Derby delight for Leitrim as Tailteann Cup sees Green & Gold face Longford, Kildare and Waterford

Leitrim footballers will open their 2024 Tailteann Cup campaign by hosting Waterford on the weekend of May 11-12, after the draws were made live on GAA.ie on Tuesday afternoon but the big game is a mouth-watering derby against neighbours Longford.

Andy Moran's side have been drawn against fallen Leinster giants Kildare who lost to Louth in their provincial semi-final last Sunday but it is  the clash with a Longford side who beat Leitrim in the League that will attract the most attention.

As second seeds, Leitrim will host Waterford in the opening round of the Tailteann Cup on the weekend of May 11-12, the venue yet to be fixed with Avant Money Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada out of action. Given the likelihood of a small crowd, that game could possibly be held in Ballinamore.

Andy Moran’s side will then be on the road to Glennon Brothers Pearse Park a week later, May 18-19, for a clash with Longford and in the final clash at a neutral venue, Leitrim  will take on Kildare over the June Bank Holiday weekend.

Leitrim defeated Waterford 2-17 to 1-5 in the opening round of this year’s Allianz NFL Division 4 in Fraher Field Dungarvan but the Deise footballers since shocked Tipperary 2-7 to 1-5 to record their first Munster SFC win since 2010 and their first over the Premier County since 1988 before going on to suffer a heavy 2-20 to 1-9 defeat at the hands of Clare in the semi-final.

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Longford beat Leitrim 1-16 to 0-13 in the third last Allianz NFL Division 4 clash this year but they went down to a 3-19 to 3-12 defeat at the hands of 2023 Tailteann Cup winners Meath.

Kildare, who were relegated from Division 2, missed out on their chance to qualify for the All-Ireland series when they lost 0-17 to 0-13 to Louth last Sunday having already defeated 0-16 to 1-12 in the Quarter-Finals.

The top team from each group qualifies for the quarter-finals with the second placed teams taking on the three best third placed teams along with New York in a preliminary quarter-final, with the second placed team enjoying home advantage.

Leitrim manager Andy Moran wants to see his side reach the semi-final stages which are being held in Croke Park but speaking after the Connacht U20 Shield Final last Saturday, he stressed that the Tailteann Cup was  about developing players for next year’s Allianz NFL Division 3 campaign: “The aim of the Tailteann Cup was always to get ourselves to Croke Park. If we get ourselves to Croke Park twice in the same year, it would be amazing. 

“The Tailteann Cup has to be about development for Leitrim, it can show young fellas this is what the pace of Senior inter-county football is about - then I have more of a chance of getting them into the gym in July, August, September, October and November and have them ready for the following January.” 

Looking back at last year’s campaign, Moran stressed what Leitrim had taken from the campaign despite three losses: “Last year in the Tailteann Cup, we really pushed Barry to midfield even though we used to talk after the games and say he probably wasn’t ready for midfield but it was getting him ready for Division 4 and Senior Inter-county league this year and I think that worked brilliantly.

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“We played Nevin O’Donnell in goals and again Nevin had a super campaign and brought us to Division 3. Now it is about getting lads right and ready to play Division 3 football in 2025 and can we get ourselves competitive in the Tailteann Cup and prove to ourselves next year that we can go up and stay in Division 3.”

The full Tailteann Cup and Sam Maguire draws are as follows:

TAILTEANN CUP

• Group 1: 1. Kildare, 2. Leitrim, 3. Longford, 4. Waterford
• Group 2: 1. Sligo, 2. Antrim, 3. Wexford, 4. Tipperary
• Group 3: 1. Fermanagh, 2. Laois, 3. Wicklow, 4. Carlow
• Group 4: 1. Down, 2. Offaly, 3. Limerick, 4. London

ALL-IRELAND

• Group 1: 1. Connacht winner (Mayo or Galway), 2. Ulster runner-up (Armagh or Donegal), 3. Derry, 4. Westmeath
• Group 2: 1. Leinster winner (Dublin or Louth), 2. Connacht runner-up (Mayo or Galway), 3. Roscommon, 4. Cavan
• Group 3: 1. Ulster winner (Armagh or Donegal). 2. Munster runner-up (Kerry or Clare), 3. Tyrone, 4. Cork
• Group 4: 1. Munster winner (Kerry or Clare), 2. Leinster runner-up (Dublin or Louth), 3. Monaghan, 4. Meath