NFL Division 2 2012

[GalwayBayBoy]

Remaining fixtures

Westmeath v Monaghan
Meath v Derry
Louth v Kildare
Galway v Tyrone

Tyrone v Meath
Derry v Louth
Monaghan v Galway
Kildare v Westmeath

Westmeath v Derry
Meath v Louth
Tyrone v Monaghan
Galway v Kildare

Looks grim for Louth alright. Hard to see where they will pick up enough points. Westmeath still have a chance but their next game against Monaghan is a must win I'd say. Derry have two 4 pointers against both Louth and Westmeath. Tyrone will probably win all their remaining games the way they are playing. Would not surprise me if we lost all our 3 remaining games so hopefully 5 points might just be enough.

[Syferus]

So if all three have a good chance of beating three of the current D2 teams, Galway, Westmeath and Louth, that alone that means at least one of the soon-to-be-promoted teams has a very good chance of being in D2 come 2014

Again, chances are the two newly promoted teams will only be playing one of these teams(most likely Galway) in 2013.

It's much the same with Monaghan and Derry, though. Meath are always a team I find hard to judge, they seem to be able to compete with top-tier teams on the odd occasion but overall they're the epitome of a D2 team. I don't see much reason to think they're going to beat any of those three D3 teams off the field.

[ross4life]

For me little difference between Div 1 & 2 our division is a level below it. Longford/Wexford may cope alright in Div 2 as both are free scoring & that's something you need to be before moving up a level. We have done well with all the players missing but it's been more hard graft than impressing to be honest. The last time we got promotion to Div 2 (2008) we were out of depth & Galway,Mayo gave us two bad beatings in championship only in the last few years have we found or feet & i think if we are lucky enough to get promoted this year we'll be in better shape than 2008 to compete.

[Syferus]

For me little difference between Div 1 & 2 our division is a level below it. Longford/Wexford may cope alright in Div 2 as both are free scoring & that's something you need to be before moving up a level. We have done well with all the players missing but it's been more hard graft than impressing to be honest. The last time we got promotion to Div 2 (2008) we were out of depth & Galway,Mayo gave us two bad beatings in championship only in the last few years have we found or feet & i think if we are lucky enough to get promoted this year we'll be in better shape than 2008 to compete.

And it all fairness in 2008 we were in the middle of complete implosion. We've now had a good four years of progress, which for me began with that 20 point drubbing in Castlebar in '09 and a gritty response to knock Wexford out over two games in the qualifiers. We did drop off into D4 in 2010 but it wasn't like we were non-competitive, we'd actually lead D3 with three games to go. It finally feels like Roscommon are building towards something and even though the performances aren't there right now it's so great to see the team pulling out good results, they've really built confidence over the last two and a half seasons. I can only imagine where this team will be in three years if they all stick at it, our ultimate aim in the league has to eventually be a competitive D1 team. If Mayo can do it..

[tyrone86]

It should be points difference, but as this is the GAA, I expect it will be head-to-head like last season (when Monaghan were relegated from D1, despite being 6th in the table).

The official guide is fairly clear - when 2 teams are involved it's head to head and any more than 2 it's scoring difference.

[Syferus]

It should be points difference, but as this is the GAA, I expect it will be head-to-head like last season (when Monaghan were relegated from D1, despite being 6th in the table).

The official guide is fairly clear - when 2 teams are involved it's head to head and any more than 2 it's scoring difference.

Which is the fairest system, if you beat a team you deserve to be ahead of them if you're on equal points.

[Maguire01]

It should be points difference, but as this is the GAA, I expect it will be head-to-head like last season (when Monaghan were relegated from D1, despite being 6th in the table).

The official guide is fairly clear - when 2 teams are involved it's head to head and any more than 2 it's scoring difference.

Which is the fairest system, if you beat a team you deserve to be ahead of them if you're on equal points.

It's not fair if you don't have home AND away games against each team.

[ross4life]

It should be points difference, but as this is the GAA, I expect it will be head-to-head like last season (when Monaghan were relegated from D1, despite being 6th in the table).

The official guide is fairly clear - when 2 teams are involved it's head to head and any more than 2 it's scoring difference.

Which is the fairest system, if you beat a team you deserve to be ahead of them if you're on equal points.

It's not fair if you don't have home AND away games against each team.

Agree it not far for example we had a better scoring average than Wicklow last year but we had to beat them in Wicklow to gain promotion.

[Jinxy]

Why have the rossies invaded the Division 2 thread?
SHOO!

[Main Street]

Exactly, no one from Div2 wants to end up with the stain of Div3 infamy.

I have to say, Div 2 is not a bad place to hang around for a few seasons, before making a serious escape bid for Div 1.

