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Antrim have an easy opener v Carlow to get the show on the road. Carlow shocked last year or rather Antrim threw a big lead away but lightning unlikely to strike twice.
Offaly look to have finally got their house in order and surprise surprise Waterford could be a real contender.

The Larries to continue their never-ending yo-yo tour of the divisions.

Waterford to build on their win over Cork and go up.

I honestly don't have the heart for this thread (says he, posting the thread)

Longford won't get out of here unless other Div 4 teams are dung.

More dung than Longford that is.

I think first game v Laytrum. Ya see, I am even not sure of the fixtures, where I would normally be  :-\

For the record I am plumping for Waherford and Wicklow.

I expect Offaly to have a right cut off this. That said it will be a tricky division to get out of. I know Tom McGlinchey, as he is from my own club in Tipp, and he'll have Waterford peaking for the league, or as near as he can get them. Antrim, Carlow, Leitrim, Longford, London and Wicklow. It's not going to be easy. I'll say Offaly and Longford.

Quote from: Syferus on January 22, 2015, 05:56:16 PM
The Larries to continue their never-ending yo-yo tour of the divisions.

Is there not a conference below D4 ?

Antrim surely must be one of the favourites? They slipped up last year and are unlikely to make the same mistake this year. Offaly look destined to bounce back into 3 under Flanagan, they were impressive in the O Byrne Cup especially hammering rivals Laois in a local derby game.
Any ideas what the Antrim team is going to be? Very inexperienced through the McKenna Cup.

Quote from: seafoid on January 23, 2015, 04:41:12 PM

Quote from: Syferus on January 22, 2015, 05:56:16 PM
The Larries to continue their never-ending yo-yo tour of the divisions.

Is there not a conference below D4 ?

That was years ago. Its Below division 2 anymore!  :P

Only waterford, wicklow and carlow are no hopers. The rest are all capable of a performance.

Waterford no hopers?? Well capable of getting out of division 4 and would be a match for every team in it.

Quote from: Zulu on January 23, 2015, 07:32:00 PM
Waterford no hopers?? Well capable of getting out of division 4 and would be a match for every team in it.

If Waterford are no hopers, I wonder what that makes Cork given the result last week???

Quote from: Catch and Kick on January 23, 2015, 05:18:32 PM
Antrim surely must be one of the favourites? They slipped up last year and are unlikely to make the same mistake this year. Offaly look destined to bounce back into 3 under Flanagan, they were impressive in the O Byrne Cup especially hammering rivals Laois in a local derby game.
Any ideas what the Antrim team is going to be? Very inexperienced through the McKenna Cup.

After the past few years we shouldn't be favourites for anything.

We will hopefully have mccanns, mckeever and some others back.waterford and wicklow aren't no hopers. Carlow have been quite poor mind but near beat us last year.( we scraped by didn't we??) there'll be a few queens boys in there too.

Quote from: imtommygunn on January 23, 2015, 10:13:47 PM

Quote from: Catch and Kick on January 23, 2015, 05:18:32 PM
Antrim surely must be one of the favourites? They slipped up last year and are unlikely to make the same mistake this year. Offaly look destined to bounce back into 3 under Flanagan, they were impressive in the O Byrne Cup especially hammering rivals Laois in a local derby game.
Any ideas what the Antrim team is going to be? Very inexperienced through the McKenna Cup.

After the past few years we shouldn't be favourites for anything.

We will hopefully have mccanns, mckeever and some others back.waterford and wicklow aren't no hopers. Carlow have been quite poor mind but near beat us last year.( we scraped by didn't we??) there'll be a few queens boys in there too.

As a Saffron I know better than to write any other team off. Carlow will not be beaten easily, if at all with that attitude. All these counties are on a par. Hope we can beat Carlow and start well but by no means a certainty. Carlow have dangerous players and there is nothing to suggest we are better than them

Yes unfortunately we have no right to be favourites and need to knuckle down. Cj and paddy cunningham could rack up big scores in this division, assuming cj hangs round, however i have a feeling we will be moving to a very defensive gameplan.

Always a tight division where anyone could beat anyone.

Antrim are an average outfit. Id put my money on Offaly to win it, 2nd place is a bit of a lottery.

Would tip Offaly to come good here. Flanagan doesn't hold back during the league and will want to get them moving early.

Reckon Offaly will certainly go up. The 2nd spot is up for grabs, and impossible to call.
I see people are writing Carlow off as no hopers, but for once I feel we actually might have a bit of hope.

We finished bottom of Div 4 last year, despite as was said above somehow beating Antrim...no idea how. Most games we got well beaten in, conceding huge scores all along. Anthony Rainbow was our clueless manager & a lot of the better players stayed away. Come championship we lost to Meath by 28 points conceding 7 goals at home!

Thankfully Rainbow is gone, the best club manager in Carlow over the last few years Turlough O'Brien is in charge. Most of the best players are back in, the O'Byrne cup went fairly well. Only lost to Kildare by a point due to a last minute goal & we beat Louth. That was without Brendan Murphy who will be back for Sunday.

I don't expect us to get promoted, a year too soon for that but we definitely won't finish last this year and should be competitive in all games.

The Shamrock Shore family in depression is usually a precursor to the Larries getting with the scheme - the standard has been so low recently that an improvement is inevitable (surely?).  Not convinced at al by the Biffos - Larries and Blahs to progress.  :)

Yeah, not sure where the confidence in Offaly is coming from, no doubt as capable as most teams in the division, but not sure there's much evidence they are any better than most of them. Division 4 is always very hard to call and literally any team could get promoted or end up in the bottom two.

