NFL DIV3

[BallyhaiseMan]

Longford look pretty much doomed. I cant see them getting anything from Tipp
id expect the Rossies to beat what could be an slightly experimental enough Down team
Offaly Limerick and ourselves and Louth are toss ups.

You cant but be delighted for Tipp and their loyal football fans like Onlooker,
When they beat us in Round 2, i was disgusted with Cavan as i thought we had been caught by one of the minnows,
Tipp have shown however that they really are an emerging force and while they may be a year or two away from being able to seriously challenge Cork/Kerry in Munster, i believe they will get there.
Tipp and Down will likely struggle next year in Div 2, Fermanagh and Wexford just were out of their depth after making the step up,the same as Cavan and the Rossies were out of their depth last year,But playing better teams can only improve you so bets of luck to both of them.

Now to look at these permutations as to how we can get relegated 

[Lone Shark]

id expect the Rossies to beat what could be an slightly experimental enough Down team

I'd be amazed if Down went with an experimental team. A ten point win for Roscommon in the Hyde is obviously unlikely, but it's not impossible and if you had a weakened team out and Ros got a couple of first half goals, it could all start to go very wrong very quickly.

I'd say they'd play an experimental team in the final before they'd play one here myself.

[Louth Exile]

Knowing a bit about the Tipp lads, there is no danger of them going on the lash, Shamrock Shore.  However I would expect John Evans to give some of the panel a run in the Longford game and so give a break to some of the Under 21's who have had to play so many important games in the last few weeks.  Division 3 has been so tight for so long, until yesterday really, that you would have to say that there was very little between the 8 teams and that Tipperary and Down will find the going tough in Division 2 next year.  That is for another day, however and for now all of us success starved Tipp football supporters can enjoy our second promotion in 2 seasons.

That is another thing to credit Tipp on, having to play U-21 championship matches the day before NFL games. Some teams would have more exposure that others. I heard that 8 of the Tipp team against Louth had played the previous day! Ridiculous scheduling from up on high, but further emphasises Tipp's achievement in gaining promotion

[Rossfan]

Jaysus lads there's not much chance of us batin anyone never mind by 10 points.
Our hopes lie with Limerick beating Offaly or Cavan beating Louth.
Wins for Louth and Offaly coupled with the now expected hammering from Down would see us go down
Yesterday's performance was as bad as anything seen in the Maughan days.
I'm afraid the new found enthusiasm for life under Fergie has been worn off a lot of players following 4 games in successive weeks. There is no hunger or desire or anything resembling enthusiasm from a whole host of players most of whom must surely be on their way out. Only question is when? Do we run with them till the end of the Championship or use the panel review end of the NFL  to unload most of them and throw in 9 or 10 U21s?
For the record I expect Offaly to beat Limerick and even though we'll lose to Down we'll just shade Limerick on point diff. Tipp will end on a high beating Longford while I expect the greater need to drive Louth to victory over Cavan.

[Rossie11]

Agreed we were awful yesterday and in serious danger of receiving another hammering next week. We were like a team that only met
an hour before throw in. Clueless and even the basics like picking the ball off the ground seemed a chore.
Would expect Down to beat us 7-10pts and leave us relying on a favour to stay up.
A worrying week ahead for Rossies

[western exile]

this has been a very close division this year. It is amazing that going into the final round of games that only the top 2 teams (Tipp and Down) are sure of avoiding relegation 

[AZOffaly]

Just to add my Congrats to Tipp. They were probably the best team we played in Division 4 last year, and have proven that they have moved on, while we indulged in codology.

Fair play to John Evans, and I hope Tipp can become the new Limerick in Munster. They won a minor back in 95, and have been close a few times at underage. With Evans on board, who is a good man from Laune Rangers, they'll continue to improve.

[Onlooker]

The congratulations to Tipp from the other Div. 3 counties are much appreciated.  This is what the GAA is all about.  We all have our bad days and the good times need to be enjoyed. IMO the Under 21 situation was very unfair to Tipp and Roscommon who were involved in Connacht the previous week.  Tipp looked for a postpoement of the Under 21 Final, as the other 3 provincial finals have not yet been played, but there was no give from Cork or the Munster Council.  This did not surprise anyone.  The story with the Under 21's, Louth Exile is that a full strength Tipp team would have 6 Under 21's on the starting 15, including 4 defenders and probably 2 forwards.  For the game against Roscommon, which was played the day after the Under 21 semi final against Clare, only 2 Under 21's started and 2 came on as subs.  The team picked to play Louth did not include any Under 21's, but a change was made before the game and Ciaran McDonald played at full back and Brian Fox came on as a sub.  This meant that McDonald played 4 games in 8 days.  This lad is Under 21 again next year and is developing into a very fine player indeed.  He is the best defender Tipp have produced in many years.  Like everyone else I thought that Tipp had only a slim chance of avoiding relegation to Div. 4 before the League started and Tipp's form in this year's league has been a revelation to everyone in the county.  Div. 2 will be a major test, but what harm. We'll enjoy that too.

[Maguire01]

Div. 2 will be a major test, but what harm. We'll enjoy that too.

Well without wanting to put a negative slant on it, it means that Tipp are away from Division 4 for at least 2 years. That gives them plenty of time to consolidate their improvement. And even if they only last one year in Division 2 (as with Monaghan in Division 1 two years ago), it's nice when it lasts, to play against better opposition on a regular basis. You won't win as many games, but when you do win, it will be even sweeter.

[Trevor Hill]

Congrats to Tipperary. Hell of an achievement. Hopefully we will be seeing you again in the Division 3 final.

[Onlooker]

Congrats to Tipperary. Hell of an achievement. Hopefully we will be seeing you again in the Division 3 final.

I would say that is a certainty and as one who saw Down playing in their glory days, I look forward to an enjoyable match.  Both teams will have got promotion and anything after that will be the icing on the cake. There is no way that Down will slip up on promotion now.

[Billys Boots]

Fair play Tipp, very good work with a small player base.

[This Years Model]

Congratulations Tipp, not only on the promotion, but on the style of it - 5 consecutive wins including 3 on the road. Remember this time last year they needed to win their last two games and hope that Waterford would do them a favour by winning up in Casement (which the cheeky buggers did, fulfilling their obligation to produce one shock every year. Pity their shock result this year was to lose to London  )

Onlooker (or anybody for that matter), is it out of the question that Declan Browne could be tempted out of retirement to supplement what is clearly a very dangerous forward line for the summer ....?? He must be only 32/33?

[Onlooker]

Declan Browne suffered a serious knee injury playing for his club last Summer and has not played since.   I am sure that he is hoping to be able to play for his club later in the year, but it is not certain that he will be able to do so.  I fear that the injury has ended the possibility of him coming back to the Tipperary team.  He will be 31 this year and it would be brilliant to see him back in action, so hopefully he will get back to club action this summer.

[Onlooker]

Now that the promotion issue has been more or less settled as Tipperary have secured their place and Down are as near to being certainties as is possible for the other place, what are the thoughts re relegation to the dreaded Div. 4.   Longford are in serious troule, but the other place could be filled by any of the counties apart from the promoted pair.  If Louth can win their home game against Cavan they will put serious pressure on all the other counties.  It is a relief not be involved in that battle.