2023 National Football League Division 4

[Spiritof86]

1- Scott Osborne (Portarlington)
2 – Sean Greene (Emo)
3 – Trevor Collins (Graiguecullen)
4 – Robbie Pigott (Portarlington)
5 – Sean O'Flynn (Courtwood)
6 – Mark Timmons (Graiguecullen)
7 – Brian Byrne (Graiguecullen)
8 – Kieran Lillis (Portlaoise)
9 – James Finn (Ballyfin)
10 – Mark Barry (O'Dempsey's)
11 – Paul Kingston (Arles-Killeen)
12 – Paddy O'Sullivan (Portarlington)
13 – Eoin Lowry (Killeshin)
14 – Evan O'Carroll (Crettyard)
15 – Niall Corbet (Clonaslee-St Manman's)


Killian Roche (Killeshin)
Seamus Lacey (Ballylinan)
Sean O'Neill (The Rock)
Padraig Kirwan (Emo)
Alex Mohan (Portarlington)
Dylan Kavanagh (The Heath)
Ciaran Burke (Crettyard)
Kevin Swayne (Portlaoise)
Cathal Doyle (Ballyroan-Abbey)
Lee Walker (Graiguecullen)
Brian Daly (St Joseph's

Colm Murphy and Damien O'Connor injured . Sean O'Neil from the Rock on the bench for the first time .

[Robbo]

Have to be winning games like today.i wasnt in sligo but good to win on the road with plenty of room for imorovement. There seems to be a bit more positivity around the panel which is good. But a slip up in a game like this would be a setback.

Id think we should have the forwards to trouble any Div 4 (or 3) team at home and our backs look solid. Hopefully our midfield can go well as both lads bring a lot when things are going well.

Like to see mohan, kirwan and young Burke get some decent time off the bench. Will be cold in the stand but could do with a good crowd there to support.

[SCFC]

Good to keep winning and to be honest we are a Division 4 team and if we can get promoted, we'll probably struggle in Division 3 next year.
Kingston, Barry and O'Carroll are good scorers. We could do with one or two more. Colm Murphy hopefully will be one later in the league. I like Corbet but I'm not sure he's up to this level as an outfield player. Lillis and Finn are honest and solid but lack real pace which may be an issue on livelier pitches.

[Spiritof86]

Pretty average today , even for D4 .  Midfield is so lethargic but the lads are decent footballers. We lack a Barney,Sweeney or George Doyle in there .
The point I'm making is the management from last year have not installed or created  anything new . We are at the same base . Good forwards at D4 level will get us so far but we are tactically so inept it's worrying.
Mark Barry is a player club and county .

[Unlaoised]

I agree about the lack of pace  around our middle but Lillis is composed and decent at reading breaks ...Finn has a presence we don't really have anywhere else on the field and is probably one of the most accurate long kickers of a ball we have ever had so despite lacking mobility they do add to the team.

Impressed with our tactics compared to last year we seem more structured in our defensive set up which can only help us going forward .

Paul kingston looks sharp and Evan is massive for us .

I'm looking forward to the next match

[Robbo]

We'll be in trouble later in the year but I think the midfield will do OK at this level in the spring. Lillis is a class act but finn is so important. Wen we can move the ball forward quickly we look good but if we're slow we're awful.

Still think we can be run at a little too easily but an improvement on last year.

[Spiritof86]

I agree about the lack of pace  around our middle but Lillis is composed and decent at reading breaks ...Finn has a presence we don't really have anywhere else on the field and is probably one of the most accurate long kickers of a ball we have ever had so despite lacking mobility they do add to the team.

Impressed with our tactics compared to last year we seem more structured in our defensive set up which can only help us going forward .

Paul kingston looks sharp and Evan is massive for us .

I'm looking forward to the next match

Carlow away

Love it 😊

[on the hop]

it was great to get the win today, considering how long it is since we won a home game but most importantly back to back wins to put us in with a shout of being in the business end of this league. win the two games and hopefully carlow in a fortnight would set up nicely for the games with leitrim and london which possibly could decide the group. the panel is very limited at present and bar murphy's return probably for corbett their isn't going to be many changes. none of the subs are really getting much time on the pitch and today was probably a day when we went flat in both halves where we could have brought someone on.

it was a division 4 standard game, as someone said to me on the way out, players that have struggled in the higher divisions were comfortable at this level. it definitely was way off the pace in terms of the intensity and speed that they faced at times last year but they can only play what's in front of them. Wexford offered something different to Sligo with their more positive approach at times, they certainly looked like they had the legs on us at times but ultimately probably didn't have the scoring power we had in the forwards. that being said the new defensive approach with the mass withdrawal of players or the evan on his own system is not going to work against better teams especially later in the summer. if your going to lump ball in on top of him at least give him a chance, too many times he got balls fired nearly to the corner flag for him run after or up in the clouds to contest with a sweeper in front of him. with no players pushing up to even feed off a break, it was a cheap concession of possession but often we kicked it because in reality we had no other option up front due to the lack of forwards to aim for. maybe with the return of murphy we can play both inside. Sheehan is probably going to stick with this approach after the horrors of last year and i cant see him allowing the wing backs / midfield off the lease to push a bit further forward in support or offer themselves as a line break to the defensive systems that they will face.

