Tailteann Cup is just pointless, says Down ace O’Hagan

DOWN star Barry O’Hagan has dismissed the Tailteann Cup as ‘pointless.’ The Mourne County’s place in the Tier Two competition was confirmed last weekend when they lost by 10 points to Monaghan in the Ulster championship, ensuring the four-time Sam Maguire winners will not play in the AllIreland series. And O’Hagan admitted that the prospect of playing in the Tailteann Cup has left him cold. ‘I don’t care about it. I know it’s a football competition and I know the Joe McDonagh Cup works well for the hurling, but we all want to be in the All-Ireland. ‘For me, personally, I don’t know about the group, I have very little interest in it, to be honest,’ said O’Hagan, who admitted he could not see what the Tailteann Cup, limited to Division three and four teams, will offer. ‘We are going to put the shoulder to the wheel. It’s not as if we’re not going to show up and try to play. But if you ask me now would I rather win an AllIreland Senior medal of win a Tailteann Cup, I’ll let you decide that

answer. ‘We play on the 27th of May and if you get knocked out, that’s the season over. It’s the same with the back door. It’s pointless. You’d rather

be going into the back-door situation. The Tailteann Cup is one game, that’s it.

‘One match in a month’s time is no use to a team,’ added O’Hagan.

Meanwhile, the Leinster SFC semi-finals will be played as a double-header in Croke Park on Sunday week.

The Leinster Council Competition Control Committee fixed the Dublin-Meath and Kildare-Westmeath games for headquarters, despite assurances from provincial chief Pat Teehan earlier this year that the council would look at moving outside of headquarters, which also doubles as Dublin’s home ground.

Speaking in March, he said: ‘We’re looking at the strong possibility we won’t have Dublin in Croke Park for the Leinster semi-final.

‘We didn’t make a decision on it at the time of the draw because semi-final pairings won’t be known until later in the summer, but the likelihood is that we’ll consider that move.’

However, yesterday’s CCC meeting fixed the games, neither of which will be broadcast live, for Croke Park.

The decision to grant Dublin home advantage in their bid for a 12th Leinster title in a row is likely to attract criticism, not least after the provincial council delayed its semi-final draw amid fears that players in other counties would lose interest if they realised they would be on the same side of the draw as Dessie Farrell’s team.