Cahill, Cork and Corrigan - Antrim's history with the Rebels

"We are going to win the All-Ireland this year."

"They have a dreadful centre forward (Niall McCarthy) but he got away with it last time because Tipp have a dreadful centre back (Declan Fanning)."

"They had to recall a man that was finished (Brian Corcoran), but he will be finished after Sunday."

- Dinny Cahill, 2004

When Antrim's Joe McDonagh Cup final win over Kerry on Sunday confirmed an All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final with Cork, it sparked memories of one of the most memorable manager interviews ever as Saffron manager Dinny Cahill let loose ahead of their 2004 All-Ireland quarter-final with the Rebels.

Full-time: Cork 2-26 Antrim 0-10 and McCarthy and Corcoran would end the campaign with All-Star awards to accompany their All-Ireland medals.

As one journalist put it, Cahill seemed to be temporarily possessed by the spirit of Don King as he left tape recorders billowing with smoke on the Tuesday before the Croke Park fixture.

A lot has changed since that day. The Ulster Championship – last played in 2017 - is no longer linked to the All-Ireland series for one.

That means that Ulster heavyweights Antrim must find different ways to reach the Liam MacCarthy race and they did so at the weekend against the Kingdom - setting up a Cork clash that inevitably would lead to flashbacks of that game 18 years ago.

"It’s one we’d probably try and forget as much as we can," said Karl McKeegan, who wore number six for Antrim that day, said with a laugh.

"Unfortunately with the circumstances at that time, it’ll probably never be forgotten.

"We had two great performances in '02 and ‘03 against Tipperary and Wexford. We had trained well and it was very, very disappointing the way it ended, to get that tanking. There probably was that