Quote from: Zulu on January 27, 2015, 11:21:43 AM
Yeah, not sure where the confidence in Offaly is coming from, no doubt as capable as most teams in the division, but not sure there's much evidence they are any better than most of them. Division 4 is always very hard to call and literally any team could get promoted or end up in the bottom two.

I agree with that, and I wouldn't be as bullish about Offaly as some seem to be, but I do think they'll give it a right rattle. Primarily because a) I know there are footballers in Offaly despite all appearances to the contrary and b) I think Pat Flanagan is a coach who understands and values league performances. He knows that to really bring Offaly on, they need to be operating up at division 2 at least, not in division 4. Obviously Division 4 is the correct level for them right now, but Flanagan will make it top priority to get up. I believe he will prioritise this over the game with Longford in May. If Offaly get promoted, and lose to Longford, and a first round Qualifier, he will consider that a successful season. If they fail to get promoted, but beat Longford, and then get mauled by Dublin, even if they then win a qualifier or two, he will see that as an unsuccessful season, in the context of long term progression.

I suppose Rhode did do okish in the club championship.

By comparison I don't think any of the other Division 4 teams had a team do much (if anything) in the club championship. Don't think any of the other sides in Division 4 won a game in the club championships? (not 100% of that though)

Not really much to go on but better than nothing.

There are a few decent clubs in Offaly, Rhode, Tullamore, Clara, Edenderry but they are not good enough to challenge the big boys. However they have decent footballers, and a lot of Offaly's problems the past several years is between the two ears. If they got that sorted out, they'd be a lot more competitive.

They are years behind the Kildares, Kerrys, Dublins, Tyrones and Mayos of the world in terms of their base core S%C, but I think in terms of football they have a few lads that are well able to play, and if they could get themselves prepared mentally first, and then physically over the next 3-5 years, we could be back heading towards really competing again. Remember Offaly were winning Leinsters in the late 90s, and were beating Meath and Kildare in the 00s.

Offaly safely navigate Ruislip and horrible conditions to win 0-9 to 1-2. It was 0-2 to 0-1 at half time but the chairman tweeted that if the game was in ireland, it would have been postponed.

Division 4 wide open with this weekends results. Was impressed with Carlow and Broderick in particular. I believe Antrim have too many big players missing for numerous reasons to make promotion but really open.

Carlow unlucky not to take the two points. Thought they had the better of exchanges and unlucky to have a goal disallowed. Saying that Antrim sideline ball clipped the post and fell wide near the end to deny the Saffrons a win too!

Quote from: twohands!!! on January 27, 2015, 12:40:32 PM
I suppose Rhode did do okish in the club championship.

By comparison I don't think any of the other Division 4 teams had a team do much (if anything) in the club championship. Don't think any of the other sides in Division 4 won a game in the club championships? (not 100% of that though)

Not really much to go on but better than nothing.

The Nire of Waterford were in the Munster Club final, had enough chances to win that game,  goalie didnt help matters either

It's more then what any of the Div 3 County , club sides managed in their province, since your using it as a barometer

Well st galls were all ireland champions and are always hard to beat in ulster. Though it doesn't help there's only about two or three of them in the antrim team.

A fair sprinkling of Div 4 teams have had clubs competing/winning at the highest level
Antrim - St Galls; Ulster & All Ireland Champs
Waterford - The Nire Munster Finalists
Offaly - Rhode - Leinster Finalists
Carlow - Eire Og - Leinster Champs (5) & All ireland Finalists. O Hanrahans Leinster Champs
Wicklow - Baltinglass Leinster & All Ireland Champs
Every county has players and potential but don't always have the organisational and coaching structures in place that they should have.

Reading this thread is interesting in that it indicates a lot of the teams at this level seem to struggle to get their best players out. It's maybe the commitment required and the reward / return for it. I think quite a few couldbe antrim players are playing irish league soccer too.

In Offaly's case, I don't think we struggle to get our best players out to be honest. Where we fell down in the last 10-15 years is the assumption that we'd always be able to come with a good team every few years, just by osmosis. The preparation of other counties just passed us out and we've never recovered, at least yet. There are tentative signs that things are turning around, but it will be a long road.

AZ

It all strarted to go wrong for Offaly when they were first up with the Neutron diet.

they won a Leinster with that!

Jazes - so they did! Apols. League title as well or was this before?

I think this was the first time I recall a professional approach being taken by a county team. Prior to that going off the gargle was probably the only lifestyle change coming up to Championship and that may have only kicked in a week before.

Sorry to diverge from the point .................Longford cuda won and cuda lost yesterday. Brian Kavanagh seems to have shook off the lethargy of the past 3-4 years and turned in a solid performace. I heard the full back line looks extremely dodgy so progression back up the charts is not looking good.

A draw in Carrick agin Laytrum is ok.

Quote from: Shamrock Shore on February 02, 2015, 01:21:12 PM
Jazes - so they did! Apols. League title as well or was this before?

I think this was the first time I recall a professional approach being taken by a county team. Prior to that going off the gargle was probably the only lifestyle change coming up to Championship and that may have only kicked in a week before.

Sorry to diverge from the point .................Longford cuda won and cuda lost yesterday. Brian Kavanagh seems to have shook off the lethargy of the past 3-4 years and turned in a solid performace. I heard the full back line looks extremely dodgy so progression back up the charts is not looking good.

A draw in Carrick agin Laytrum is ok.

Division 1 League Title was the year after, 1998, v Anthony Tohill's Derry.

The good thing about the National league d4 is that it only has 8 teams and 2 go up every year so it's possible to escape much more easily  than it is from the lower confines of English soccer. 

Quote from: seafoid on February 02, 2015, 02:09:48 PM
The good thing about the National league d4 is that it only has 8 teams and 2 go up every year so it's possible to escape much more easily  than it is from the lower confines of English soccer.

