The opening weekend of group stage action in the Tailteann Cup is upon us, with the opening round set to bring action and excitement over the weekend.
Cavan v Laois, Saturday May 13th, Kingspan Breffni, 4pm
Having suffered defeat in last year’s Tailteann Cup Final to Westmeath, Cavan will be one of the early favourites to contest the decider in its second season.
Winning the Division 3 Allianz Football League Final, has them in good form ahead of this opening tie, they were knocked out of Ulster at the quarter final stage, but will look for a better performance in this competition.
Coming off the back of a 27 point hammering to Dublin in the Leinster Senior Football Championship, Laois will hope to put in a good showing in this competition after a league campaign that saw them just miss out on promotion to Div 3 by the barest of margins.
Limerick v Longford, Saturday May 13th, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 6pm
Both Limerick and Longford suffered relegation in the league after disappointing campaigns, so this game will be a good indicator of how they will fare in this competition.
Relegation from Division 2 of the Allianz Football League was tough on Limerick after a fairytale season last year, they tested Clare in the Munster Senior Football Championship semi-final three weeks ago, they can be tough for sides to beat them and must show that this weekend.
Longford too had a disappointing League campaign, suffering relegation from Division 3 they now are in the bottom tier for next season, they have shown in their last games they can show up and play well, notably against Offaly in the first round of the Leinster Championship, losing by only one point.
Down v Waterford, Saturday May 13th, Pairc Esler, 6pm
Down will look for an opening round win against a struggling Waterford side, as they aim to continue a spell of decent form this season.
Just missing out on promotion from Division 3 of the League, in Ulster they showed their class beating Donegal in the Quarter-Final, but fell to a ten point margin to Armagh in final four, they need a better defensive shape after letting four goals past them in that defeat to Armagh.
Waterford are out to produce a major shock if they can grind a positive outcome from this tie, against a side of the calibre of Down. Form for them is not the best however, winning just one of their seven encounters in Division 4, they came up short in the Munster quarter-final against Tipperary, despite really testing them.
Meath v Tipperary, Saturday May 13th, Pairc Tailteann, 6.30pm
Meath are the highest ranked team in this year’s Tailteann Cup based on League standings, but are looking for a strong result here as they have had many questions asked of them this year.
They had some disappointing and one sided results in the league campaign, finishing sixth in the finish up, that form then transferred to Lesinster, where Offaly dumped them out at the quarter-final stage, for their Tailteann Cup campaign they need to show how good they are.
Like their hosts, Tipperary have also struggled this year, relegated from Division 3 of the League, they then had to suffer a 20-point defeat to Kerry in the Munster semi-final, not quite convincing against Waterford also, the loss of injured captain Conor Sweeney has their cutting edge attack being rather blunt this season, that needs to change soon if they are to be a force here.
Fermanagh v Wexford, Sunday May 14th, Brewster Park, 1pm
Fermanagh have to be considered as one of the Tailteann Cup favourites this year, they had a terrific league campaign promoted from Div 3 and now look to get more silverware in this competition.
It has not been smooth sailing however for them, having fallen to a six point defeat to Cavan in the Division 3 League Final and then a 12 point loss against Derry in the Ulster Quarter-Final, as them really out of form ahead of this opening group game.
Wexford missed out on promotion to Div 3 this year but showed during that campaign that they can be tricky customers to deal with, a four point loss to Laois saw them exit stage left in round one of Leinster, they are out to cause a few surprises.
Antrim v Leitrim, Sunday May 14th, Corrigan Park, 1pm
Antrim will look to start off on the strong foot for their Tailteann campaign, but Leitrim will look to upset the applecart if they can put in the right performance.
In their Div 3 League campaign Antrim, just about hung on in the end to preserve their status, they produced some decent displays but were also hammered by 31 points against Westmeath and also lost to relegated Longford by five. Well beaten too by Armagh in the Ulster prelim stages, has the Saffrons needing a performance here.
Leitrim will be out to avenge a disappointing exit on penalties to New York in the Connacht Championship, as they head to Belfast. An overall decent league campaign, but they failed to push for promotion finishing fifth, they have a point to prove in the Tailteann.
Offaly v London, Sunday May 14th, Glenisk O’Connor Park, 2pm
Offaly will look to build on their earlier season campaigns as they face a winless London in Tullamore.
Offaly finished fifth in their League campaign in Division 3 but showed they can compete and were fighting for promotion, wins over Longford and Meath had them contesting the Leinster semi-final, where they were edged out by Louth in the semi-final after extra-time, they will be another solid contender in this competition.
London travel over the Irish sea, with a form guide that makes for some choppy waters, failing to win a game in Division 4 of the Allianz Football League, in Connacht they were well-beaten by Sligo in the Quarter-Final, a shock would be on the cards if they got a result here.
Wicklow v Carlow, Sunday May 14th Aughrim, 4pm
A rematch of their preliminary round of the Leinster Football Championship five weeks ago, Wicklow aim to go two from two.
Wicklow have been a solid performer this season, promotion from Division was a great achievement by them to set their season off to a god start, they followed it up by edging Carlow 2-12 to 0-10 just week’s ago, defeat followed to Kildare, but they are out to to be a solid pick in this years competition.
Carlow are struggling this year, finishing sixth in Div 4, they edged the likes of Waterford, just about and London, drawing with Wicklow, they of course fell to them in Leinster, in this repeat fixture for the third time of asking, it is hard to see them getting a result away from home.
Diarmuid Kearney
Diarmuid Kearney is a freelance Sports Journalist based in Co Kerry. He has more than 5 years experience covering domestic and international soccer for different media organisations, while also working for local and national print and digital organisations covering GAA.