Plotting the great escape from Division 4

WHEN Clare travel to Dr Cullen Park in Carlow on Sunday, March 24, Mick O’Dwyer will find one of his former players in the home dugout. Former Kildare footballer Anthony Rainbow is in his first year as Carlow manager. He played under the now Clare manager, when O’Dwyer managed Kildare for two spells in the 1990’s and in the early part of the last decade. Kildare reached the 1998 All-Ireland final, where they lost to Galway.
“Micko’s greatest attribute is his man management skills in relation to getting the best out of players. He’s done that everywhere he’s been,” Rainbow told The Clare Champion this week.
“I’d like to think I learned a few things from Micko in my playing days. He always has something up his sleeve. He’s a fantastic manager and has done so well with so many different counties. He transformed football in Wicklow, Laois and in Kildare and with what he did with Kerry in the ’70s and ’80s, he’s up there as one of the best managers of all time,” the retired wing-back added.
Another manager with an eye on meeting Micko is London’s Paul Coggins. Clare is due to play London in Cusack Park on Easter Saturday, March 30.
“Last year with Micheál McDermott, they were very, very unlucky not to get promoted. It was just a kick of a ball. They were just as good a team as Wicklow. I don’t expect Clare to be any easier this year with a nice new young manager at the helm,” Coggins said.
“I’m looking forward to that meeting. We had a good effort against Clare last year in Ruislip. We were very competitive for most of the game. There’s a really high level of teams in Division 4. It’s going to be awful competitive but we’re looking forward to the Clare game,” he said.
Clare’s first away game will be in Carrick on Shannon on Sunday, February 10.
Last Sunday, Leitrim won the FBD League, beating Sligo by three points. They are away to Limerick in their opening game this weekend.
“Our goal, first of all, was to compete well in the FBD, with a view to getting us up to a certain standard to compete in the league. We’ve done that but we’re very well aware of what lies ahead for us, early on in the national league,” Leitrim joint manager, Barney Breen commented.
“Limerick away is a crucial game for us. Our matches against Clare every other year seem to go for and against us. Clare were very close to going up last year. We have them at home, which is a bonus to us but it’s still a tough, tough game. We have put ourselves into a position, now, where we can seriously compete. Maybe last year we had a lot of players leaving. There’s a lot of them coming back now. Most of last years squad are also around,” he revealed.
Limerick manager, Maurice Horan has very recent experience of Clare, who defeated his side by a point in last year’s Munster semi-final. More recently, Limerick beat Clare in extra-time in the McGrath Cup quarter-final in Foynes on January 13.
“Clare have been there or thereabouts in the last couple of years. On two of the last three years, they’ve been in the shake up on the last day. They were very unlucky last year and I think we were very lucky against them in 2010. I expect Clare to be very competitive. There’s a great backbone to that Clare team with Brennan, Tubridy and Gordon Kelly. It’s an impressive enough spine,” Horan stated.
On a general note, Horan feels that every Division 4 game will be a huge battle.
“Division 4 gets more competitive every year and this is definitely the most competitive Division 4 I’ve seen. Every team had good wins in the championship last year. All teams will be very keen to get out of the division.
“I think in the last couple of years, one team has more or less ran away with the division, leaving the other teams left fighting for second place. This year I don’t think you’ll see that. There won’t be a clear-cut, runaway leader. Every team will be taking points off other teams. Each game is going to be fiercely competitive,” he predicted.
He is wary of Leitrim’s visit to Limerick on Sunday.
“They’ve just won four games in a row. They’re definitely on an upward curve. They’re going to be very confident. They had a good qualifier campaign qualifier campaign last year and I’d say they got a lot of confidence from it. They’ve managed to sustain that confidence,” he believes.
Leitrim’s Barney Breen acknowledges that winning the FBD League has lifted the entire county.
“We’ve had four wins out of four, which is great. It’s unheard of up here. It was a huge bonus to get a fourth game in the FBD League and to win it. It sets us up nicely for the first round of the national league. We’re starting from a higher base over last year. It adds to the competition within the squad and we’re in a situation now where we find it hard to pick teams,” he said.
“We’re away to Limerick and then at home to Clare. They’re probably the toughest games we’re going to have. The FBD League will stand us in good stead. Even London away is a tough one for everyone, which we found out last year in the championship. Most of the other teams, including ourselves, will have serious aspirations of winning promotion. Limerick, Clare, Offaly and Tipperary all have serious ambitions of getting promoted,” he maintains.
Anthony Rainbow doesn’t deny that he is a bit apprehensive about his managerial debut with Carlow, away to Tipperary, this weekend.
“All of the preparation that has been put in over the last two or three months, you will really see has it worked on Sunday. Tactics, fitness and strength levels are going to be really tested. You would be getting a bit nervous coming into the first league match of the year.
“If you look at Division 4, there’s some very, very strong teams in it. It’s probably one of the more competitive teams in the league. I’ve had experience with that from last year, when I was a selector with Carlow. Even going over to London in Ruislip, it’s a tough game,” he said.
His counterpart in London, Paul Coggins, rues the fact that London were unable to take part in the FBD League this January. They are at home to Offaly in round one.
“The weather hasn’t been great over here for the last couple of weeks, which has made things difficult for preparations. Plus we haven’t had the game time that the other counties have had. But we’re going to have to start as fast as we can. It’s probably going to affect our performance in some shape or form,” he feels.
“Last year, we had the FBD League which, was an advantage. Unfortunately due to financial conditions and other issues, we didn’t take part in it this year. But we’ve trained well and we’re looking forward to giving it our best shot,” the London manager added.

n The following is Sunday’s Division 4 fixture list. All games throw-in at 2pm: Clare v Waterford, London v Offaly, Limerick v Leitrim and Tipperary v Carlow.