In attendance at the launch of the Tailteann Cup at Croke Park in Dublin is Uachtarán Chumann Lúthchleas Gael Jarlath Burns, centre, with back row from left, Sean O’Connor of Tipperary, Tighe Barry of London, Callum Bolton of Kildare, Ronan Wallace of Westmeath, Killian Roche of Laois, Mark Diffley of Leitrim, Dean Healy of Wicklow and Dermot McAleese of Antrim. Along with front row, from front to back, Cillian Fahy of Limerick, Paddy Fox of Longford, Niall Murphy of Sligo, Conor Murray of Waterford, Mikey Bambrick of Carlow, Lee Pearson of Offaly and Declan McCusker of Fermanagh. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile.
Tailteann Cup Round 1
Saturday, May 10
Wexford v Longford, Chadwicks Wexford Park, 6.30pm
Wexford started the season very positively with seven wins in a row to gain promotion from Division 4 of the Allianz Football League.
But they then lost the Division 4 Final to Limerick and were well-beaten by Laois in the first round of the Leinster SFC so it’ll be interesting to see if they can regain that lost momentum in the Tailteann Cup.
They beat Longford by 11 points when the two teams clash in the League and will go into this game as warm favourites.
WEXFORD: Darragh Brooks; Michael Furlon, Gavin Sheehan, Liam O’Connor; Eoin Porter, Eoghan Nolan, Martin O’Connor; Liam Coleman, Niall Hughes; Páiric Hughes, Shane Pettit, Mark Rossiter; Kevin O’Grady, Tom Byrne, Robbie Brooks. Subs: Colum Feeney, Sean Barden, Philip Dempsey, Dylan Furlong, Ruairi Martin, Cathal Walsh, Conor Carty, Michael Kinsella, Jack Higgins, Sean Nolan, Ben Brosnan.
LONGFORD: Paddy Collum; Patrick Fox, Oisín O’Toole, Bryan Masterson; Iarla O’Sullivan, Ryan Moffett, Cian Brady; Dessie Reynolds, Dáire Duggan; Jayson Matthews, Matthew Carey, Dylan Farrell; Aaron Farrell, Cathal McCabe, Oran Kenny. Subs: Mícheál Hughes, James Moran, Darragh Finlass, Caolán Lynch, Fionn Hourican, Sean Morgan, Keelin McGann, Harry Kiernan, Paddy Moran, Jamie Brady Hynes, Diarmuid Farrell.
Kildare v Leitrim, Cedral St Conleth's Park, 5pm
When these two teams met in the League it was Kildare who came out on top by a whopping 23 points.
Leitrim have gotten some players back from injuries since then and produced a creditable performance against Mayo in the Connacht SFC, but another Lilywhites victory still looks likely here.
KILDARE: Cian Burke; Harry O'Neill, Mark Dempsey, Ryan Burke; Jack McKevitt, David Hyland, James McGrath; Kevin Feely, Mick O'Grady; Darragh Swords, Alex Beirne, Paddy McDermott; Ryan Sinkey, Darragh Kirwan, Jimmy Hyland. Subs: Didier Cordonnier, Niall O'Sullivan, Brian Byrne, Ryan Houlihan, Kevin Flynn, Brendan Gibbons, Aaron Masterson, Rian Teahan, Ben McCormack, Brian McLoughlin, Niall Kelly.
LEITRIM: Daire O'Shea; Eanna McNamara, Donal Casey, Kieran Clancy; James Rooney, Mark Diffley, Jack Foley, Barry McNulty, Cillian McGloin; Jack Flynn, Keith Keegan, Tom Prior; Ben Guckian, Riordan O'Rourke, Darren Cox. Subs: Stephen McPartland, Ryan Bohan, Shane Finn, Tom Hughes, David Feeney, Joe McGloin, Sean Harkin, Conor Quinn, Evan Harkin, Eoin McLoughlin, Adam Reynolds
Laois v Waterford, Laois Hire O'Moore Park, 3pm
Laois performed well in the Leinster Championship, beating Wexford by 10 points and then losing to finalists Louth by just two points in the quarter-final.
The Midlanders are a well-organised team under Justin McNulty with decent firepower in attack and should have too much for a Waterford team that has won just one game in their last eight.
