Allianz League: Connacht sides lead Division 4 charge

One of the most intriguing aspects of Division 4 is the fact that there is the guarantee that a side outside the top three tiers of league football will be part of the All-Ireland series in the new look championship.

With London, Leitrim and Sligo (New York don't partake in the league) on one side of the provincial draw, detractors to the new championship have held this up as one of the oversights of the new structure.

Sligo and Leitrim could well be the sides facing off for a place in the Connacht final – though London and New York respectively will have plenty to say about that – and they meet in the final round of fixtures.

That too throws up another aspect of the revised calendar.

This year’s league finals are fixed for the first weekend of April. A week later, Sligo, Leitrim and all of the Division 4 football counties begin their championship campaigns. There’s much we won’t know until the dust settles.

Staying with Sligo and Leitrim, both will be hoping to progress from last year where they pushed for promotion before finishing third and fourth respectively.

Andy Moran’s first year in charge was solid. They won more than they lost – the final round defeat to Sligo was perhaps their most disappointing performance – and Connacht was around about what they expected – a win over London followed by a heavy Galway defeat.

Failure to reach Croke Park was a disappointment in the Tailteann Cup – a morale-boosting win over Antrim was followed by an agonising shootout defeat to Sligo, but Moran’s second year in charge will be crystalise his tenure.

The Yeats County for their part did make it to Croker last year, pushing Cavan all the way for a place in the Tailteann Cup decider, and Andy McEntee seems to be building on a solid