Steven Poacher and Enda Varley preview the Tailteann Cup semi-finals where Antrim meet Meath and Laois do battle with Down.
TAILTEANN CUP SEMI-FINALS
ANTRIM v MEATH
Meath topped their group with wins over Tipperary, Waterford and Down before beating Wexford in the quarterfinal.
Antrim won their group with wins over Leitrim, Wexford, Fermanagh and went on to beat Carlow in the quarterfinal.
Antrim and Meath last met in a championship game in 2005 when the Royals won an All-Ireland qualifier by 5-12 to 0-13 in Casement Park. Their only other championship meeting was in the 1951 All-Ireland semi-final which Meath won by 2-6 to 1-7.
DOWN v LAOIS
Their last championship meeting was in the 2009 All-Ireland qualifiers when Down won by eight points in Newry.
They also met in the 2008 qualifiers when Down won by two points.
Laois qualified for the knock-out stages of the Tailteann Cup after draws with Offaly and London and a defeat by Cavan.
They beat Fermanagh in the preliminary quarterfinal and Limerick in the quarterfinal.
Down beat Waterford and Tipperary and lost to Meath in their group before beating
Longford in the preliminary quarterfinal and Cavan in the quarterfinal.
TAILTEANN CUP
Round 1: May 13/14
Group 1: Cavan 2-20 Laois 1-14; Offaly 2-14 London 0-11; Cavan 0-18 London 2-6; Laois 1-11 Offaly 1-11; Cavan 2-23 Offaly 2-9; Laois 1-17 London 2-14
Group 2: Meath 1-19 Tipperary 0-11; Down 2-14 Waterford 1-6; Down 2-18 Tipperary 0-6; Meath 3-17 Waterford 1-14; Meath 1-11 Down 1-9; Tipperary 0-17 Waterford 1-13.
Group 3: Limerick 2-16 Longford 1-16; Carlow 0-17 Wicklow 1-13; Longford 3-17
Wicklow 2-9; Limerick 1-19 Carlow 0-14; Wicklow 2-14 Limerick 1-10; Carlow 2-13
Longford 1-14.
Group 4: Fermanagh 1-13 Wexford 1-13; Antrim 3-18 Leitrim 2-12; Fermanagh 1-19
Leitrim 2-7; Antrim 2-15 Wexford 0-14; Antrim 3-13 Fermanagh 1-12; Wexford 1-16
Leitrim 1-12.
June 10: Preliminary quarter-finals: Wexford 1-22 Offaly 2-14; Carlow 0-15 New York 0-10; Laois 1-11 Fermanagh 1-9; Down 1-20 Longford 1-12.
June 17/18: Quarter-finals: Laois 1-14 Limerick 0-14; Meath 2-23 Wexford 0-12; Down 1-17 Cavan 0-15; Antrim 1-19 Carlow 1-15.
June 25: Semi-finals: Antrim v Meath; Down v Laois.
July 15: Final