[thejuice]

Wouldn't be shocked if we finished on 4 points. That said we'll probably lose the next 2 and beat Louth with a questionable late winner.

[Jinxy]

We'll bring Joe back for that one.

[Croí na hÉireann]

The difference at the moment is all three of Longford, Roscommon and Wexford are very confident in their abilities to compete at higher levels and are coming off good 2011 championship form. If one of them crashed and burned in the 2012 championship it might damage them but right now they'd have zero fear of the vast majority of D2 teams.

Wexford yo-yo'd after their All-Ireland semi but they've obviously built a very dangerous outfit over the last two years, but for a Masterson mistake Dublin wouldn't have been Leinster champions and but for a questionable point they'd have been in an All-Ireland quarter-final.

This Longford team is the finest I've ever seen, they play with a great unity and belief, as fit as any D2 team, and coming back from two sucker punch goals in the first half and a five point deficit in the second half to beat us (Roscommon) last week typifies the progress they've made.

The current Roscommon team has the potential to be a D1 team, of that I have absolutely no doubt. We're loaded with young players that'll take a few more years to fully develop but this squad is the most complete Roscommon panel since the early 90's, a team itself that was severely unlucky not to make the 1991 All-Ireland final. Roscommon historically have been a D1/D2 team, with us playing in D1 as recently as 2008, our recent skid down the league has done a very good job at masking the fact that we tended to, even when championship form was off, be a threat to any team in the league.

All three are coming off good championship form, Longford pushed Tyrone to the limit last year and we had a back-to-back provincial title in the bag (how many D2 teams can claim that?) but for a blizzard and were more than equal to Tyrone before our inexperienced bench meant we had no answer for subs of the quality of Brian Dooher and Owen Mulligan. That's a Tyrone squad that was better than the team currently cutting shreds through D2.

So if all three have a good chance of beating three of the current D2 teams, Galway, Westmeath and Louth, that alone that means at least one of the soon-to-be-promoted teams has a very good chance of being in D2 come 2014, and that's disregarding the fact Monaghan, Derry or Meath would be particularly confident of beating any of those teams. The standard gap is lower for these three counties than some others who've made the step up. Obviously the tie between the two promoted D3 teams next season will be crucial in deciding who stays up, but the teams coming down from D1 next season are unlikely to be as hot as Tyrone are this season either.

Westmeath have a bit of the Roscommon's about them at the moment, a team not doing anything in the championship but able to pull results out in the league, they're definitely are caught in the middle ground between D2 and D3. Tipp and Sligo didn't preform last year - Sligo are a team still damaged from the 2010 Connacht final - but the crop coming up will make D2 the most unpredictable division in the league next season.

Mayo Micks cousin? Roscommon were in Div 2 in 08. While Longfords form has surprised me this season they have been building under Glen Ryan for a few years now. It will be interesting to see how they get on against Wexford (the best team in Div 3 IMO) in their last league game, provided both teams have something left to play for. To say Roscommon and Longford are better than Galway, Westmeath and Louth and would put it up to Monaghan, Derry or Meath is a bit of a leap of faith. Wexford as they showed in championship last year would comfortably fit into the yoyo bracket between 2 and 3 with ourselves Louth, Antrim and Sligo. I'm not sure what Galway have done to be in this grouping, they have five points on the board after 4 games with a lot of new faces on board this year, they deserve the benefit of the doubt at the moment anyway.

[Syferus]

The difference at the moment is all three of Longford, Roscommon and Wexford are very confident in their abilities to compete at higher levels and are coming off good 2011 championship form. If one of them crashed and burned in the 2012 championship it might damage them but right now they'd have zero fear of the vast majority of D2 teams.

Wexford yo-yo'd after their All-Ireland semi but they've obviously built a very dangerous outfit over the last two years, but for a Masterson mistake Dublin wouldn't have been Leinster champions and but for a questionable point they'd have been in an All-Ireland quarter-final.

This Longford team is the finest I've ever seen, they play with a great unity and belief, as fit as any D2 team, and coming back from two sucker punch goals in the first half and a five point deficit in the second half to beat us (Roscommon) last week typifies the progress they've made.

The current Roscommon team has the potential to be a D1 team, of that I have absolutely no doubt. We're loaded with young players that'll take a few more years to fully develop but this squad is the most complete Roscommon panel since the early 90's, a team itself that was severely unlucky not to make the 1991 All-Ireland final. Roscommon historically have been a D1/D2 team, with us playing in D1 as recently as 2008, our recent skid down the league has done a very good job at masking the fact that we tended to, even when championship form was off, be a threat to any team in the league.

