Tailteann Cup: McEntee vs Meath just a 'nice side story' as Antrim's McAleese targets semi-final win

Dermot McAleese suffered an eye injury in the Tailteann Cup quarter-final win over Carlow which left him temporarily blinded in one eye

Croke Park outings are rare for Antrim football, but for a while last week, vice-captain Dermot McAleese had reason to fear not making this weekend's Tailteann Cup semi-final following a freak injury.

McAleese, one of Antrim's most experienced players, was forced off early during last week's quarter-final win at Corrigan Park after getting poked in the eye by one of the Carlow players.

It left him temporarily blinded in one eye.

"It wasn't even that sore but it did enough damage to block the vision out in my right eye for about three or four hours," McAleese recalls.

"It's all good now thankfully so I'll be fine for the weekend."

It's about time the Portglenone club-man had a good break on the injury front, too.

"A year and a half ago I broke my jaw in a club game and then I broke the other side at the start of the year against Down [in Division Three]," added the 29-year-old defender.

"I'm hoping that's my bad luck used up in terms of injuries. It's been a nightmare."

A nightmare indeed. McAleese's broken jaw meant he missed the majority of Antrim's Division Three campaign and the Ulster Championship preliminary round defeat by Armagh.

Thankfully he recovered in time for the Tailteann Cup and has been key to Saffron success in the sophomore edition of the second-tier competition this year.

Now it's on to Sunday's semi-final against Meath, Antrim boss Andy McEntee's native county, which precedes Down's last-four encounter with Laois at Croke Park.

'McEntee-Meath sub-plot won't affect what happens on the pitch'

When the semi-final draw was made, eyes were naturally drawn to McEntee coming up against the Royals for the first time since his six-year spell in charge ended last year following the county's exit from the All-Ireland qualifiers at the hands of Clare.

McEntee subsequently opened up about online abuse he received in the wake of the Clare defeat on an episode of The GAA Social podcast before taking the Antrim job last July.

And while the McEntee-Meath angle certainly provides a fascinating sub-plot to Sunday's semi-final, McAleese insists that while it is a "nice side story", it won't impact events on the pitch.

"It was always going to happen at some stage," said McAleese, who made his Antrim debut in 2013.

"He'll know his wee bits of information about their players but it works both ways. They'll know what way Andy likes to play so it probably evens itself out.

"At the end of the day it's going to be 15 Antrim players against 15 Meath players on the pitch. At that stage there isn't a lot Andy can do about it. It's about how we perform.

"It's a nice side story but it'll not have too much bearing on the game."

On McEntee, whose managerial career includes two Leinster finals with Meath and an All-Ireland Club title with Dublin side Ballyboden St Enda's, McAleese says he has been pivotal in injecting belief into Antrim football.

"Andy's been there and done it all. He has loads of experience.

"He has really hammered home that message that when we get ahead in games, nothing changes. We have to stick to the process whereas before we were maybe getting away from that and losing the run of ourselves a bit.

"It's just about sticking to the basics and that usually sees you through. It's been a mix of Andy's influence and players learning of their accord as well."

Antrim rebounded from an Ulster preliminary round loss to Armagh to beat Leitrim, Wexford, Fermanagh and Carlow in the Tailteann Cup

And the players have learned. During this year's Division Three campaign, Antrim lost tight games to Ulster rivals Down and Fermanagh by a single point having held the lead late on, while they capitulated in Mullingar, losing 4-27 to 0-8 to a rampant Westmeath (last year's Tailteann Cup winners).

While they were comfortably beaten by Armagh in Ulster, McEntee's charges got the better of Leitrim, Wexford and Fermanagh to top their Tailteann Cup group before beating Carlow in Belfast to earn a trip to Croke Park.

"There is a lot of resilience and determination in this group to succeed. We'd obviously set the goal of getting out of Division Three but we were on the wrong side of a couple of really tight games," says McAleese.

"We were disappointed to lose a few of them having had good leads. But I think we've learned from that and we're better at managing leads. We've taken our beatings and learned from them and are reaping the rewards from that."

The rewards are such that Antrim now stand 70 minutes away from a big final at Croke Park and a possible spot among the game's best in next year's All-Ireland series.

And for McAleese, who alongside the likes of Patrick McBride and Declan Lynch played in Antrim's Division Four final defeat by Louth at Croke Park in 2016, it's a big deal.

"There's no place we'd rather be at this stage of the year. It creates a great buzz about the county. It gives fans the opportunity to go down and support Antrim footballers at Croke Park.

"Hopefully the young fans who travel down can leave thinking that's something they can aspire to in the future.

"Championship wins have been hard to come by the last few years but the Tailteann Cup has given us a realistic chance of winning some silverware.

"It would be a huge boost to the county if we could get our hands on it and catapult us into next year."