The corollary of that is that it's so easy to escape that there's no guarantee (in doing so) that you'll be good enough not to return immediately. 

Good news for all of division 4 except longford... Paul Barden has hung up his boots.

Barden was one of the best ever and will make the best ever Longford XV from the birth of Christ until doomsday.

Yeah Longford every now and again have a habit of producing a real top drawer forward. Only saw him on tv but he looked like he could mix it with the best of them.

Good luck to him. Glad it came before they played antrim in the league!!

Quote from: imtommygunn on February 04, 2015, 11:57:18 AM
Yeah Longford every now and again have a habit of producing a real top drawer forward. Only saw him on tv but he looked like he could mix it with the best of them.

Good luck to him. Glad it came before they played antrim in the league!!

He's been injured hasn't he. Good article on him in a Paper there recently. Was he the longest serving footballer in Ireland after someone else retired last year?

I've seen him a few times in person and he's always been effective. Pace and strength and ran in straight lines. Saw him v Fermanagh and at Pearse Park v Kerry in a back door game a few years ago.

Always struggled against the Saffrons though  ::)

He was the last current inter-county footballer that played in the 20th century.  He was a hard-working footballer with serious talent, and a nice bloke.  Personal memories will be the championship point against Wexford in the pissing rain in New Ross, as well as the point of the century in the dying minutes of the qualifier against Derry in Pearse Park.  A gentleman and a true sporting hero - perhaps the best player ever to wear the blue and gold. 

Barden was some player and was part of a Longford team that broke Derry hearts a few times. Barden had some career and walks away with the respect and admiration of everyone.

Last unbeaten team in the country fell today in fortress Tullamore. Good win for Offaly, Waterford had got a nice little bit of momentum going.

Quote from: AZOffaly on February 08, 2015, 03:34:47 PM
Last unbeaten team in the country fell today in fortress Tullamore. Good win for Offaly, Waterford had got a nice little bit of momentum going.

How do you make that out?

Waterford won the Mcgrath cup and their first league game 😃

Ah I see. I was thinking National League only!

Offaly now clear favourites after two rounds. Antrim push now in trouble with only 2 home games to come. Hard to see them turn it around. Waterford lost Shane Ahern with 2 yellows (same happened him last year in Munster SFC, If I remember rightly). That must have been a big factor in their loss. Still expect them to be there or thereabouts. Longford in good place without setting the world alight. How did Leitrim throw away a 9 point lead against Wicklow? Carlow have turned it around too with 3 points from first 2 games.
Still going to be a tight group come round 7.

Keeping 15 men on the field has been a problem for Waterford over the last few years. Not much room for error now, will be hoping Offaly run away with it.

Quote from: deiseach on February 09, 2015, 10:30:33 AM
Keeping 15 men on the field has been a problem for Waterford over the last few years. Not much room for error now, will be hoping Offaly run away with it.

Me too.

Offaly are favourites for sure but it's surprising how defensive they are. Maybe with the return of the Rhode lads they might become more expansive.
Waterford must have been affected by the loss of Ahern for so long in the game and I'd have expected Offaly to win more easily.

Well in fairness they scored 13 points and held Waterford to a point in the second half. The Rhode lads are mostly back now, Niall Mc came on and looked good apparently. I suspect Pat might be trying to make them tighter at the back in trying to make us competitive.

Quote from: AZOffaly on February 08, 2015, 03:34:47 PM
Last unbeaten team in the country fell today in fortress Tullamore. Good win for Offaly, Waterford had got a nice little bit of momentum going.

The dirty Rossies are still unbeaten, no?

 NUIG beat Roscommon in group stages of the FBD.

Still expect Offaly to run away with this div 4, probably unbeaten. Be a big fight for 2nd between 5 others I reckon. Only Leitrim & London won't be involved.

Was at the Carlow v London game on Sunday and London are a good side. Seriously accurate, they had about 25% of the ball but somehow ended up going in 5-4 up. Carlow kicked 9 wides & another 5 at least into keepers hands. By the 50th min i'd say London had 9 shots all = 9 points...maybe 1 wide.
2nd half we got goals at vital stages, but even after 2nd goal to put us 2-7 to 0-9 ahead they got 4 points in 4 mins. On top at mf & kicking points from anywhere once inside the 45. Luckily we got a monster score from about 60 yards by St Ledger and scored a classy point by managers son to wrap it up.

Ok we were missing our 2 main players Brendan Murphy who broke a bone in his foot v Antrim 1st day out. So looks like he's gone for league. Paul Broderick our free taker & main scoring forward was also injured for the London game. He should be back for next game. London are a good side and they will def take a point or points off some team in this Div 4

Quote from: stevecw on February 10, 2015, 10:54:37 PM
Still expect Offaly to run away with this div 4, probably unbeaten. Be a big fight for 2nd between 5 others I reckon. Only Leitrim & London won't be involved.

I'd love if you were right on this, but I really don't see where all this confidence re: Offaly's chances is coming from. To take one obvious example, we played Longford twice in 2014, home and away, and were comfortably beaten on each occasion. We've to go to Pearse Park again this Spring and while we're not without hope, Longford will be favourites barring a collapse over the next few rounds.

A really harsh red card cost Waterford dearly in O'Connor Park on Sunday. Offaly showed a good attitude and workrate on the field (something that hasn't been a trademark of our play for a few seasons now) and gradually Waterford were worn down by the effort required in competing without one of their key men. On another day, that could have been a very different result. I'd be amazed if Waterford are well in the hunt by the end, while as things stand, Leitrim are probably in a better position than Antrim, who probably need to win 5/5 from now on.