All three are coming off good championship form, Longford pushed Tyrone to the limit last year and we had a back-to-back provincial title in the bag (how many D2 teams can claim that?) but for a blizzard and were more than equal to Tyrone before our inexperienced bench meant we had no answer for subs of the quality of Brian Dooher and Owen Mulligan. That's a Tyrone squad that was better than the team currently cutting shreds through D2.

So if all three have a good chance of beating three of the current D2 teams, Galway, Westmeath and Louth, that alone that means at least one of the soon-to-be-promoted teams has a very good chance of being in D2 come 2014, and that's disregarding the fact Monaghan, Derry or Meath would be particularly confident of beating any of those teams. The standard gap is lower for these three counties than some others who've made the step up. Obviously the tie between the two promoted D3 teams next season will be crucial in deciding who stays up, but the teams coming down from D1 next season are unlikely to be as hot as Tyrone are this season either.

Westmeath have a bit of the Roscommon's about them at the moment, a team not doing anything in the championship but able to pull results out in the league, they're definitely are caught in the middle ground between D2 and D3. Tipp and Sligo didn't preform last year - Sligo are a team still damaged from the 2010 Connacht final - but the crop coming up will make D2 the most unpredictable division in the league next season.

Mayo Micks cousin? Roscommon were in Div 2 in 08. While Longfords form has surprised me this season they have been building under Glen Ryan for a few years now. It will be interesting to see how they get on against Wexford (the best team in Div 3 IMO) in their last league game, provided both teams have something left to play for. To say Roscommon and Longford are better than Galway, Westmeath and Louth and would put it up to Monaghan, Derry or Meath is a bit of a leap of faith. Wexford as they showed in championship last year would comfortably fit into the yoyo bracket between 2 and 3 with ourselves Louth, Antrim and Sligo. I'm not sure what Galway have done to be in this grouping, they have five points on the board after 4 games with a lot of new faces on board this year, they deserve the benefit of the doubt at the moment anyway.

It was a lot more murky than that. In 2007 we got to the final of the old D2(A+B), topping our division, but because of the restructure we ended up in the new 'D2' that contained Dublin, Monaghan near their peak, Meath, Armagh and Cork. That was not a normal D2. And, of course, Westmeath won the final.

Galway haven't won a single championship game in Ireland since June 2009; any fair Galway supporter would tell you that on form all those three teams have been better than them over the last number of years. Neither Derry or Monahgan have shown any more consistency or ability above and beyond what the best three teams in D3 have, indeed Roscommon have a provincial title in the last two seasons and Wexford were desperately unlucky themselves last season. Louth haven't showed much at all since last year's league and I couldn't see many rating them as better than any of the three. And with all due respect to Westmeath, the other three wouldn't be going in to face you with any trepidation and would likely be fairly confident of being able to beat you, at least privately.

We'll see, but Roscommon, Longford and Wexford have being making continuous progress for a couple years now while most of the other teams bounding around D2/3 have shown inconsistent form in league and championship games, Louth, Sligo, Tipp, Westmeath, Monaghan and Galway are coming off disappointing championships.

[charlie linkbox]

It was a lot more murky than that. In 2007 we got to the final of the old D2(A+B), topping our division, but because of the restructure we ended up in the new 'D2' that contained Dublin, Monaghan near their peak, Meath, Armagh and Cork. That was not a normal D2. And, of course, Westmeath won the final.

Galway haven't won a single championship game in Ireland since June 2009; any fair Galway supporter would tell you that on form all those three teams have been better than them over the last number of years. Neither Derry or Monahgan have shown any more consistency or ability above and beyond what the best three teams in D3 have, indeed Roscommon have a provincial title in the last two seasons and Wexford were desperately unlucky themselves last season. Louth haven't showed much at all since last year's league and I couldn't see many rating them as better than any of the three. And with all due respect to Westmeath, the other three wouldn't be going in to face you with any trepidation and would likely be fairly confident of being able to beat you, at least privately.

We'll see, but Roscommon, Longford and Wexford have being making continuous progress for a couple years now while most of the other teams bounding around D2/3 have shown inconsistent form in league and championship games, Louth, Sligo, Tipp, Westmeath, Monaghan and Galway are coming off disappointing championships.

Ah but come on, you're not comparing like with like. Provincial performance is relative to the strength of the province. Yours was a Connaught title; beating London, Leitrim and Sligo on the way to winning it. Not exactly a monumental feat or a yardstick for comparison with Monaghan or Derry.

Indeed, if you're going to compare the quality of teams in terms of provincial championship performance I'd argue that Roscommon wouldn't get within an asses roar of an Ulster final, something Derry did last year. And I'd point out that Monaghan ran Tyrone to two points in Ulster last year whereas Roscommon lost to Tyrone by eleven.