E XPERIENCED Down forward Barry O’Hagan has insisted he’s fully committed to the Tailteann Cup and admitted his emotions got the better of him when he initially described the new competition as “pointless”.
Speaking after the Mourne county’s Ulster SFC loss to Monaghan, O’Hagan showed little appetite for second tier football with Down yesterday drawn to play Cavan in the pick of the opening round ties on the weekend of May 28/29.
“It’s pointless,” said O’Hagan after the Monaghan loss.
“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.”
But a fortnight or so later, O’Hagan has changed his tune and said that while Down have lost a number of players since their Ulster exit, he and those that have stuck around are looking forward to the challenge. “That was probably within five minutes of our defeat against Monaghan, a heavy defeat,” said O’Hagan of his initial comments.
“My own performance that day was bitterly disappointing. I thought maybe if I had kicked even two or three more scores we might have been in it at that stage.
“Look, it was probably emotions and stuff like that that got into my head. I was a wee bit disappointed and one of the questions I was asked was, ‘Would you rather be in the Tailteann Cup or an All-Ireland Qualifier?’
“So that’s what made me make that comment and go down that route. Look, at the end of the day, we are where we currently are at this moment in time with Down. “If we put our heads together for this cup and try to develop our team, it can be beneficial for us in the long run and that’s what our stand is now and hopefully it will go that way.”
The first ever Tailteann Cup game will be played this Saturday afternoon in Aughrim where Wicklow will host Waterford.
The following day, Wexford will take on Offaly in Enniscorthy in the remaining preliminary round game.
A dozen other teams will enter the new regionalised competition, which is split into northern and southern sections, the following weekend at the round one stage.
It’s a tough draw for Down who have been pitted against the 2020 Ulster champions – though O’Hagan said he can’t wait.
“Boys were happy, it’s not as if we wanted any other team,” he said. “At this stage now we’ve been drawn against Cavan, we understand what Cavan have and what they’re about.
“Personally, I’ve watched them twice. They’re a very, very good team.
“For us to develop correctly you want to be playing the best and at this moment in time there’s no point saying otherwise. Cavan are probably the favourites to win the Tailteann Cup. We’re probably going in as underdogs and that will suit us lovely.”
It’s been a poor season so far for Down who were relegated from Division Two before the Ulster loss to Monaghan.
“I wouldn’t say the season has been a complete fail,” said O’Hagan. “If you go back through the stats throughout the League, I think we introduced something in the region of 22 players this year through League football.
“We had seven debutants that day against Monaghan. So again, that’s all youth and wellbeing for the development of Down.
“Yes, on paper, we might not have won a game but at the same time we’ve developed players.”
O’Hagan didn’t bite on the remarks by Kilcoo’s Eugene Branagan. The All-Ireland club winner claimed that “there’s a core of players who don’t know how to win” with Down and added that they ‘haven’t the winning mentality’.
“Freedom of free speech, if that’s what Eugene thinks, I am not going to comment on that,” said O’Hagan.
“Everyone is entitled to their opinion. If that’s what he thinks, that’s fair enough. It hasn’t got inside our camp and we’re all pretty happy.”
TAILTEANN CUP DRAW
Southern section
Preliminary round: Wexford v Offaly; Wicklow v Waterford
Round One: Wexford/Offaly v Wicklow/Waterford; Carlow v Tipperary; Laois v Westmeath
Northern section
Round One: Longford v Fermanagh; Leitrim v Antrim; Sligo v London; Cavan v Down
Dates
Preliminary round: May 21/22
Round one: May 28/29
Quarter-finals: June 4/5
Semi-finals: June 19
Final: July 9 Venues and times tbc