I presume you mean 'aren't' in the hunt at the end?

I do. Forgive my sloppiness!  :-[

With the return of the Rhode contingent and a Manager who is well grounded, Offaly will breeze through. I'd expect big things from the Faithful County under Flanagan. He's a good operator and has earned respect of players.
This Waterford side will be on their heels - big big team and suffered because of a ridiculous sending off.
Wicklow's 2nd half Lazarus recovery will add impetus to their campaign and they are going to be a thorn in the side of everyone visiting Aughrim.
Neighbours Carlow have to be delighted with their start but can they sustain it?
Longford have been impressive underage and it's time now to move at senior grade. Kavanagh has to put the scores on the board though as they rely  on him a lot.
Lovely Leitrim will always be plucky but can't see them in the shake up now after that collapse in Aughrim.
Antrim - talk a good game but don't have the bottle. Unusual for an Ulster side.!
That leaves London and they've been awkward in their opening games but the interest will drift after two losses.

An unexpected win for Carlow down in Dungarvan this evening really complicates things. We have 3 home games left and just the 1 away trip to Offaly. Can see as I said earlier Offaly ending top, but for the 1st time I actually think Carlow have a great chance of coming 2nd. It might come down to the Carlow/Longford game on the last day.

Quote from: stevecw on February 28, 2015, 10:40:18 PM
An unexpected win for Carlow down in Dungarvan this evening really complicates things. We have 3 home games left and just the 1 away trip to Offaly. Can see as I said earlier Offaly ending top, but for the 1st time I actually think Carlow have a great chance of coming 2nd. It might come down to the Carlow/Longford game on the last day.

Interesting to see that all of the early pace-setters have all beaten London who look very much to be the whipping boys of the Division this year.

At this stage you would say that its looking very much like a 3 way battle between Carlow, Offaly and Longford for promotion. How these 3 get on in the games against each other looks like it will decide the promotion situation.

Last night's loss at home for Waterford looks to be a severe blow to their chances at getting promoted especially when they have only 1 more home game to play. The glories of January and their result over Cork must seem like a long-distant memory now.

Must win game for antrim today or they're out of any promotion talk and going towards worst in the country. If we win then were we to beat offaly who knows. If we lose well then we're in a bad place.

offaly won by 12 points some win in Aughrim i think them longford and Carlow will fight it out for the the places in division 3.

Some turnaround in Carlow's fortunes, will be good to see them get promotion but a long way to go yet.

Anyway just checking in ahead of taking a more active interest in matters here next year, carry on.

Offaly are certs for promotion. Not too many teams slaughter Wicklow in Aughrim. Longford are going to be runners up by the looks of things. Carlow have had a good start but 4 tough games ahead of them - Offaly and Longford will expect two points off them. The other two are winnable but will show where they are really at.

The Waterford rising didn't last long. Something's wrong when Carlow seem to have a hex over you.

Quote from: Give and Go on March 01, 2015, 07:29:42 PM
Offaly are certs for promotion. Not too many teams slaughter Wicklow in Aughrim. Longford are going to be runners up by the looks of things. Carlow have had a good start but 4 tough games ahead of them - Offaly and Longford will expect two points off them. The other two are winnable but will show where they are really at.

Offaly are going well, but there's no such thing as certs. I knew Pat Flanagan would be focussed completely on the League, the Championship is going to be a case of Que Sera Sera.  If Offaly don't get promoted the season will be a failure. If they do, it will be a success, no matter what happens in the Summer. That's where we are now, and we have to build from it.

The good thing is they have Leitrim, Carlow and Antrim at home. Longford away is less than ideal, but you'd imagine 3 wins out of 4 should be enough, so they have put themselves in a good position. Not certs though.

Is it too soon to hope again?

Still key games to go -

Home this Sun to Waherford (wheels off the wagon there??)
Away to Wikla 15th Mar
Home v Offaly 29th Mar
Away v Carlow 5th Apr

Still a long way to go so anything could happen.

To Lift the Trophy
Offaly 8/13
Longford 7/2
Antrim 13/2
Carlow 15/2
Waterford 22/1
Wicklow 25/1

What county do you hail from twohands?

Quote from: twohands!!! on March 02, 2015, 04:24:29 PM
To Lift the Trophy
Offaly 8/13
Longford 7/2
Antrim 13/2
Carlow 15/2
Waterford 22/1
Wicklow 25/1

To lift the Trophy? I presume that means to win the Division 4 final, rather than to top the table at the end of the league? If so, Offaly at 8/13 is too short.

Either way, 8/13 is way too short. You'll note that based on the form so far, Offaly still have to face the three teams most likely to deprive them of a place in the top two. It's not the players' fault that they've been given the easiest games first, but it's no less true.

Promotion race hotting up now. If antrim are going to get promoted we are going to have to do it the hard way- away wins in offaly and waterford required. Seems to be between Offaly Longford, Carlow and ourselves now. Offaly and Longford being favourites.

I would not like to put widows and orphans funds on Longford judging by the commments I heard about yesterday's game.

I think next weekend's round of games will give a 80-90% indication on who will go up.

Offaly for sure - but wheels look wobbly on Longford wagon and a trip to Aughrim will test the axles.

How are Offaly 'for sure'? They still have to play Longford, Carlow and Antrim, and were very lucky to end up with a draw in Tullamore against Leitrim yesterday.

QuoteHow are Offaly 'for sure'?

Ssshhhh - playing mind games!!

