NFL Div. 4

[stevecw]

We after last Saturdays game will be well afraid of London next weekend. Last year when we lost to ye over there, we were struggling to get 15 guys over for the game. That loss was no surprise at all. Things were at an all time low then.

How come things were so bad last year? Was Hayes in charge or was that the year before?

No it was 2005 & 06when Hayes was in charge. Last year we had Andy Shorthall, who got no respect, lasted 5 league games...all defeats & then they go for John Kearns a former co goalie. He lost 1st game, then beat Longford, then went to London & lost by 11pts
Championship came we lost to Offaly by about 10 points, then barely got 15 to travel to Waterford to lose by 8-10 to 7 pts!!
Out of the best 15 players in Carlow...id say we were doing well if we had 5 for that champ game v Offaly. As for the TM Cup game, if i had a pair of boots & travelled to Waterford, i wud have got a game!! Thats how bad it got...there was phone calls, texts flying around that morning to round up 15 for the game!! 
But Bealin seems to have got things in order this year. All was going great til Offaly game, but nxt wkends response in London will tell a lot!

[irunthev]

I think London would rather be playing you later in the league when they have a few games under their belts. At this moment in time they are still trying to get themselves up and running properly. On the day anything can happen, but at this point in time, London have too many weak links and too many players with little or no experience in the starting 15. This will change as the year progresses and players are back from injury etc, but in this instance I think the O'Byrne Cup games will stand them in good stead for the trip to London. Although people might say they were only O'Byrne Cup games that Carlow did well in, they were still games. I think there is a point too that Offaly are far too good a team for this division, but only have themselves to blame for not ensuring they got enough points last year to get promoted. Realistically..... Offaly bare no comparison to Tipp, Waterford, Kilkenny and London and obviously Carlow on a bad day (or typically Carlow day... depending on your point of view). Certainly not writing London off this year or am I being critical of where they are at the moment, and they may well be worth two league wins, but Carlow should have too much fitness and game time at this in the year not to be favourites in London.

[AZOffaly]

Another interesting week in Division 4 this weekend.

Kilkenny v Waterford at Freshford. Kilkenny are taking a few hammerings thus far, so hopefully they can remain keen on the idea of playing in the league. Waterford must win comfortably here.
Offaly v Tipperary at O'Connor Park. Offaly will be buoyed by the big win in Carlow last saturday, and with Clare and Wicklow having already dropped points, they will be keen to inflict damage on Clare's conquerers. I hate to tip Offaly in anything, but you have to expect them to come through this with a bit to spare.
Clare v Antrim at Ennis. This may be tricky for Antrim. Clare will be smarting over their defeat to Carlow at home especially, and will be annoyed that they didn't do the business in Ardfinnan last weekend. Antrim are 2 from 2, including a good win in Aughrim, so you would expect them to come through, but Clare may well surprise us.
London v Carlow in Ruislip. Carlow will be shell-shocked by last weekend's collapse at home to Offaly, however they were well in the game at half time, which makes the second half even more puzzling. You would expect them to be better than London, but if the cobwebs are not cleared, London could do a number on them over there.
Wicklow are idle, so Micko can go to the Kerry game.

[OakLeaf]

Is there anyone going to any of the DIV 4 games, that would be willing to text updates to the Live Scores service on GAA Radio?  The number to send your texts to is 447624804328. The service is free for everyone to view at http://www.gaaradio.com/scores/liveScores.jsp . Thanks.

[stevecw]

Some great defending in the London/Carlow match.

Not anymore! Its Carlow 3-5 - 0-3 London at half time in Ruislip

[Square Ball]

Results:
Clare 0-03  Antrim 1-13
Kilkenny 0-08  Waterford 2-09
Offaly 1-11 Tipperary 1-07

Go Jody, I dont care who it is against, a win is a win

[stevecw]

Ended Carlow 3-10 - London 1-9. Made way too many changes and let them back into it in 2nd half. Ok at least its a win, but very hard to see us getting anything out of the Antrim game.

[Onlooker]

That was a fine effort by Tipp in Tullamore, with a very young team that could yet have a say in the promotion race.  Real progress is being made under new manager, John Evans, and I think that we will have some good days in the not too distant future.

[BallyhaiseMan]

Indeed good performance from Tipp.

Good performance by Kilkenny aswell, to keep within 10 points of a fairly decent waterford team shows they are getting better every game.

[stevecw]

Interesting weekend in Div 4. Was surprised Tipp ran Offaly so close, esp after Offalys 20 pt win last week. Also didnt expect Clare 0-3 - 1-13 Antrim
Waterford beat Kilk by 7, Carlow beat London by 7.

So by the looks of it...Antrim v Carlow on March 15th will decide who goes up with Offaly. Wow huge game...winner avoids Tommy Murphy for this year. If Antrim lose in Ulster or Carlow lose v Meath....as it stands whoever loses goes to the dreaded Tommy Murphy Cup. Other team can have qualifiers so dream lives on

[AZOffaly]

So by the looks of it...Antrim v Carlow on March 15th will decide who goes up with Offaly.

Wouldn't be so sure of that stevecw. If Offaly aren't on top of their game in 2 weeks time up in Antrim, they'll be beaten up there. In fact given Antrim's impressive wins in Wicklow and Ennis, they should be favourites for that game at the moment.

[saffron sam2]

Of course they should AZ. 

[AZOffaly]

Of course they should AZ. 

Ah now, in fairness. Wicklow hockeyed Offaly in the Tommy Murphy Cup last year, and we were unimpressive against Tipperary. In contrast Antrim destroyed Clare down in Ennis, and beat Wicklow fairly well in Aughrim.

Based on form lines, you'd have to make Antrim 10/11 and Offaly 11/10.

[Lone Shark]

I'm speaking here as a bookie, and not as a Biffo - Antrim will almost certainly be favourites for that game.

Stevecw, I can't help but think you're being a little over-optimistic saying that ye and Antrim will be the main players for second place - right now it looks a lot more likely that Antrim will go up as winners and second place will be decided in Aughrim when we play Wicklow. I'm not sure where else I see Wicklow dropping points for the rest of the year.

[Onlooker]

Carlow's heavy defeat by Offaly could cost them in this Division as their score difference is now very poor.  I do not see them as likely to win promotion.   Tipp v. Antrim could be a very important game yet.   Tipp are a young team, but are improving under an excellent manager.   They gave Offaly a bit of a fright on Saturday and are capable of doing damage to the promotion prospects of some of the more fancied teams.