By Michael McMullan

MARC Jordan can see both teams feeling they can come through this Sunday when Antrim take on Wexford in the Tailteann Cup.

The Saffrons were victorious when the counties met in the group stages over the last few years but Wexford handed Antrim a lesson in a challenge game earlier this season.

“That was our first game under the new rules,” Jordan recalls of their game played in Meath as part of their 2025 plans.

“They absolutely duffed us down there at the start of the year, I mean, I think they beat us by about 20 points. We know that they’re well coached, they’re well drilled.”

Jordan, one of Antrim’s key players in their win over London, feels Wexford will be wary of Antrim from the last two seasons but will have a degree of confidence from their performance in the pre-season win.

Antrim were relegated at the end of their Division Three campaign but put in an excellent performance against All-Ireland champions Armagh in the Ulster Championship before coming up short.

“We put in a good 45, 50 minutes but Armagh were always going to have that other gear,” Jordan said. “We left it thinking we were really well set for the Westmeath game (in the Tailteann Cup).”

With a struggle for challenge games, Andy McEntee went to Mullingar on the back of a block of training. They were well in the game until goals put them on the back foot and a sensational display from Luke Loughlin.

It was a disappointing result given the fact that they’d retained the crux of their panel. Without players leaving for football in America, they had no excuses.

There was another disappointing result when they lost to Limerick, leaving their London game a must win in order to salvage their season.

“Against Limerick, we were just very, very flat,” Jordan said. “Hopefully Sunday (beating London) can spark us and give us something towards the end of the season.

“After we got beat by Limerick, everybody went and played their club games on the Wednesday,” Jordan pointed out.

Before their first two group games, preparations were ticking along but results weren’t.

“We thought that maybe if we go back, everybody got a week of football with their club, that would help,” he added.

“The first thing we did was just take a few days off and then reset. From the outset, we were just trying to get a win because the only two teams we’ve beat this year competitively so far was Clare and Leitrim.”

“At half time (against London) we were four down but we had the wind,” Jordan said, outlining that any winning margin wasn’t mentioned in the buildup, given they could’ve dropped out if Leitrim had pipped them.

“We knew we were going to be able to kick on. From the sideline, with about 15 to go, word came in that we had a bit of a buffer.”

Having booked their preliminary quarter-final spot, Sunday is an away game for Antrim but a venue they’ve experience of and Jordan feels any of the three teams they could’ve been draw against would be a tricky tie, Sligo, Wexford or Offaly, having “something to prove” after defeats last weekend.

“I can’t say there’ll be too much in it,” he said of Sunday’s game. “They’ve a couple of really good footballers, so we’ll have our fingers crossed anyway.”