One point defeat in Longford could well kill our promotion push. Can see several teams finishing level is it scoring difference or head to head then? Offaly and Longford's to lose

Quote from: SaffronHeart on March 09, 2015, 06:29:26 PM
One point defeat in Longford could well kill our promotion push. Can see several teams finishing level is it scoring difference or head to head then? Offaly and Longford's to lose

Longford did their level best to throw away an 11 point lead with a shambolic 2nd half display against Waterford at weekend so wouldn't be booking the open top bus just yet! Tough game away in "fortress" Aughrim this weekend will tell a lot

Antrim face a long trip to Dungarvan but can be confident that they are back on track and in the promotion hunt. I see Waterford and made wholesale changes - signs of desperation perhaps after their failure to build on the great McGrath Cup win.
Longford head for Aughrim, but lets be honest fortress Aughrim has long since lost it's intimidating air and Wicklow's slump to continue.
Offaly won't slip up again - Leitrim draw was a wake up call. Though I see McConway and Sullivan not playing tomorrow against Carlow.

Waterford V Antrim is at Walsh Park not Dungarvan as part of double header with hurling with football on at 2:30pm.
Waterford have lost 3 in a row now so out of the hunt for promotion.

Promotion going to go to the wire by the looks of it. Good win for us today eeking out results. Could be a cracking last day with us going to tullamore and longford going to Carlow. Any comments?

My Offaly sources tell me that they were blessed to beat Carlow. Offaly had a ball that was 4 ft wide flagged as a point. Carlow got no free inside the 45 in the whole game. Looks like Longford to top the table now. I think they will beat Offaly.
I would expect Antrim to beat Wicklow and give them a good chance of taking Offaly which would mean Offaly losing out!
Antrim and Longford to go through?????????

Leitrim have London, Carlow and Waterford; possible 6 points there to redeem their campaign.

Carlow of course could turn over Leitrim and Longford both in Carlow and be right back in there too!

It's going to go to a nerve wracking last round of games. Would be great to see Carlow come out - big improvement in them this year.

So close to a great result yesterday we were. A point up 2 mins left, at worst it should have been a draw. Complete lack of experience at even being involved in games like this is new to us.
Very good game tho yesterday in Tullamore, 2 evenly matched sides went right to the last second and sadly it was Offaly who got the winner in exactly the last min.

Carlow won the midfield battle well, but we had for most of the game Brendan Murphy playing at 25% after a bad injury in 1st half. Still him at 25% is better than most of what we have. We defended really well, but had not any scoring forwards to win us the game. Broderick who is a class forward is injured since he starred in the away draw to Antrim. We have also lost our free taker and another potential scorer too.

The lack of scoring forwards has cost us promotion, but it's a massive improvement on where we were last year. Turlough O'Brien has done an incredible job in a few months. All is no lost re promotion but can't see Offaly beating Longford away

Lovely Leitrim lashed London today! Huge second half score saw them ease to a 1-18 to 0-9 win. It could have been so much different for them if they hadn't dropped the point v Longford and Offaly and lost that 9 point lead in Aughrim...

The four divisions are now all very competitive. Division 4 is very tight if you take London out of the picture - and they have competed well in the early games but it must be hard to keep that show on the road as results fail to come. 3 & 4 are equal standard imo apart from Armagh.

Current table:

Pos   Team   P   W   L   D   F   A   Points
1   Longford   5   4   0   1   84   60   9
2   Offaly   5   4   0   1   79   56   9
3   Antrim   5   3   1   1   79   69   7
4   Carlow   5   2   1   2   63   60   6
5   Leitrim   5   1   2   2   81   75   4
6   Wicklow   5   1   3   1   55   76   3
7   Waterford   5   1   4   0   56   64   2
8   London   5   0   5   0   44   81   0

Outstanding fixtures:

29 Mar 2015 1pm    London    v    Waterford    Ruislip, London
29 Mar 2015 3pm    Antrim    v    Wicklow    Páirc Naomh Pól
29 Mar 2015 3pm    Carlow    v    Leitrim    Dr Cullen Park
29 Mar 2015 3pm    Longford    v    Offaly    Pearse Park, Longford
5 Apr 2015 2pm    Carlow    v    Longford    Dr Cullen Park
5 Apr 2015 2pm    Offaly    v    Antrim    O'Connor Park, Tullamore
5 Apr 2015 2pm    Leitrim    v    Waterford    Páirc Sean Mac Diarmada
5 Apr 2015 2pm    Wicklow    v    London    Aughrim

Assuming Antrim beat Wicklow and Carlow beat Leitrim (not a given), there'll be at least 1 pt (if Longford v Offaly draw) and at most 2 between 2nd and 4th.

That'll leave the promotion down to the last round where these 4 play each other:
Carlow    v    Longford    
Offaly    v    Antrim    

Hard to call but Offaly & Longford for me

Certainly squeaky bum time.

The advantage is certainly with us and the Offaly lads but wheels have come off wagon before..........

Winner of Offaly V Longford is essentially promoted, as scoring difference will be high. Every team has had an element of luck so far maybe Offaly having the most. I fancy Longford to win at the weekend then a winner takes all in Tullamore next weekend to join them in promotion. Up the Saffrons. Must say that if Carlow had Broderick playing for the whole league they would be sitting alot prettier. Destroyed Antrim in the first game.

Interesting point made Saffronheart. An injury to a key player could make all the difference in this division. Broderick is Carlow's best forward and I don't think he has played since the opening round against Antrim.
Now Paraic Sullivan is out for Offaly with the dreaded cruciate. How will that affect them?

Funny thing is, Offaly could be the team to lose out now - Longford away is a very trick assignment and both sides know a win guarantees promotion.
If they were to lose it, Antrim could come down and finish them off.

They could. They could indeed. But will they?

Will have to see AZ hopefully we will bring a decent crowd to Tullamore. Would be a cracking game played at championship pace. Antrim have stuttered through the league and are certainly a team in Transition with many key players AWOL.  Potentially more important game than the Division 4 final anyway. Need to beat Wicklow first before we can even think about Tullamore.

