Allianz Football League Division III Previews
Colm Collins
Division III looks set to be an extremely competitive tier in 2016.
Leinster rivals Kildare and Westmeath were both in Division I as recently as 2014, but after both endured successive relegations, they now find themselves in the third tier.
They are the obvious heavyweights in a division that features four counties from Leinster (Longford and Offaly alongside the aforementioned two), three from Munster (Tipperary, Limerick and Clare) and one from Connacht (Sligo).
Division III may not be the most glamourous tier, but a recent look at the promoted sides from the tier should give this year's group hope. Monaghan, now an established top tier side, were promoted from Division III in 2013 while Roscommon, also now in Division I, were promoted from Division III in 2014. Indeed, of the last six sides promoted from Division III, all remain in the top two divisions.
Allianz Football League Division III Previews
Sunday, January 31
** Clare v Sligo, Miltown Malbay, 2pm**
While neither Clare nor Sligo achieved spectacular results in 2015, both were solid, achieving respectable results in both league and championship. Clare, having survived the third tier, defeated Limerick in the Munster Championship before losing to Cork and then narrowly to Longford in the All-Ireland qualifiers.
Sligo, after a campaign of consolidation in Division III, stunned Roscommon in Connacht before a provincial final rout against Mayo of which the less is said, the better. Both Colm Collins (Clare) and Niall Carew (Sligo) remain in place for 2016, and despite strong competition in Division III, both can have reasonable expectations of a promotion charge.
Clare have enjoyed a good January, reaching the McGrath Cup final which they lost narrowly to Cork last Friday. It has been slighly more difficult for Sligo. Experienced defender Ross Donovan and talented forward David Kelly have left the panel, while influential forward Adrian Marren is ruled out for a few months due to a knee injury.
**
Limerick v Tipperary, Kilmallock, 2pm
This all-Munster clash in Kilmallock features two sides who had considerably different league and championship campaigns in 2015. John Brudair's Limerick were almost relegated from the third tier, surviving thanks to victories in their last two games over Clare and Louth. They swiftly exited the championship after defeats to Clare and Tyrone.
Tipperary battled hard for promotion last year and were widely tipped to rattle Kerry in the Munster Championship. Although that didn't quite happen, the Premier County had an impressive win over Louth before losing out to Tyrone in Round 3 of the Qualifiers, a match which turned out to be Peter Creedon's last in charge before he resigned and was replaced by former Limerick boss John Kearns.
Since taking on the job, Kearns has had to deal with something of a personnel crisis. He has lost Tipperary's top talent Colin O'Riordan to the AFL, the JK Brackens man apparently now excelling with Sydney Swans. Elsewhere, Steven O’Brien and Seamus Kennedy have joined the county hurling panel while George Hannigan and Ger Mulhair are out injured. On top of that, Kearns is without a number of Clonmel Commercials players, as they have an All-Ireland senior club semi-final coming up, so a challenging few weeks could be ahead for the Tralee native.
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Denis Connerton
Offaly v Longford, Tullamore, 2pm
These Leinster rivals were both promoted from Division IV last season, with Offaly achieving a cherry-on-top victory in the divisional final at Croke Park last April, striking four goals in a comfortable win in the decider. They then met again in Round 1 of the Leinster Championship, with Longford gaining revenge by recording a 0-16 to 0-13 victory.
They will know each other well then, with Sunday's encounter in Tullamore the fourth meeting between the pair in league and championship in less than a year. Pat Flanagan remains in charge of an improving Offaly for 2016, while Longford are under new management, Denis Connerton returning to the role he previously occupied from 2004-2007, replacing Jack Sheedy.
Connerton has enjoyed a good start, guiding Longford to their first O'Byrne Cup final in eight years. Although the Midlanders lost that final last Sunday to Meath in Navan, their strong run in January should give them confidence ahead of the short trip to Tullamore.
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Westmeath v Kildare, Mullingar, 2pm
It's hard to believe that just two years ago, Westmeath and Kildare were gearing up for a season of Division I football. The speed of their fall down the divisions is surely a cautionary tale for any county that gets carried away on the back of progress in the Allianz League.
The flip side is that many counties have shown in recent years that Division III is an ideal place from which to rebuild, and that will be exactly what Cian O'Neill and Tom Cribbin are hoping for in 2016. Both sides had somewhat mixed summers following their relegations last year. Westmeath enjoyed one of their best days in years by finally defeating Meath in the championship, but they followed it with heavy defeats to Dublin and Fermanagh. Kildare were routed by Dublin in Leinster, but rebuilt well in the qualifiers before a crushing loss to Kerry in the All-Ireland quarter-final, a 7-16 to 0-10 defeat which spelled the end for Jason Ryan as manager.
His replacement, Cian O'Neill, comes with a big reputation and hopes are high among Lilywhite supporters that he can now spark a renaissance in their football prospects. For Westmeath, the challenge for Cribbin is to recapture the spirit they summoned so spectacularly in the win over Meath. He was critical of his players for their league performances last spring, and he will be hoping they start as they mean to go on in Mullingar.
