NFL Division 3 Thread

[Turlough O Carolan]

As noted above Fermanagh can't be happy with that win and how Ros let that one slip I'll never know. We are in big danger of going down to Div 4 now, unless we can pull three or four wins out of our next five games. On a positive note, Ros showed great spirit after the drubbing from Cavan last Sunday and after going 3 down in second half recovered well to take control of the game. Really should have been about five or six points up before Fermanagh got that injury time goal.  However we badly need some scoring forwards and Senan Kilbride, Karol Mannion and David Keenan back to fitness. Very nice setup in Brewster Park under lights. The cups of tay served were very welcome too. Hate to criticise a ref but that lad must really have been dazed by the floodlights.

[hassletravel]

Cant see anyone going through this division unbeaten, wont be very much between top and bottom. Look at the two matches today, wouldn't be confident predicting either match

[magpie seanie]

Cant see anyone going through this division unbeaten, wont be very much between top and bottom. Look at the two matches today, wouldn't be confident predicting either match

Absolutely. Heading to Markievicz now - hopeful but not tremendously confident. We'll be in awful shit if we don't win today.

[haranguerer]

Cant see anyone going through this division unbeaten, wont be very much between top and bottom. Look at the two matches today, wouldn't be confident predicting either match

Possibly Antrim.

Everyone goes on about them missing the Galls contingent, but for one reason or another, that contingent is not as big nor as crtical as people think: Antrim are well used to playing without most of them. This coming year is likely to be the first one where the majority of the Galls boys are available for their county.

[SLIGONIAN]

Jees my heart was pumping in that 2nd half, Sligo have shown some bottle today, some heart and determination and workrate. Sligo 1-14 to Louths 2-10,

Sligo were cruising by 7 early in the 2nd half, and then got a marren sent off, and louth cameback, with a soft peno to put them a 1pt up but Sligo did fantastic and got 2 late scores with the 14 men sean davey and johnny scoring them.

Huge win.deserved win..stops the rot. Fair play to everyone. Delighted. Back in chasing pack now.

Why do Leitirim refs hate us, heard the c@@3 today did his best for Louth and radio said it was never a peno, the firs goal the louth took 10 steps at least and he they gave line balls against us clearly ours, and last but not least several of defenders got fouled and he played on.

[yellowcard]

Bradley is doing some job with Antrim at the minute. I doubted if they cold maintain the progress of last year but they seem to be a genuinely talented group of players and if they can maintain this form until the St Gals players come back they could gain 2 consecutive promotions. That would be some achievement considering where they have come from. That and the possibility of a St Galls AI title add up to heady days for Antrim football.

[magpie seanie]

In the end did well to dig out a deserved win but it never should have been this close. As Sligonian said it was a complete joke decision for the penalty and overcarrying for their first goal. Now I will say that the referee did consistently allow overcarrying by both teams today, to a ridiculous extent. Also, the error that let the Louth man through and our 'keeper staying stuck to his line with a man approaching at an angle would worry me more about the first goal. Overall I don't think the ref was all that bad. Got the penalty wrong, one line ball over the stand side in the second half obviously wrong (linesman's fault) but gave us a couple of very soft frees after the sending off (it seems to be tradition!). Overall he was picky but unbiased which is as good as you can hope for these days.

We played some good stuff at times and when we let quick ball into the inside forwards we made hay. Problems remain but I think we've little room to manoeuvre personnel wise. Central diamond has issues. Backs not as tight as usual (I expect it will come). Not enough (defensive) work out of some of the forwards. Marren will be a big loss if he gets the 8 weeks I expect he'll get. He was playing really well. Good to see Cos clicking back into good form too.

[SLIGONIAN]

Midfield is supposed to ba a disaster at present according to all my sources, Seanie whats your take? Mcgarrity and parsons coming up in the summer...

[ross4life]

well this Division is turning into a real Dogfight Much like last year it's gonna be only 2 point's difference from Relegation or Promotion

[mayo 4 eva]

Ref at Sligo vs Louth game was a complete joke imo.  On technical fouls he was crap (pulled for some things and not for others). This applies to both teams.  However an even bigger issue i have is his pulling for fouls that wernt even that physical.  That Kelly lad sligo have up front is some class act. Lightening quick.

[Farrandeelin]

Ref at Sligo vs Louth game was a complete joke imo.  On technical fouls he was crap (pulled for some things and not for others). This applies to both teams.  However an even bigger issue i have is his pulling for fouls that wernt even that physical.  That Kelly lad sligo have up front is some class act. Lightening quick.

Why weren't you in Omagh? Dating a Sligo girl?

[mayo 4 eva]

  No Comment on that!!;D Family ties on Louth team had me in Sligo today. Reckon we're safe in the championship!   

[Rossfan]

When I said they were awful, it was not there ability to get the ball that was there problem, it was there decision making and passing when they had it. A good team would have beat fermanagh by 7/8 points tonight with the amount of ball they had, but Roscommon just couldnt put fermanagh away and never really looked that likely too, even with the amount of ball they had. Your problem will come when you only get 50% of the ball. The full forward however was excellent at his frees!!

Both teams however were awful, so many unforced errors and misplaced passes, but I suppose it is still early feb and both teams did show good commintment.

With regards Div4, I feel we could both be heading there.

You could be right but it's still all to play for.
Our problem is we have no leaders in the 23 to 32 bracket, while the younger lads are still only going through the sorting out process to see who'll make it or not.
Yes we had a good spirited comeback last night but didnt make much use of possession ( as usual since .....2002) and only for Donie we'd be in some state.
ur only other scoring forward is out till May or June so it looks like a spell in OD4 before Ros can start to make any waves again.

[magpie seanie]

Midfield is supposed to ba a disaster at present according to all my sources, Seanie whats your take? Mcgarrity and parsons coming up in the summer...

Yeah, I can see why people are saying that and its a major worry. I'd always try to be positive so I'd ay "disaster" is a bit strong. There are many facets to midfield play and while we're struggling with a lot of them, some of them are getting better. Other aspects will improve as time goes on. We're fecked for alternatives personnel wise so we just have to hope that Kevin Walsh, with all his experience of this sector, can work something out. I'm hopeful that it will work out.

Today for example we didn't catch any clean kickout (Taylor caught one that another player had touched) but I think Louth only claimed 2 marks (we were probably helped by them losing Paddy Keenan before half time). We contested well in general and won a good share of breaks. Our own kickout can be a problem - dropping a kickout on J. Davey (who had gone short) and 3 Louth men just after conceding a goal a prime example. The two midfielders worked hard enough but use of ball not great at times, especially from Taylor which to be fair is unusual.

I'm probably being too positive but the way I look at it we've no other options so it HAS to work and in this situation maybe its better to hope than always point out the difficulty?

[imtommygunn]

Interesting division.

Antrim - Fermanagh next up if I'm correct?

It's hard to know where it stands. If Fermanagh beat Antrim it's wide open again. We've not beat fermanagh in a while...

Wexford would have a lot of experience in their team for this level of football so I'd have to say I'd favour them for top.