TWO of last year's men's semi-finalists failed to make it out of the group stages this year on a dramatic opening day of the INDO Inter-Counties A championship in Killarney.
Both Carlow and Roscommon will now play in the shield event tomorrow after they were edged out on a highly competitive day of action across all five groups.
They will be joined by another seeded team, Monaghan, after they too just missed out on a spot in the last 16 of the main cup competition.
It was Leitrim who pulled off one of the coups of the day, as they went into their final group game against Laois needing nine points to advance past Carlow.
They went on to win that game 10-3 and set up a last 16 clash tomorrow with Group 3 winners Limerick.
In Group 1, reigning champions Donegal were the standout performers as they picked up an incredible 43 points across their four games, losing just nine games of 52 in total. They will now play Sligo on the last 16.
They have been joined in the last 16 by Mayo and Clare, while Dublin, Waterford, Galway and Sligo are also into the knockout stages from Group 2.
Dublin will now play Kilkenny in the knockout stages, while Waterford have been pitted against fellow Munster side Kerry.
In Group 3, winners Limerick have been joined by Kerry and Meath in the last 16, with the Royal county men now playing Group 4 table toppers Louth in their last 16 clash.
Group 5 was also hotly contested, with just a point separating winners Offaly from Cork, while Kilkenny finished equal on points with Monaghan, but took the last qualifying spot by virtue of the fact they had beaten them 7-6 in their head-to-head game.
Cork will now play Galway in the last 16, while Offaly will take on Clare.
Meanwhile, in the ladies competition, Dublin are looking strong after topping Group 1 ahead of Cork and Mayo, with Laois, Carlow and Limerick also winning their groups.
All counties will be back in action tomorrow when both the cup and shield competitions will be do-or-die knockout ties.
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