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The Irish Sun

Antrim ace admits Tailteann Cup draw wasn't kind to them after signs of progress in Ulster Championship

DERMOT McALEESE is sure Antrim have been thrown into a Tailteann Cup group of death. The Saffrons are fresh off a positive Ulster Championship experience, when they They insisted on playing that game at Corrigan Park in Belfast and delivered a performance to be proud of. Throw in their Tailteann Cup semi-final appearances from 2023 and 2024 and you can see why they are being talked about as dark horses. But experienced defender McAleese says their 17-1 odds for title success are partly because of the tough group they are in. Antrim begin their campaign away to 2022 champions Westmeath on Sunday before ties against 2024 quarter-finalists Limerick and London. Read More On GAA McAleese said: 'We can't really look too far ahead, we are third seeds after all. "We have been given a tough draw — Westmeath, London and Limerick. 'We have always had tight games against those sides so we cannot take anything for granted. 'We have got to semi-finals in the last couple of years so we can draw a lot of experience and confidence from that. But the thing is, everyone starts at zero again now.' Most read in GAA Football Antrim have a well-drilled, enthusiastic group under Andy McEntee, with the likes of Marc Jordan, Paddy McBride and McAleese lending vital experience. McAleese said: 'I was only chatting to someone about it recently, we only have three or maybe four guys who are 30-plus. Owen Mulligan teases Lee Keegan over hilarious contrast in how their inter-county GAA careers ended 'There hasn't been a whole lot of chopping and changing or lads leaving the panel so I suppose it is about nurturing that, keeping the group together and hopefully getting back to Division 3 as soon as possible.' The 'Corrigan Park or nowhere' stand taken by the Antrim players on where the Armagh game should be played only pulled the group tighter together. McAleese said: 'We had to go out and back it up then and deliver a performance and we did that, to a certain degree. 'Probably for us, it was about the home game but it was also about highlighting the fact that we don't have a proper county ground and haven't had a proper county ground since the absence of Casement Park.' 1 Alongside Cillian Fahy of Limerick at Tuesday's Tailteann Cup launch at Croke Park