[Giovanni]

I haven't seen them for a while but I thought they did well. Defending was good and kick passing was better than it's been for a long time. The main criticism I would have is that they should have managed the game a bit better, especially in the first half against the wind. Having gone into a 5-6 point lead against the wind, it was begging for someone to slow down the game, get injured, just hold onto possession for a while. We didn't and it was a draw match by half time. But generally, I think it was a good performance and the instincts and skills were good.

[Pugwash]

On Sheehan's tactics, I tend to agree with what has been said.

Bringing between 14 and 15 players back behind the ball to shore up the defence is all well and good in theory, but on the transition it leave's you with no outlet if you turn over possession.  Even if you have a couple of quick pacey players, it's still a huge ask for them to make up 40/50 yards and then kick a score.

I'd like to see us take a few more risks and leave at least 3 or 4 forwards up (which in turns pins a few more of their defenders to stay back too) at all times. I would like to think at this level, having 11/12 players clogging up central areas would still be sufficient to force the opposition to go for shots outside of the scoring zone! In turn, then at least if we turn the ball over we have some players to hit.

I also lost count with how many times our wing backs were either behind the play or in line, when we were in possession. There were numerous opportunities for the wing backs to be 15/20 yards higher which would have given us attacking overloads. It was pretty obvious that this was down to the manager leaving the brakes on.

I think overall, it was great to see Laois win the game and at times we played some lovely football especially in the first half. The quick and direct ball but with a purpose, going into the forwards was a joy to behold.

The full forward line definitely could of done with a bit more support when the ball was played in mind, they were very isolated and it was more down to individual brilliance (especially from Evan) that we were getting scores/frees.

Narrowing the gap between the half forward and full forward line will be crucial come Championship.

[County Man]

Delighted to get the win last Sunday, a long overdue home win and crucial for our promotion push.

Overall I felt that the performance in Sligo was better. Against Wexford it was more hit and miss. Brilliant first 20 minutes, Evan O'Carroll in particular took some great scores. Finn was excellent in midfield all through the game really.

With the wind, Wexford were always gonna get a purple patch and their goal was kind of a smash and grab job.

In the second half we showed good character and composure to steady the ship and we fully deserved the win, Mark Barry has a super left foot. 1-18 was a really good score to put up.

With no game this weekend, it is a good chance to get more miles into the legs and get ready for the local derby against Carlow.

Of course, we are due to face Wexford in the Leinster championship so this was a decent curtain raiser.

[Sideline12]

We Got out of jail today
2 sending off a bit silly
when we were 6 points ahead .

[Spiritof86]

With all due respect to Carlow any other team from  Division 3 below would have had us put away by half time . In fairness we pulled ourselves together for the latter part of the half but the start of the second was the same .
Good last 10/15 mins but this is where we are at the moment in terms of standard. Kingston was very good and capitalised on everything.

Laois much more economical in the forwards with the ball compared to Carlow . Ref was probably more harsh on Carlow truth be told . Defensively we need a plan going into the TC . Carlow opened us up on numerous occasions.
A win is a win and credit to team and management .

It's sobering when you think of the team in Division 4 in 2018 and how we lamented the situation we were in then . We are some way behind that team of 2018 .

[County Man]

The games are coming thick and fast! Wicklow today followed by Waterford next Saturday.

Against Carlow, it was a very slow start with a lot of unforced errors and really Carlow should have been further in front before we got our first score after 20 minutes.

The main positive from last week was the response after their second goal. We really went at it and outscored Carlow by 1-10 to 0-1 for the rest of the game. Paul Kingston was on fire and Brian Byrne came up with 2 fantastic points.

We are missing Byrne and O'Carroll for todays game but it gives other panel members a chance to impress for what should be a competitive battle against Wicklow.

[Blow-in]

Clueless. Second to most of the balls. Lucky to be ahead at HT. Best team won and we have a manager who spends his game arguing with the other team management, linesmen or the fourth official. Frustrating night.