"We are going to win the All-Ireland this year."
"They have a dreadful centre forward (Niall McCarthy) but he got away with it last time because Tipp have a dreadful centre back (Declan Fanning)."
"They had to recall a man that was finished (Brian Corcoran), but he will be finished after Sunday."
- Dinny Cahill, 2004
When Antrim's Joe McDonagh Cup final win over Kerry on Sunday confirmed an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final with Cork, it sparked memories of one of the most memorable manager interviews ever as Saffron manager Dinny Cahill let loose ahead of their 2004 All-Ireland quarter-final with the Rebels.
Full-time: Cork 2-26 Antrim 0-10 and McCarthy and Corcoran would end the campaign with All-Star awards to accompany their All-Ireland medals.
As one journalist put it, Cahill seemed to be temporarily possessed by the spirit of Don King as he left tape recorders billowing with smoke on the Tuesday before the Croke Park fixture.
A lot has changed since that day. The Ulster Championship – last played in 2017 - is no longer linked to the All-Ireland series for one.
That means that Ulster heavyweights Antrim must find different ways to reach the Liam MacCarthy race and they did so at the weekend against the Kingdom - setting up a Cork clash that inevitably would lead to flashbacks of that game 18 years ago.
"It’s one we’d probably try and forget as much as we can," said Karl McKeegan, who wore number six for Antrim that day, said with a laugh.
"Unfortunately with the circumstances at that time, it’ll probably never be forgotten.
"We had two great performances in '02 and ‘03 against Tipperary and Wexford. We had trained well and it was very, very disappointing the way it ended, to get that tanking. There probably was that motivation there that Dinny gave them.
"At the time whenever he came out if it, we backed him, you stuck by your manager. He’d done great work with us and I’d total respect for Dinny. He’s a brilliant, brilliant man and a brilliant manager.
"He believed in us and we believed in him and he thought it could maybe work the other way but unfortunately Cork were just too good and had too many heads there who knew how it all works. That extra bit of motivation, not that they needed it, pushed them to really give us a tanking."
McKeegan also featured in the last championship meeting between the sides back in 2010, just over a century after their first clash in 1906.
"It just shows the standard of forward play that we have"
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 4, 2022
Antrim's Man of the Match Conal Cunning reacts after their Joe McDonagh Cup final win #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/DgQxAQoX9T
He scored a point in a more competitive affair. Midway through the second half, Neil McManus’ close-range free went past goalkeeper Dónal Óg Cusack but was batted off the line by Tom Kenny. That would have brought them to within four points.
"Dinny came back in in 2009 and he started to build it up again," McKeegan said.
"We took that great scalp down against Dublin in Croke Park and we had Cork the next day. We hurled them really well that day and I still think we could have beat them."
Eight times the counties have met in the championship and the Rebels enjoy a 100% record.
One of those previous games was the first and, to date, only All-Ireland final meeting between the counties when Cork sauntered to a 5-16 to 0-04 win at Croke Park in 1943.
That final was particularly disappointing as the Ulster side had dumped out Kilkenny and Galway to get there. Those two victories were secured on a sloping Corrigan Park and while the field has been levelled out in the years since, the Rebels must be wary of the Belfast factor.
Cushendall man McKeegan is hoping that the Corrigan factor can add something special to the mix – but he expects full respect from the Munster side.
"It’s good to see the boys doing well at the minute and winning the Joe McDonagh. It’s a good boost.
"They’re probably in the same position as myself when I won a Christy Ring, I didn’t really want to win a Christy Ring, I wanted to go on and do better things.
"The way they have been performing at Corrigan, it’s a great set up. It gives you a wee bit of a championship buzz. Something that’s been missing since we’ve been taken away from Casement.
"For it to be closed since 2008 is brutal, absolutely brutal. Some players have missed out on the best days of their lives, I had some magic days at Casement for the county and club.
"Antrim have come off a good campaign and they come in off a win. I’m sure they celebrated and had a few pints but for them to get up to this next level is going to take a bit of going.
"Everyone was writing Cork off but they’ve just gotten better the last couple of games. They’ll not take Antrim lightly, you’ll not get them on the hop.
"They’ll know they’re coming up for a battle, they’ll see some of the league results Antrim have got up in Corrigan this last few years."