LAOIS: Killian Roche; Ben Dempsey, Trevor Collins, Liam Knowles, Patrick O’Sullivan, Seamus Lacey, Fionn Holland; Conor Heffernan, Damon Larkin; Niall Corbett, Brian Byrne, Kevin Swayne; Mark Barry, Cathal Lee, Ronan Coffey. Subs: Conor Brown, Ryan Brady, John Brennan, Jake Darcy, Michael Doran, Shaun Fitzpatrick, Pa Kirwan, Aaron McEvoy, Seán O’Neill, Jack Lennon, Jonah Kelly
WATERFORD: Paudie Hunt; Liam Fennell, Darach Ó Cathasaigh, Billy Hynes; Caoimhín Walsh, Brian Everard, William Beresford; Tholom Guiry, Rory Furlon; Michael O’Brien, James Power, Conor Murray; Alan Dunwoody, Ciaran Walsh, Jason Curry. Subs: Aaron Beresford, Dermot Ryan, Adam Crawford, Conor Ó Cuirrín, Donie Fitzgerald Dylan Guiry, Tommy Martin, Joe Booth, Larry Walsh, Ciaran Looney, Stephen Curry.
Dean Healy of Wicklow, left, and Lee Pearson of Offaly, pictured with the Tailteann Cup at the launch of the Tailteann Cup at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile.
Offaly v Wicklow, Glenisk O'Connor Park, 1.30pm
Offaly come into the competition as one of the favourites on the strength of winning Division 3 of the Allianz Football League and running Meath close in the Leinster quarter-final.
Wicklow will be no pushovers, though. They followed a decent League campaign with victory over Longford in Leinster and were competitive in the provincial quarter-final against Dublin.
Offaly have that bit more quality, but they’ll have to work hard for the win.
OFFALY: Paddy Dunican; Lee Pearson, David Dempsey, Daire McDaid; Diarmuid Egan, John Furlon, Cormac Egan; Jack McEvoy, Jordan Hayes; Kyle Higgins, Cathal Flynn, Keith O’Neill; Dylan Hyland, Jack Bryan, Shane Tierney. Subs: Sean O’Toole, Cillian Bourke, Marcus Dalton, Cathal Donoghue, Rory Egan, Aaron Kellaghan, Oisin Keenan-Martin, Aron Leavy, Ruairi McNamee, Shane O’Toole Green, Morgan Tynan.
WICKLOW: Mark Jackson; Tom Moran, Matt Nolan, Malachy Stone; Joe Prendergast, Patrick O’Keane, Darragh Fee; Dean Healy, Padraig O’Toole; John Paul Nolan, Eoin Darcy, Christopher O’Brien; Oisin McGraynor, Kevin Quinn, Mark Kenny. Subs: Cathal Fitzgerald, Jacques McCall, Jack Kirwan, Gavin Fogarty, Cathal Baker, Conor Fee, Liam O’Neill, Adam Arslan, Paidi Kavanagh, Cian Deering, Brian Bohan.
Limerick v London, Rathkeale, 1pm
Limerick showed some quality when winning Division 4 of the Allianz Football League and are a nicely balanced team from back to front.
When they played London in the League they triumphed by five points, but this game isn’t a formality.
London are prone to inconsistency but on their day they can be tricky opponents and they’ll put up a stiff challenge here.
LIMERICK: Josh Ryan; Jason Hassett, Darren O’Doherty, Colm McSweeney, Mark McCarthy, Iain Corbett, Tadgh Ó Siochru; Tommy Childs, Darragh O’Hagan; Paul Maher, Emmett Rigter, Cillian Fahy; Danny Neville, James Naughton, Peter Nash. Subs: Jeffrey Alfred, Fiachra Cotter, Barry Coleman, Killian Ryan, Diarmuid Buckley, Sean Clancy, Darragh Murray, Rory O’Brien, Andrew Meade, Rob Childs, David O’Shaugnessy.
LONDON: Andrew Walsh; Daire Rooney, Sean Taylor, Nathan McElwaine; Eoin Walsh, Matt Moynahan, Aidan McLoughlin; Tighe Barry, Joshua Obahor; Conor O’Donoghue, Daniel Clarke, Krisian Healy; Patrick Dolan, Sean Tucker, Ciaran Diver. Subs: Conor Doran, Conor McKelvey, Oran Hilley, Micheal O’Rielly, Ciaran McCarrick, Fiontan Eastwood, Liam Gallagher, Ruairi Rafferty, Conal Gallagher, Shay Rafter, Marc Friel.
Dermot McAleese of Antrim, left, and Ronan Wallace of Westmeath, pictured with the Tailteann Cup at the launch of the Tailteann Cup at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile.
Sunday, May 11
Westmeath v Antrim, TEG Cusack Park, 2pm - GAA+
Westmeath haven’t won a match in League or Championship this year but that bare statistic doesn’t tell the full story.
They were very competitive in Division 2 of the Allianz Football League and a tad unlucky to lose to Kildare in Leinster.
