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.