Tailteann Cup quarter-finals
SATURDAY
Limerick v Laois, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 3pm
Meath v Wexford, Páirc Tailteann, 4pm
Cavan v Down, Kingspan Breffni, 5.15pm
SUNDAY
Antrim v Carlow, Corrigan Park, 1pm
ONLINE
Live blog on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app.
TV
GAAGO will be showing the clashes between Limerick and Laois and Cavan and Down, both on Saturday.
Highlights on The Saturday Game and The Sunday Game, 9.30pm, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
RADIO
Live updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Saturday and Sunday Sport.
WEATHER
Saturday: Scattered heavy showers and thunderstorms will be mixed with some sunny spells on Saturday. Some surface water flooding possible with the most intense showers, mainly over the midlands and west of the country. Highest temperatures of 18 to 23 degrees Celsius in light to moderate southerly winds.
Sunday: Sunday will be another showery day with some sunny spells. Some of the showers will be heavy once again, with the chance of thunderstorms and surface water flooding. Highest temperatures of 18 to 22 degrees in light to moderate south-easterly winds.
For more go to met.ie.
Croke Park on the horizon
At the first Tailteann Cup launch at Croke Park in 2022, a number of players present remarked that they had never had the chance to play on the famed pitch. It's one of the key selling points of the tournament, semi-finals and finals at HQ, and over the weekend four teams can start dreaming of a day out in Dublin.
Laois show their teeth
Laois’ season appeared to be hanging by a thread in their final group game with London and they required two late scores to earn a draw and avoid a group stage exit. As a result, few gave them much chance when they travelled to Enniskillen last weekend to face Fermanagh.
However, they emerged two-point winners in a feisty encounter with the Ulster side that threatened to boil over on a number of occasions.
Once such incident came at the end of the game as Laois boss Billy Sheehan and his Erne counterpart Kieran Donnelly exchanged words and a sharp handshake afterwards. Sheehan brought some tough words to the doubters afterwards too.
"We have a small travelling support, and they are brilliant," he said. "They go to all the games, and we are thrilled with them and we know the rest are just abusing us, so it is good to give a reply to that as well."
The level of that abuse may be up for debate, but it’s a very useful motivational tool for Sheehan and his coaching ticket as they aim to take another scalp on the road.
While Laois are coming through an emotive period, Limerick have been in a more relaxed mood having had last weekend off on account of topping their group.
Wins over Longford and Carlow in their first two outings meant that even their third group game against Wicklow, a seven-point loss, saw plenty of experimentation from manager Mark Fitzgerald.
Donal O’Sullivan, Jim Liston, Mike Donovan, Paul Maher and Cathal Downes are all back for this knock-out clash though.
Two divisions separated these sides during the Allianz League, but when they met in Division 3 last season the Treaty County had just a single point to spare. We could be in for another close encounter.
A Leinster derby
The performance of the preliminary quarter-finals may have been Wexford’s emphatic win over Offaly in Tullamore, avenging their narrow preliminary round loss to the same opposition in 2022, to set up a clash with fellow Leinster side Meath.
Wexford hit 1-22 last Saturday, all coming from play, and the five-point winning margin was more flattering to the Faithful County, who punched home a consolation goal in the final seconds. Model boss John Hegarty reckoned they were 15 points the better team.
Wexford may have topped their group, but they went into the preliminary quarter-final with a negative scoring difference after a win over Leitrim, draw with Fermanagh and loss to Antrim – so that scoring tally would have been most welcome.
Mark Rossiter managed only three points from play in the group stages, but he led the line superbly last week with an emphatic finish helping him to a 1-04 tally.
They may both hail from Leinster, but this is the first championship clash of the sides since 2013. Provincial meetings between the pair have been pretty rare, in fact.
Meath won that Leinster semi-final by five points. Donal Keogan and Padraic Harnan, who both started in their group win over Down a few weeks ago, were involved for the Royals that day while Wexford’s Michael Furlong, Ben Brosnan and Kevin O’Grady all featured in that provincial encounter and their win over Offaly last weekend – while a certain Lee Chin came on against the Royals in 2013.
Colm O’Rourke’s side may have ridden their luck against Down, their opponents clocking up 16 wides, but they showed great heart and desire in the final minutes to ensure they topped their group and had an extra week’s rest - Daithi McGowan and Donal Lenihan with the late scores in a 1-11 to 1-09 win.
The sight of Meath in the Tailteann Cup may still feel a bit strange, but O’Rourke has been fulsome in his praise of the competition and make no mistake, they are taking it very seriously.
Cavan aiming for Croke return
Of the eight teams left in the competition, Cavan are the only side who were involved in last year’s semi-final – Mickey Graham’s men eventually losing a thrilling final against Westmeath.
The Ulster side brought a sea of blue to Dublin for those games last year, but there has been less enthusiasm in the 2023 campaign thus far, although this is the sort of game that could spark the fans into life.
There was certainly plenty of feistiness on show when the sides clashed here in the league earlier in the year with members of both management teams picking up cards.
Cavan may have won by seven points in the end, but for long periods they found Down’s defensive shield too solid to penetrate with Miceal Rooney hitting an early Mourne goal and Raymond Galligan having to brilliantly deny Liam Kerr another moments later.
Indeed, it took the half-time introduction of James Smith to get Cavan going, but he has left the panel in recent weeks.
Down are also without a key man who can play around that midfield area as former captain Niall McParland has been ruled out through injury.
It’s a fairly simple scenario for Down. Play like they did in the first half against Longford last week, when they somehow were only three points down at the turn, and they have little chance. Play like they did in the second half and they have a really good chance.
Their recovery owed much to the introduction off the bench of Danny Magill, Ross Carr and Rory Mason – sons of All-Ireland winners Miceal, Ross and Brendan. Magill has been handed a starting berth for this one and the other two will surely feature. Ryan Johnston returns from injury and will be a real one to watch here too.
Antrim bouncing back
Antrim host Carlow in Belfast on the back of a three-game championship winning streak. The last time that happened was back in 2008 when they lifted the Tommy Murphy Cup, and there is a growing sense that the Saffrons could have a big say on the competition.
Corrigan Park has been a useful venue for their hurlers, and they’ll be hoping to turn it into a fortress for their footballers too.
Andy McEntee has brought real confidence to the side with the likes of livewire half-back Marc Jordan, goalkeeper Michael Byrne, Adam Loughran and the two Ruairi McCanns – Aghagallon's and Creggan’s - enjoying good campaigns.
Goals have been their currency with eight scored in their three games to date – Aghagallon's McCann grabbing half of those while Loughran has three.
Carlow’s run to this stage can be traced back to a late fightback against Wicklow in their first outing.
Five down with six minutes remaining, they produced a stunning finish with Jonah Dunne grabbing the winner. A narrow win over Longford in round three secured second in the group.
The reward was a preliminary quarter-final with New York and although they were huge favourites, it was only in the second half that they got away from the Americans.
In the first half, there was acres of space in the defence and they were caught out on a number of occasions, but veteran Darragh Foley kept them in the hunt.
In the second half, and with the wind now favouring them, they hit their stride to win by five points. A big improvement would be needed in Belfast though to reach the last four.
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