediate A football Championship there are four groups of four, so the relegation final will be a straight play-off between the two lowest ranked teams (in terms of points won and scoring difference) amongst the four bottom placed teams from the groups.
Placings as per Rule 6.21
Placing within groups in terms of both qualification and relegations will be determined as per general rule, follows:
  • if two teams are tied, it will be based on the head-to-head result
  • if three or more teams are tied, it will be based on scoring difference
Placing across groups will be determined by scoring difference.