Preview: Allianz Football League Division Three
Down manager Paddy Tally.
Saturday February 9
Allianz Football League Division Three
Down v Westmeath, Pairc Esler, 7pm
Down are investing heavily in youth, but still did enough to prevail away to Sligo.
That was an important response following the opening loss against Laois for Down, who will be intent on producing a strong performance on home turf.
Westmeath have summoned a couple of good finishes to beat Offaly and draw with Carlow.
Jack Cooney will be reasonably satisfied with the start to the campaign and this is another revealing game for the midlanders.
DOWN: Rory Burns; Darren O'Hagan, Ruairi Wells, Gerard Collins; Stephen Fegan, Colm Flanagan, Johnny Flynn; Caolan Mooney, Conor Poland; Conor Francis, Paul Devlin, Kevin McKernan; Ryan Johnston, Pat Havern, Donal O'Hare.
WESTMEATH: Eoin Carberry; Killian Daly, Ronan Wallace, Boidu Sayeh; David Lynch, Jamie Gonoud, James Dolan; Denis Corroon, Noel Mulligan; Ronan O'Toole, Callum McCormack, Ger Egan; Kieran Martin, Joe Halligan, Sam Duncan.
Sunday February 10
Carlow v Longford, Netwatch Cullen Park, 2pm
These are interesting times for Turlough O'Brien's Carlow, who have settled impressively on the Division Three stage.
A win over Sligo was followed by a draw against Westmeath, but Longford, under Padraic Davis stewardship, also deserve credit for a splendid start.
Carving out a victory against Louth and drawing with Offaly minus the Mullinalaghta St Columba's contingent represents an adequate opening for the midlanders.
Whoever prevails in this match will be ideally placeed to push for a top two berth.
Ryan Burns impressed for Louth against Laois at Croke Park last Saturday.
Offaly v Louth, Bord Na Mona O'Connor Park, 2pm
Disappointed following opening defeats Offaly and Louth mustered up good performances last weekend.
Louth enjoyed their outing in Croke Park surprising Laois with Ryan Burns' supplying a reminder of his clever forward play.
Offaly divided the spoils with Longford in the midlands which was a decent draw following a harrowing reversal against Westmeath initially.
John Maughan will be eager to ensure Offaly make progress in the coming weeks and months so this 70 matters.
Laois v Sligo, O'Moore Park, 2pm
Laois left Newry a fortnight ago armed with Down's scalp, but the loss to Louth was a disappointment.
John Sugrue guided Laois to Division Four glory last year and there is a belief that the O'Moore county can continue to improve.
Louth, though, struck for goals at key moments and now it means Laois will be striving to eke out a positive result when Sligo hit Portlaoise.
Defeats to Carlow and Down leave Sligo as the only team without a point in Division Three. If the drop is to be avoided Sligo need to change that statistic quickly.
LAOIS: Graham Brody; David Seale, Shane Nerney, Gareth Dillon; Martin Scully, Stephen Attride, Colm Begley; John O'Loughlin, Kevin Meaney; Daniel O'Reilly, Donie Kingston, Conor Boyle; Paul Cahillane, Evan O'Carroll, Mark Barry.