We are obviously hoping for 2 Offaly wins, but can't really see it. Wasn't impressed with them at all the last day and hard to see them getting anything in Longford.
Antrim will beat Wicklow Sunday.
We always struggle at home for some reason. Game v Leitrim is exactly the kind of game we could lose. Lucky to draw home to Wicklow and very lucky to win home to London. 3 best displays were away. Broderick as has been mentioned has been a massive loss and he is out for next 2 games too.
For us this has been a very decent league, a massive improvement on finishing bottom of table last year no matter what way last 2 games go.

Longford should beat Offaly Sunday, and 2nd promotion place will come down to that game between Offaly & Antrim.

Longford somehow got promotion , the final whistle barely acknowledged by the home support other than relief . Offaly  of course will blame  the ref , indeed the final red was incredibly  harsh unless the player said something to him. Seemed to take an very long time trying to tie his bootlaces and got 2nd yellow maybe for time wasting  but with Offaly  4 points down with injury time approaching  it was harsh in the extreme . A case of mistaken  indentity prevented Longford getting a red as another player took a  yellow for the player eventually black carded . Offalys lack of discipline cost them dearly as the were the better team in 1st half .

All down to a winner takes all in Tullamore between Offaly and Antrim by the looks of it

Massive game, offaly with home advantage will be favourites  but Antrim will head to Tullamore with confidence. Serious game ahead anyway. Not much between any of the teams in the Division or the teams in division 3 bar Armagh

Refereeing standard is just not good enough. They have affected the result in a number of games in the division, making to a lottery.

What I witnessed today in Pearse Park was demoralising. Longford promoted hardly even a clap at the end of the game. The game of Gaelic football has descended into farce , hand pass after hand pass across the pitch. Part blanket defence used sporadically more like sheet defence. Players sauntering around marking space more than anything. Offaly had 3 sent off all correct but if the referee applied the black card correctly they should have lost 3 by half time for body checking alone. I genuinely feel for either team having to play Dublin in Croke Park in June. The GAA have a lot to answer for that the game is at such a low ebb.

but sure this black card has the game the way it is, as you said offaly could have lost 3 at half time, but i bet you anything if longford play Dublin in croker this summer the same body checks when the Dubs do it longford won't even get a free. offaly had 2 sent off still only lost by 3 points and were ahead at half time,  they could meet two more times i belive in the next few weeks the division 4 final if they beat Antrim and in tullamore in the leinster championship.

as for playing Dublin in croke park longford or offaly won't be any worse than the rest who have played them in leinster the last 5 years.

Quote from: Thewildcat on March 30, 2015, 01:53:32 PM
but sure this black card has the game the way it is, as you said offaly could have lost 3 at half time, but i bet you anything if longford play Dublin in croker this summer the same body checks when the Dubs do it longford won't even get a free. offaly had 2 sent off still only lost by 3 points and were ahead at half time,  they could meet two more times i belive in the next few weeks the division 4 final if they beat Antrim and in tullamore in the leinster championship.

as for playing Dublin in croke park longford or offaly won't be any worse than the rest who have played them in leinster the last 5 years.

Point of order, we had 3 sent off.

The Offaly County Chairman was unhappy on twitter as he was tweeting updates. I had to tell him to be careful, because he was close to getting himself in trouble!

Hard to blame ref for all of Offalys trouble yesterday For the 1st sending off , despite a teammate trying to pull him away from the situation, the full back still punched Micheal Quinn in full view of the linesman who had already warned the players to separate . The 2nd sending off ,the player committed the same type of pulling down offence twice in the space of a couple of minutes to pick up 2 yellows . I can only think the 3rd player said something to the ref to warrant the 2nd yellow . Both sides had frees brought in because of dissent , this benefited Longford more as the frees became score able . Even when down to 13 Offaly were the better side and should hav scored at least 1 goal in the 2nd half with their counter attacks . Don't know why they subbed Allen . He caused us problems all day .

Today's Indo called the game entertaining! Who writes this stuff? The black card doesn't work in the bottom tiers , the game was pulling and dragging all over again. You could not honestly say you enjoyed watching it?

Despite sealing promotion with a game to spare, ye seem very disheartened lads! This year league is just if not more important than championship as this promotion is a sign of progression and chance to play better sides next year. Whoever wins between ourselves and Offaly in May is then in for a serious hiding more than likely unfortunately, therefore promotion and a league final victory are tangible signs of progress.

Performances seem to have been patchy throughout league, probably best summed u by the Waterford game, which was typical Longford -very good in patches and headless in probably more patches!

Like a lot of counties, Longford are in no man land, not good enough for  a Leinster challenge but better  or as good as probably 10 other side, so until such time as a proper secondary competition is introduced, thats treated seriously then we're going to continue treading water and yo-yoing between divisions 3 and 4.

Missed the game as I was away but kept in touch on twitter.

I know it seems the last few performances were rank but we're out of Div4 and that's the main thing. I wasn't hopeful at the beginning but it would seem that while we are bad, there are teams a damn sight worse.

An evening out in Croke Park now and that's always welcome and the chances of a good auld fashioned baytin are remote.

Awful display by Carlow on Sunday v Leitrim. 19 wides, 7 different free takers, 6 who missed. As it turned out with Longford beating Offaly, even if we'd won the game promotion was not possible.
But it was continuing a worrying theme where we play terribly at home and are decent away.Very lucky to beat London, a seriously fortunate draw v Wicklow and that hammering by Leitrim are what we we did at home. Away we drew with Antrim, beat Waterford and were very unlucky to lose by a pt to Offaly, playing well in all 3 games!

