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So going by those rules Meath and Down can't play each other which means we will have to play one of them .

One pot will be Meath and Down and the other pot will be Laois and Antrim/Carlow

Tailteann Cup - Semi-Final Draw
The four Quarter-Final winners from this weekend's games
will be drawn to two Semi-Finals - subject to avoidance of
repeat pairings from the overall championship where
possible. The Semi-Finals are due to take place on Sunday,
June 25th at Páirc an Chrócaigh.
Fixture details for both the Sam Maguire Preliminary
Quarter-Finals and the Tailteann Cup Semi-Finals will be
confirmed by the C.C.C.C on Monday afternoon next.
Note 1 - There is a possibility that a Draw for the Tailteann
Cup Semi-finals will not be required, depending on the
outcome of this weekend's fixtures
Note 2 - The CCCC will confirm final details for both draws
(i.e. what teams are in Bowl 1 and Bowl 2 in the Sam
Maguire, what pairings cannot happen in both draws etc) on
Sunday evening.

It has to be either Meath or down as they have played against each other before and cannot be drawn against each other again.
Winner of Antrim or Carlow Will play either of the 2 as well

Are you sure it's not an open draw ? I'd be really really hoping to avoid Meath and Down . The other team will more than likely be Antrim who would be our best draw by far

Can Meath meet Down in the semi as they have already played each other in their group ?

I know Sheehan is useless but the bigger picture here is that even when he leaves we are STILL going absolutely nowhere anytime soon . The problems in Laois football run MUCH deeper than just Billy Sheehan. That SHITESHOW up in Parnell park today is only the tip of the iceberg and let me tell you we will get even worse again . Lillis , Finn and Timmons might possibly hang it up after this year , apparently Greene and Pigott won't be committing next year and from what I've seen OCarroll is after getting very heavy and sluggish. I try to be less harsh but not beating London is the absolute bottom of the barrel . I just can't see ANY positives that make me think that there is light at the end of the tunnel in the near future .

Offaly on a steep upward curve.  U20 Leinster on top of last years minor win.

If the will is there, there is a way.

Yes, I wouldn't be surprised if they win a senior All Ireland title within the next decade and I bet that's their ambition. If Offaly can do it, is there any reason why we can't achieve some success?

Offaly Senior all Ireland in the next decade ? There's not a snowballs chance in hell that will happen

A lot of positives to be taken out of yesterday.

The first half and in particular the first 20 minutes was some of the best football Laois have played in the last couple of years. Sublime scores from Mark Barry, Kieran Lillis, Padraig Kirwan, Paul Kingston and Evan O'Carroll who caused the Cavan defence a rake of problems and took a brilliant goal early on.

Speaking of defence, that was the most pleasing during the first half. Clearly a lot of work has been done in this regard since Dublin 3 weeks ago and it showed. Well organised, good tacking, a couple of great blocks against a Cavan team who are favourites for the Tailteann and a lot of them have Ulster titles to their name. Roche was excellent in the first half with good kickouts. Also, there was no way that was a penalty for Cavan, was never a footblock.

In fairness, Cavan dominated the 3rd quater of the game. They pushed up on our kickouts and we couldn't get hold of the ball. But we made them earn their scores, most of them were excellent shots from way out the park. Bare in mind that Cavan ran Armagh to 5 points a few weeks ago in the Ulster championship.

We showed great character and resolve to fight back from 9 points down to bring it back to 5 at 1-18 to 1-13 and we had momentum then. An effort fell into the keeper's hands then which would have brought it back to 4 but Cavan then went up and scored a great score to make the margin 6 points. Lads ran themselves into the ground and there was no shortage of desire. A late Cavan goal in injury time wrapped it up.

The lads have restored pride in the jersey and there should be a buzz in training as we get ready for Offaly next Saturday.

Completely clutching at straws

the team looks to have undergone serious surgery if the rumours are to be believed, does anybody know how the challenge matches went for the supposed radical changes?

Are you saying there could be a good few changes to the starting team tomorrow?

I have a bad feeling about this hope I'm wrong.

