THE pundits in the RTE studio barely gave Antrim a mention when it came to their Division Four synopsis last Sunday night.
Laois and Carlow – the top two on eight points from four games – got all the attention while the unbeaten Saffrons, who had beaten London in Ruislip to stay third with seven points, remained out of the spotlight.
The unintentional slight hasn’t gone unnoticed in the Antrim camp and they will be determined to change the picture at the top of Division Four over the closing three weekends when they play Laois (at home) and Carlow (away) before finishing their campaign with a trip to Limerick.
This weekend’s postponed game with Laois will have to be slotted in elsewhere after the O’Moore County scheduled flights to London for March 11 but, whenever it comes, it could be a make-or-break outing for Antrim.
“The next three games will determine where everybody goes,” manager Lenny Harbinson agreed.
“We have to play both Laois and Carlow and then we have to play each other (on the final weekend) and we have a difficult away trip down to Limerick and on any given day that can be another banana skin.”
With their pedigree, Laois were always expected to be in the shake-up for promotion and so too were Turlough O’Brien’s Carlow who went on an extended Championship run last year. Harbinson, in his first season in inter-county management, insists that he didn’t view any of Antrim’s games as a ‘gimme’.
“Going down to Waterford has always been problematic down through the years and, historically, Wicklow have always caused Antrim problems – even in my day,” he said.
“Then there are the logistics of getting to London so we won’t get ahead of ourselves because it’s a steep learning curve for the new management and we’ve all been involved in football long enough to know that if you don’t prepare diligently and respectfully for your next opponent you can easily get caught out.
“When the fixtures came out the only thing that pleased me was that we had four away games which would allow us to get to know the boys, create a bit of team spirit and bond a bit. That was the main thing I looked at.”
The only point Antrim have dropped so far was a 0-12 to 0-12 draw with Wicklow at Corrigan Park in their third round of games. They bounced back with that win London to stay hot on the heels of their promotion rivals and Harbinson is confident his side has the ability to clinch promotion as the division comes to the boil.
“All the teams will be relishing the fact that we’re playing each other,” he said.
“We respect what Carlow have achieved over the last couple of years and Laois have been number three in Leinster when it comes to Championship performances so we’re well aware of the challenges ahead of us.
“We can be competitive against both and if we are we’ll put ourselves in a position to kick on and hopefully win and we won’t be forgetting about Limerick either.
“The guys are all aware that on RTE last week they were basically saying that Carlow and Laois are the two teams for promotion. That’s the way the table looks and it’s up to us to go and perform, do something about that and put ourselves in a position because our destiny is in our own hands.”
