ANTRIM manager Emma Kelly has set out her side’s league ambitions and has made no bones about targetting the Division Four title as the 2022 All-Ireland junior champions embark on their 2023 campaign.
“We are an intermediate championship team now and we need to get out of Division Four. We don’t want to be a yo-yo team moving up and then down again and to ensure that doesn’t happen we need to climb out of the fourth division,” said Kelly.
The Saffrons do not actually start that pursuit of a league title for another two weeks and first up on February 5 are familiar foes Fermanagh, whom they defeated in last year’s All-Ireland Junior Championship final after a replay.
The other three divisions throw-in this weekend, combined again for the first time since 2020, but the fourth tier remains split into two. Antrim are in Division 4A along with the Erne County, Carlow and London while Derry, Wicklow, Limerick, Leitrim and Kilkenny – making their return to senior inter-county football for the first time since 2018 – make up Division 4B.
The reason for the split is to save costs on teams due to London’s participation and although Kelly understands that, she would much rather being playing all eight counties in the league.
“I’m a bit disappointed in how the Division Four league has been split when everyone else is together and I understand it’s to save costs but at the same time, it’s disappointing because if you mess up and lose one of the games, it could come back to bite you, and you risk missing out on a place in the semi-finals.”
There have been no major departures from the squad in the off-season as they look to continue on their upward trajectory and since the beginning of December they have been back together planning for the new season ahead.
“We still have a pretty strong squad, some fringe players have gone but all the starters are back again. Ciara Brown is back as is Emma Ferran and other minors such as Anna Mulholland, Carla McKenna, Rachel Mulholland. It’s important to get them in and used to the transition.”
“Overall, we are happy with how pre-season has went. We have had a few challenge games, some stand-out performances and some girls trying to find their feet.
“It’s a massive year for us. We need to continue to step up, to improve and develop and not be a yo-yo county. We have the talent to do that. There will be hard games and we must learn to get through them.
“Division Four is massive and that is our aim. We need to get out of there. We need a good start and up against Fermanagh we know we will be in for a battle. It will be about taking one game at a time. We only Fermanagh, London and then Carlow we cannot afford to slip up if we want to reach the semi-finals. We will have one eye on the other half of the league but we have to get through our half first.”
Division Four Fixtures
January 22 – Group B: Leitrim v Derry, Kilkenny v Limerick
January 29 – Group B: Derry v Wicklow, Leitrim v Kilkenny
February 5 – Group A: Antrim v Fermanagh, Carlow v London
February 12 – Group B: Wickow v Limerick, Kilkenny v Derry
February 19 – Group A: London v Antrim, Fermanagh v Carlow; Group B: Leitrim v Limerick, Wicklow v Kilkenny
March 5 – Group A: Fermanagh v London, Antrim v Carlow; Group B: Wicklow v Leitrim, Derry v Limerick
March 26 – Semi-finals: Winner Group A v Runner-Up Group B, Winner Group B V Runner Up Group A
April 16 - Final
