2024 Tailteann Cup explainer as the final group stage games are set

With two rounds now played in the Tailteann Cup, things are starting to become a lot clearer as we see whose summer holidays come early!

We have a closer look at how the 2024 Tailteann Cup may play out!

In the Tailteann Cup, the four group winner’s progress to the quarter-finals where they will have a home game.

While, the four group runners-up progress to the preliminary quarter-finals where they will have a home game.

It gets interesting for the third placed teams, with the best three third placed teams progressing to the preliminary quarter-finals. Whereas, the fourth third placed team is replaced by New York.

Third placed teams

As things stand Longford will miss out on the preliminary quarter-finals as they are the worst of the third placed teams.

Team	Played	Points	Score difference
Longford	2	0	-21
Wexford	2	0	-7
Carlow	2	1	-3
Limerick	2	2	-6

We take a closer look group-by-group of what is left to be decided.

Group One

Kildare and Leitrim have both qualified for the next phase. The sides meet in round three, however, this will decide who wins the group.

Longford and Waterford will meet to decide who finishes third. However, the score difference as it stands, looks like this group will decide the fourth placed, third placed team.

Group Two

Similar to group one, Antrim and Sligo have both booked a place in the next phase. Their final group game decides who wins the group.

Wexford and Tipperary are playing for third place. A Wexford victory should be enough to make it through as their score difference stands at -7. A win would bring their score difference down.

Tipperary have a score difference of -21, a win here might not be enough to make it into the preliminary quarter-finals.

Groups Three

Fermanagh and Laois have both qualified for the next round, however this is slightly different to the other groups. Fermanagh will finish first or second no matter the result.

However, if Laois lose to Fermanagh and Carlow beat Wicklow, Carlow will get second place and Laois third. Laois having three points in the bag will see them go through to the preliminary quarter-finals.

It’s a similar story for Carlow. A win will see them progress no matter what happens between Laois and Fermanagh.

However, if Fermanagh beat Laois and Carlow win, Carlow will finish second. Carlow though cannot catch Fermanagh. So if Laois beat Fermanagh and Carlow win, Carlow will finish third. A draw should be enough for Carlow whose score difference is -3, but they would need other results.

Wicklow have to beat Carlow to have any chance of progressing. Wicklow’s score difference is -17 so results in other games will decide Wicklow’s faith if they win. A draw isn’t enough for Wicklow.

Group Four

Down have won group four and will progress to the quarter-final, with two wins to their name. Offaly cannot catch Down. While, Down have the head-to-head on both London and Limerick.

Offaly need to beat Down and i) hope there is a winner between London and Limerick and ii) get their score difference of -22 down.

Whereas, both London and Limerick are odds-on to progress. A draw would see both advance with London in second place on superior score difference -3 to -6. Both teams would finish on three poins which would be enough to progress.

However, if there’s a margin of victory, the score-line could sway who finishes in the top three third placed teams.

Preliminary Quarter-Finals

The four teams finishing second in their group will have a home tie in this round. While, the best three third placed teams and New York are in the second pot.

A draw takes place for this round with teams unable to meet if they have met in the group stage. This includes New York. E.g. if Longford are the fourth placed third-placed team, they are replaced by New York. Therefore New York cannot play the second placed team in group one.

The winners of this round progress to the quarter-finals.

Quarter-Finals

The four group winners will have home advantage in this round.

These are; Kildare/Leitrim, Antrim/Sligo, Fermanagh/Laois and Down. These four teams will play a winner from the preliminary quarter-finals.

The draw for this round takes place after the preliminary quarter-finals are played. Again repeat fixtures are attempted to be stopped at this stage.

Semi-finals

Another draw takes place to discover who the semi-final line-ups are. These are the four winning quarter-finalists with both games a Croke Park double header on Sunday June 23.