A bad feeling about which ? This Cavan game ? Or the Tailteann cup itself ?

Where's the future? It's all a solid mess

I follow all the games very closely in Laois football whether it be club or county and I hate to say it but we STILL haven't hit rock bottom yet despite us being in division 4.  I can visibly see our underage teams particularly our minor teams becoming increasingly further off the mark every year . It was like men vs boys down in Wexford park tonight . Wexford were physically a much more superior team to Laois and we had no answer to their power and pace . Laois are not lacking ability or anything but the department where we are CONSTANTLY getting shown up in at all levels is our size , power , pace and mobility compared to other sides . Interestingly enough that Wexford team lost to Wicklow by 3 points and Wexford only bet Carlow by 3 points which suggests that Wexford are nothing special themselves
I think in 3-5 years from now that our senior team will be worse than it currently is now to be honest. I mean for a start the likes of Timmons , Lillis and J Finn who have been great servants will probably pack it in in the next year or two . More worryingly when P Kingston (30 next year ) and particularly OCarroll ( 29 next year ) move on there will be a gaping hole up front . None of the forwards I've seen at minor or u20 for us the past few years look like they will be anywhere near the level of Paul or Evan . I haven't seen anyone as of yet who is capable of replacing OCarrolls  size , ball winning ability , ability to get fouled and draw frees and ability to break the tackle and bully full backs with his sheer size . He brings others into play too by plucking dirty ball and throwing it around to others . He's also comfortable shooting off both feet and taking frees with both feet too. Them attributes are not easily replaced especially in a county like Laois where we struggle to do even the basics right . Once he's gone thats our main focal point and scoring threat gone . Everything comes through him . In my eyes he was our closest thing to Donie Kingston in a way .
Basically I feel that it will probably get worse again before it gets better as I think that what's coming through is actually worse again than what's currently on our senior team . Our recent minor teams in the past few years have been a lot worse than the minor teams that most of our current senior players were on . The longer this rut continues the harder it will probably be to convince lads to commit to playing Senior with Laois too . There was as many as 7/8 lads from my club asked to play senior with Laois this year and only 1 lad committed for example. I try to see light at the end of the tunnel for us but it just feels that the walls are still closing in on us with no end in sight for foreseeable future

Toughest draw we could have got .
Best top seeds and best 2nd seeds .

We will need to keep the scores down and hope a healty win v London might scrape us through

Offaly are nothing special but they are still ahead of us . I hear Jordan Hayes has rejoined their panel for the Tailteann cup which is a huge boost to their midfield .

Looking at the way the Tailteann Cup is shaping up I think the winner will come from either Cavan, Down , Fermanagh or Meath . I'd probably give Limerick and Offaly a slim outside chance of winning it after that

Pot 1 :

Meath
Cavan
Fermanagh
Limerick

Pot 2 :

Down
Offaly
Antrim
Wicklow

Pot 3:

Longford
Tipperary
Laois
Wexford

Pot 4:

Leitrim
Carlow
Waterford
London

I don't want to dismiss the idea that our structures and player development systems are in chaos. I honestly don't know enough about that and the evidence suggests that something is wrong structurally. But we're not talking about getting on the Kildare team (although I think several of them would). We're talking about doing better than Leitrim and Wicklow. This doesn't require a team of David Cliffords. It just requires good preparation, organisation and motivation. Obviously, as you move higher in the Divisions something more is needed but really in Division 4, it's not.

Do you still think several of our lads would get on the Kildare team ? In my opinion not one of our lads would be let carry in the water for a full strength Kildare . The sooner we pull our heads out of our own arses the better . What went on between Laois and Dublin last weekend was nothing short of DISGRACEFUL. That same Dublin team today SHOULD of been beaten by Kildare in croke park only for some bad decision making . I knew we were bad but to be honest we are A LOT worse than I actually thought . SERIOUS SERIOUS changes are needed in this county just to keep our names on the map now the way it's gone .

Anyone have any idea what the minor footballers are like this year ? I seen the panel named last night