Playing Laois in championship which unfortunately is at home. We'd honestly be better off in Portlaoise.

Offaly v Antrim should be a great game on Sunday. Hard to call who'll will it but wouldn't at all be surprised if Antrim come down and scrape it.

I think it could come down to a shootout between CJ McGourty and Niall McNamee. Hope we can edge it but it is a big ask

its Willie Mulhall and Bernard Allen who are doing the scoring for offaly, McNamee is centre forward and is playing abit out from goals, but could be alot closer to them come sunday,

So its a rematch before the championship in Div 4 final with ourselves and Offaly . Only 4 of starting 15 against Offaly  started  today , the couple of walkouts from last Sunday  hasnt seen to have any affect on team . Going to be 2 very tough games .

Quote from: The Insider on April 05, 2015, 03:47:19 PM
So its a rematch before the championship in Div 4 final with ourselves and Offaly . Only 4 of starting 15 against Offaly  started  today , the couple of walkouts from last Sunday  hasnt seen to have any affect on team . Going to be 2 very tough games .

Who walked out and why! Strange after winning promotion with a game to go..

Brilliant result. Its all gravy now. Well done Pat and the lads. Lot of local derbies in div 3 next year!

they play longford in croker and then in tullamore in the championship i think offaly will have their eye on the game in tullamore, but with 15 men i think they will do the job in croker in two weeks.

Without naming names it seems that 1 lad got the hump because Liam Connerton was introduced as a sub v Offaly ahead of him having only offically joined panel  after the U 21 finished . The player seemingly left park before the game was over and has allegedly since been joined by another if not of his 2 club mates . Had both remained they both would  surely have been used yesterday v Carlow and used game to prove team  management wrong .

Was surprised to hear at the game Sunday that a few had left the Longford panel alrite. But was talking to a dad of one of the players and he was saying his son will be packing it in after this year too as the commitment is too much. Seemingly they were due in for training yesterday morning after playing on Sunday! Crazy stuff.

As for the game itself, Longford blitzed us in 1st 15 mins 8-2 then we woke up and after that it was an even entertaining game. Some great scores by both sides and as always in Div 4 a few weird ref decisions. We should have had at least 2 black cards but didn't get them, and then for a free won by a dive by McCormack the Longford defender got a black card! Our corner forward was fouled inside the line and it was an obvious penalty but ref went to umpire and gave a free in! At a vital part of game too a goal there and it was a 1pt game.

For us, it was a 3rd defeat in a row and after such a promising start to the league it's all gone back to normal. Talk of players dropping off panel now and a couple who were "injured" still managed to play for their clubs on Sunday evening.

As for Longford, well done on the promotion and if that's a lot of back up players then in attack ye'll be fine. Defence might be a problem.

Horrible injury to your no 9, it looked from the stand like a broken leg. Has that been confirmed? Just landing wrong while going for a high ball, but it looked terrible.

I thought it a little unfair alright to bring in the U/21s as soon as they were knocked out. They could have waited until after the league and then name a new squad for the Championship. After all promotion was secured without the U/21s.

Connor Quaine the player carried off has bone bruising . Sean Mc Cormack left the panel along with Mark Hughes who was the player who seemingly was put out by Liam Connerton coming on as sub in the last home game ahead of him .It was Marks 4th ?  year on panel and has had plenty of time and opportunity to nail down either a starting place or getting more time as a sub , rather than the fleeting time he got in the league this year. Team management wanted more competition for places as one complaint from the Longford supporters was the fact that it was harder to get off the team than on it . From last years championship team we lost Damien Sheridan , Shane Mulligan , John Keegan and Paul Barden and still got promotion . A number of the U 21's have been added with more to come next year . Another player likely to be back is Seamus Hannon who captained London in Connaught final in 2013 who has returned home and will be back playing with home club this weekend.

Its interesting as it was very clear from his various times on co-commentary on Shannonside last year that the current Killoe manager is no big fan of the Jack Sheedy regime......I'd say those 2 lads were made felt like heroes when they went back to club training!!!

Excitement mounts as throw-in nears.

5.15 pm this Saturday in Croke Park. It's also live ar TG4.

I expect a classic with young folk in many many years hence to gaze into their pints and say, misty-eyed, that "I was there".

Hopefully Armagh and Fermanagh turn up early and have a look at Rale Football.

Act II of a trilogy that will be more remembered and celebrated than the Dublin-Meath saga of 1991.
Croke Park will be shaken to its foundation as the two giants of the midlands collide.
Offaly by 2.

Nice win and good performance. Obviously means nothing in terms of 3 weeks time, but it's nice to see Offaly play with speed and take good scores. As I said everything from now on is gravy, and Offaly played a bit like that today.

Baldrick-ian cunning plan by Longford  8)

Quote from: Shamrock Shore on April 25, 2015, 08:41:03 PM
Baldrick-ian cunning plan by Longford  8)

A cunning plan which involves re-hiring the ref ye had for league game ;-)

Offaly will be well aware that Longford dropped off the intensity during the second half. However it was a good way to win. Longford might be worried all the same about the wides, the missed frees and a keeper that doesn't stop much.

Offaly might need to look at pressing Longford harder on their short kickouts and not conceding the first few passes as easily. The forwards are going better this year. Far less dependance on McNamee and not everything needs to aimed through him. That said, he was wasted outfield and his move closer to goals facilitated the first goal and a lot of decent play after that.

He also struggled wth Masterson going forward himself. I think you might need a more mobile lad on him come the 16th.

