Laois footballers gear up for Tailteann Cup campaign with Cavan first up

This weekend sees the beginning of this year's Tailteann Cup with Laois set to take on Cavan in Round 1. The teams are joined in Group 1 by Offaly and London, who go to battle on Sunday in Tullamore.

Laois will travel to Breffni Park on Saturday afternoon for their Tailteann Cup opener having had a three-week break since the drubbing against Dublin in the Leinster quarter-final.

This is the second year that the competition has been run with Laois' opponents Cavan beaten in the decider in Croke Park last year by Westmeath. Cavan come into the game having been knocked out of the Ulster championship by Armagh at the quarter-final stage. Armagh subsequently have an Ulster final to look forward to this coming Sunday.

Cavan will feel hard done by to be in the Tailteann Cup as they actually won the Division 3 title having beaten Fermanagh but they were demoted to the second-tier championship as both Sligo and Clare reached provincial finals which in turn pushed Meath along with Cavan to the Tailteann Cup. Laois should come into the game refreshed having had the three weeks to recuperate with the panel getting to play one round of the leagues with their clubs.

The Laois and Cavan game is sandwiched between the U-20 All-Ireland final, which involves Kildare and Sligo, while the Ulster Minor Football quarter-final throws-in at 6.30pm so a big crowd is expected in Breffni Park throughout the day. 

Laois versus Cavan throws-in at 4pm on Saturday May 13 with the game being streamed on GAAGO while tickets for the contest can be bought here.