Antrim showed a lot of quality in their Ulster SFC first round clash against Armagh before fading away so both teams are capable of playing some good football.
Home advantage and the influence of quality players like Ronan Wallace, Sam McCartan, Ray Connellan, and Luke Loughlin can give Westmeath an edge.
WESTMEATH: Conor McCormack; David Giles, Sam Smyth, Jamie Gonoud; Joseph Moran, Ronan Wallace, Sam McCartan; Kevin O’Sullivan, Ray Connellan; Matthew Whittaker, Danny McCartan, Brian Cooney; Luke Loughlin, Stephen Smith, Lorcan Dolan. Subs: Kieran Martin, Daniel Scahill, Tadhg Baker, Nigel Harte, Eoghan McCabe, Robbie Forde, Liam Daly, Shane Ormsby, Jack Geoghegan, Jonathan Lynam, Fionn O’Hara.
ANTRIM: Michael Byrne; Eoghan McCabe, Eunan Walsh, Kavan Keenan; James McAuley, Dermot McAleese, Patrick Finnegan; Conor Hand, Marc Jordan; Ronan Boyle, Adam Loughran, Patrick McBride; Ryan McQuillan, Ruairi McCann, Dominic McEnhill. Subs: Luke Mulholland, Calum Higgins, Conor Stewart, Daniel McNicholl, Eunan Quinn, Fionn Nagle, James McDonnell, John Morgan, Niall Burns, Peter King, Ryan Murray.
Fermanagh v Carlow, Brewster Park, 2pm
Fermanagh must have been sickened by the manner in which they were beaten by Down in the Ulster SFC but if they can reproduce some of the impressive football they produced that day they’ll be genuine contenders for Tailteann silverware.
They have a sticky defence and two very good inside forwards in Garvan Jones and Conor Love, so if they can up their game in the middle third they’ll be a formidable force.
There are positive noises coming out of Carlow since the appointment of Joe Murphy as manager, but this will be a tough first test for them.
FERMANAGH: Sean McNally; Ché Cullen, Lee Cullen, Oisin Smyth; Shane McGullion, Declan McCusker, Fionan O’Brien; Joe McDade, Darragh McGurn; Conor McGee, Ryan Lyons, Ronan McCaffrey; Josh Largo Ellis, Garvan Jones, Conor Love. Subs: Ross Bogue, Luke Flanagan, Sean Cassidy, Diarmuid Owens, Aaron Jones, Aogan Kelm, Jack Largo Ellis, Oisin Murphy, Conal Quinn, Glenn Treacy, Diarmuid King.
CARLOW: Ben McCarron; Paddy McDonnell, Mark Furey, Colin Byrne; John Phiri, Niall Hickey, John Murphy; Kyle Nolan, Conor Doyle; Ross Dunphy, Darragh Foley, Mikey Bambrick; Conor Crowley, Kevin Murphy, Sean Murphy. Subs: Stephen Scallan, Lee Moore, Mark Mullen, Paddy Regan, Adam Burgess, Liam Brennan, Liam Gavin, Ciaran Moran, Josh Egan, Ian Atkinson, Jamie Clarke.
Sligo v Tipperary, Tubbercurry, 1.30pm
Sligo finished their League campaign strongly and gave Mayo a real scare in the Connacht SFC quarter-final so their form-line looks good coming into the Tailteann cup.
Tipperary have done well this year considering the huge turnover of players in their panel but it would still be a major surprise were they to beat one of the competition favourites here.
SLIGO: Daniel Lyons; Evan Lyons, Eddie McGuinness, Paul McNamara; Brian Cox, Nathan Mullen, Luke Towey; Paul Kilcoyne, Patrick O’Connor; Ross Doherty, David Quinn, Alan Reilly; Alan McLoughlin, Niall Murphy, Pat Spillane. Subs: Aidan Devaney, Cian Lally, Darragh Cummins, Mikey Gordon, Daire O’Boyle, Conor Johnston, Donal Conlon, Shane Deignan, Jack Lavin, Peter Laffey, Ciaran O’Dowd.
TIPPERARY: Shane Ryan; Manus McFadden, Jimmy Feehan, Jack Harney; Mark Stokes, Luke Boland, Jack O’Neill; Paudie Feehan, Kieran Costello; Michéal Freaney, Mikey O’Shea, Steven O’Brien; Cian Smith, Darragh Brennan, Sean O’Connor. Subs: Robbie McGrath, Michael Barlow, Ben Comerford, Conor Fahey, Daithi Hogan, Jason Madigan, Emmet Moloney, James Morris, Jack Nevin, Eoin O’Connell, Mark Russell.