Quote from: Shamrock Shore on April 25, 2015, 08:41:03 PM
Baldrick-ian cunning plan by Longford  8)

I Think offaly were in a different class to Longford and with 3 more weeks to work on you will find they will be in a different class to Longford in tullamore also. offaly are way better this year under Flanagan  than last year, when its 15 again 15 Longford  will have no answer to offalys running game or forward power as was the case yesterday.

Offaly played the most attractive football of all eight teams in the 4 League finals. A joy to watch.

All four finals were blighted by shocking refereeing decisions. How can refs get so many decisions wrong.....

As for black and yell cards...... ruining the game

Quote from: AZOffaly on April 25, 2015, 10:45:38 PM
He also struggled wth Masterson going forward himself. I think you might need a more mobile lad on him come the 16th.

Yes, it was a concern early doors the way Masterson was able to push forward (under instruction presumably). Niall would probably have blown a gasket trying to chase him and it would have impacted on his attacking play. Better off to excuse him for tracking back and let him keep the spring coiled for attacks.
The pass he hung in front of Allen to send him through a gap between two backs made the first goal. Nearly every other player on the field would have passed it square to the chest and kept the play static. You need to use that creativity closer to the posts imo.

One of the pleasing things for me is the fact that in Mulhall, Allen and even Dunne you have finishers who can profit off a good pass, and so we're not relying on Niall to win ball, break ball, pass ball, shoot and score. He can become an integral part of the attack, rather than the entire attack himself. I also like that he is off frees.

As regards the Masterson question, I can see the benefit of Niall sparing himself by not tracking him, but in a close Championship game he will need to be tracked by someone. If they want Niall to be the orchestrator at #11, fair enough, but someone like Carroll will have to go with Masterson when he bombs on. You can't let him get an inspirational score when the game is tight and Longford get a huge lift off him.

The goals were all taken very well, I have to say.

A scoring centre back is a good weapon to have, because he'll invariably get a shot from straight in front of posts and won't be closed down as quickly.
I was discussing this during the game and had also nominated Carroll as the chaser, but the valid counter point was that Carroll would have to cover extra yards coming in off his wing, leaving the wing back free. So then it needs to be a zonal effort involving several players. Your midfielders, wing forwards and even a corner forward falling back 30 or 40 yards too. Or else give Maloney a licence to shoot out from centre back and fill in behind him. Then once you signal you are putting serious efforts into thwarting one player, he'll become a decoy to create space for others.
Anton Sullivan would be the quickest to make up ground going backwards, but would a bigger black card risk.

It's almost as if keeping 2 or 3 more defenders back, in something approaching a zonal marking defence, almost like a sheet, rug, or maybe a blanket would be the best way to stop him!

Quote from: AZOffaly on April 27, 2015, 12:05:54 PM
It's almost as if keeping 2 or 3 more defenders back, in something approaching a zonal marking defence, almost like a sheet, rug, or maybe a blanket would be the best way to stop him!

Can't see that working

The championship game will be different, Offaly will win by more! Longford are in free fall and the manager is trying to put a brave face on an unhappy camp.

Quote from: panc56 on April 27, 2015, 10:51:13 PM
The championship game will be different, Offaly will win by more! Longford are in free fall and the manager is trying to put a brave face on an unhappy camp.

Tell me about it.

Nevertheless, I've no doubt that his enablers on the County Executive will try to keep him for another year because "he got us promoted". (Of course, by that logic, "he got us relegated" to Division 4 in the first place.)

People probably think that the Mullinalaghta players didn't go in this year because we tried and failed to get rid of him last year.

No. Opposite way round. We tried and failed to get rid of him last year because we knew that our players wouldn't go in while he was there.

Quote from: Catch and Kick on April 26, 2015, 06:06:24 PM
Offaly played the most attractive football of all eight teams in the 4 League finals. A joy to watch.

All four finals were blighted by shocking refereeing decisions. How can refs get so many decisions wrong.....

I just watched a recording of the game. I cant understand what decision making process was going on in that ref head. Th eone that annoys me most, and he did it several times was to penalise the player in posession when they were surrounded by opponents and tied up with arms around the chest and upper arms.
Is this not a foul on the man with the ball ? I thought the only tackle on the man was a shoulder, everything else has to be directed at the ball.

If thats the case why dont referees implement the rules.

Do they not know the rules ? Do they know them and just make up their own as they go ?  Are they unable to make proper decisions in the heat of a match ?

I have never been a ref so I dont know the answer to any of these.

Also both sendings off would have been avoided if the ref had spotted that the Longford number 2 hopped the ball twice immediately before the schemozzle with Anton Sullivan.

Quote from: fearglasmor on April 28, 2015, 02:00:48 PM

Quote from: Catch and Kick on April 26, 2015, 06:06:24 PM
Offaly played the most attractive football of all eight teams in the 4 League finals. A joy to watch.

All four finals were blighted by shocking refereeing decisions. How can refs get so many decisions wrong.....

I just watched a recording of the game. I cant understand what decision making process was going on in that ref head. Th eone that annoys me most, and he did it several times was to penalise the player in posession when they were surrounded by opponents and tied up with arms around the chest and upper arms.
Is this not a foul on the man with the ball ? I thought the only tackle on the man was a shoulder, everything else has to be directed at the ball.

If thats the case why dont referees implement the rules.

Do they not know the rules ? Do they know them and just make up their own as they go ?  Are they unable to make proper decisions in the heat of a match ?

I have never been a ref so I dont know the answer to any of these.

Also both sendings off would have been avoided if the ref had spotted that the Longford number 2 hopped the ball twice immediately before the schemozzle with Anton Sullivan.

The dreaded choke tackle?

That is 'foul' is permitted when the ref can't see anything, when a team is either >10 points up or down, or when he has just given two frees in a row to that team.

Please keep up.