The interesting thing about the draw for the Tailteann Cup is that it’s actually a far superior competition this time around than it was last year. For one thing, it’s a round-robin tournament rather than straight knock-out. All teams will play at least three matches – and all of them will mean something.
For another, it has three teams in it that would have been in the Sam Maguire under last year’s format – Meath, Cavan and Fermanagh. The vagaries of the qualification process for the Sam Maguire mean that Westmeath, Sligo and Clare aren’t here.
While Clare would likely be among the favourites for the Tailteann Cup if they were involved, Cavan and Fermanagh certainly make it a stronger tournament than Sligo and Westmeath would have. So we’ll see matches like Meath v Down, Cavan v Offaly, Fermanagh v Antrim. Lots of even-looking encounters, nothing guaranteed.
Group Three is almost certainly going to be the stickiest of the lot. Three Leinster teams in Longford, Wicklow and Carlow, plus a Limerick side who revived their season when running Clare so close in the Munster semi-final. Wicklow swapped places with Longford in the league – Oisín McConville’s side going up from Division Four, Paddy Christie’s passing them on the way down. But that encounter is set to be Longford’s home game. Hard to see them having any fear of Wicklow coming to town.
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The one downside of the round-robin format is that teams who get off to a bad start might be more inclined to throw their hat at the Tailteann Cup if things don’t go their way early doors. At least in the straight knock-out format that was in place last year, no team stayed in the competition any longer than they had to.
That’s not going to be the case here. A couple of defeats and the final round of games might not hold a huge amount of interest. Everyone will still have something to play for on the final day – at least mathematically. Whether that holds up emotionally could be a different story. The competition could do without too many teams getting discouraged and having to go through the motions.
Groups and fixtures
Group One – Cavan, Offaly, Laois, London
May 13th/14th: Cavan v Laois; Offaly v London
May 20th/21st: Laois v Offaly; London v Cavan
June 3rd/4th (neutral venues): Cavan v Offaly; Laois v London
Group Two – Meath, Down, Tipperary, Waterford
May 13th/14th: Meath v Tipperary; Down v Waterford
May 20th/21st: Waterford v Meath; Tipperary v Down
June 3rd/4th (neutral venues): Meath v Down; Tipperary v Waterford
Group Three – Limerick, Wicklow, Longford, Carlow
May 13th/14th: Limerick v Longford; Wicklow v Carlow
May 20th/21st:Longford v Wicklow; Carlow v Limerick
June 3rd/4th (neutral venues): Limerick v Wicklow; Longford v Carlow
Group Four – Fermanagh, Antrim, Wexford, Leitrim
May 13th/14th: Fermanagh v Wexford; Antrim v Leitrim
May 20th/21st: Wexford v Antrim; Leitrim v Fermanagh
June 3rd/4th (neutral venues): Fermanagh v Antrim; Wexford v Leitrim
