Tailteann Cup Round One
Leitrim v Antrim (Carrick-On-Shannon, Saturday, 2pm)
 
IT may not be the game any of the teams involved would prefer to be in this weekend, but the chance to build momentum and claim silverware at Croke Park will be the motivation for those beginning their  Tailteann Cup campaign.

Antrim will be on the road to Carrick-on-Shannon to face Leitrim in their opening Northern Section game and are two wins from the semi-finals that will be played at GAA headquarters.

All teams involved in this new second-tier competition would of course rather still be involved in the race for Sam Maguire and in their respective provincial final this weekend, but that wasn’t to be as all Division Three and Four teams exited their province before their final, meaning they drop back to the race for the GAA’s latest prize.

Some players have openly embraced this new competition while others have been a little dismissive, but for Antrim’s Conor Murray, the chance to represent the county and potentially win at Croke Park is all the motivation that he needs.

“We are in no position to say we aren’t going to play in a certain competition,” said the Lámh Dhearg man.

“We just want to help the county progress and as players, make things better and moving forward.

“If the Tailteann Cup is what the GAA is putting forward, then we are going to give it a go - that’s the bottom line.

“We started training in the first week of December and we had a good enough spell in the League but then things started to drop off after the Louth game.

“We just didn’t do ourselves justice against Cavan. You train all year to play football at this time of year so regardless if it’s the Tailteann Cup or the Ulster Championship, you want to perform and play well for your county and we have that chance on Saturday.”

Heading into the final straight in the League, Antrim were right in the mix for promotion, but defeat to Louth proved a fatal blow to those hopes and after being stunned by a second-half fightback by Westmeath in their final game, headed into the Ulster Championship to face Cavan.

Perhaps that loss of form was a contributing factor as to how they just didn’t get anything going in the Ulster Championship, soundly beaten by the Breffni Blues, but heading to Leitrim on Saturday gives the opportunity to bounce back and get a performance and result to turn a corner.

“The Cavan game we let ourselves down,” Murray admits.

“It’s been so long since then to play the Tailteann Cup game, but everyone is in the same boat id they los in the first round.

“We’re away to Leitrim and any time we’ve played him at home or in Carrick-on-Shannon it’s been very tight.

“They’d be in the same boat as us in that a win gets them a bit of momentum and there is the motivation to play a game at Croke Park.

“All of the teams are at the same level, have competed in their provincial Championship and have been training away, so they have a chance to go on a type of run and that’s the way it has to be looked at.

“Building towards next season and our focus will be on getting out of Division Three, so getting matches at this time of the year will hopefully let us go on a run.”

The format of the new competition with teams put into northern and southern sections raised a few eyebrows, as did New York being effectively given two byes into the last eight.

The tiered system in hurling is viewed as a success, but then there is the opportunity to get an immediate reward with the finalists in the Joe McDonagh Cup gaining entry to the All-Ireland Qualifiers in the same year.

If such a format applied to the Tailteann Cup, it may have completely silenced the detractors who view it as a repackaged Tommy Murphy Cup that deteriorated into oblivion back in 2008.

Murray believes the Tailteann Cup could prove to be a work in progress and feels the GAA will perhaps tweak some elements to land upon a format that will prove popular.

“If you get to the Joe McDonagh final you are guaranteed a place in the Liam MacCarthy, whereas whoever wins the Tailteann Cup have to wait six or seven months for the first National League game and any momentum built up will be gone as you have that long wait for a game that means something,” he notes.

“Maybe if you get a wildcard into the All-Ireland Qualifiers, it would help more. But look, it’s the first year of this and maybe they will find things after that they can do to tweak it going forward.

“There was a video there during the week confirming the winner gets into the Sam Maguire the following season and there will be money contributed to a team holiday, there will be an Allstars team and things like that

“The bottom line is you want to represent your county, but with those other things at the end, it’s more motivating than playing in the old Tommy Murphy Cup.”