Rainbow warrior targets derby spoils

THE anorak with the transistor radio has long been an integral part of the matchday experience and his services will be in great demand in stadiums the length and breadth of the country tomorrow.

Bar Fermanagh, all sides competing in NFL Division One have a mathematical chance of either securing a semi-final berth or slipping through the trapdoor of relegation.

The importance of tomorrow’s ties transcend the league though, as managers and selectors will be hoping for signs of what Mick O’Dwyer refers to as “championship football”.

The ingredients suggest a tasty treat in store, no more so than in Portlaoise where, aside from a battle between semi-final chasers and relegation evaders, the derby factor of Kildare and Laois will also be thrown into the pot.

“I suppose it’s a vital game because, depending on results, we have to win it to stay up,” admits Kildare’s Anthony Rainbow. “You want to be playing in Division 1A and 1B every year. It’s a derby as well and clashes between Kildare and Laois are always tense.

“They’re usually fairly hectic. Laois will be looking for a semi-final spot as well and they need to win to be sure of that place because Down and Derry have eight points to their nine.”

Dublin and Kerry renew one of the GAA’s classical rivalries in a game where Paul Caffrey’s side will be looking for evidence that they can again challenge for the top prize.

So will Mayo, who host All-Ireland champions Tyrone out west.

Kildare may be approaching their task with more modest ambitions, but the principle is the same as they look to end a six-year provincial title drought.

“Laois are probably the form team in Ireland. They’ve only lost one game and drawn another and, if you’re looking at championship football, you want to be beating the likes of Laois and Dublin, Armagh and Meath in the league,” says Rainbow.

“Winning tomorrow would be a big boost to our confidence. Over the last few years, Laois have beaten us in the last three competitive matches we’ve played, so this is a vital game for us.”

Whatever the result in O’Moore Park, Laois have served notice of their intentions with a run of three successive wins over Ulster opposition that ended with a gritty defeat of Armagh in fog-bound Crossmaglen.

Their only regret right now is probably the All-Ireland championship campaign can’t begin tomorrow, but the next best thing is to guarantee another one or possibly two games in the NFL.

“If you ask any player, he wants to win as much silverware as possible,” explains Ross Munnelly of the desire to win the league.

“Probably, if you ask Micko, he’ll tell you that it’s one or two extra quality games before the championship.

“We’re not going to be playing until two weeks after a lot of the other teams. Carlow and Wicklow play to see who meets us so they’ll have that game under their belt. That makes it important for us to get that extra game or two in the league.”

The competition has become a useful barometer for summer predictions in recent years, with teams like Kerry, Tyrone and Armagh using it as a launch pad for bigger things.

Three years ago, Laois’s first Leinster title in generations was secured on the back of a run to the final and Dublin’s own success in the province last year was previewed by their new-found ability to close out tight games in Division 1A some months beforehand.

A month ago, the signs were not looking good for Laois, after an embarrassing 21 wides cost them victory against Meath in Navan but they have since improved in partnership with the weather.

Munnelly continues: “Sometimes that can happen. A rot can set in halfway through a match and someone has to stand up and be counted and take a vital score. Against Meath, none of us were able to do that.

“That’s where experience comes in and we’d hope if something like that happens again, we’d have someone prepared and wise enough to stop the rot.”

Gerry Loftus has brought a new emphasis to training and banter to the dressing room; Mick O’Dwyer is more driven than ever in his last year but the most important factor in Laois’s success has been injuries.

Or, rather, the lack of them. Aside from Kevin Fitzpatrick, every other player is reporting fit for duty week after week and when the Under-21 contingent are finally released back to the seniors permanently, the scramble for places should be titanic.

O’Dwyer is a lucky man and he knows it too. “There is a lot more cover because we had woeful injuries the last two years. Broken legs and cut ligaments and all that. Virtually the whole panel is fit and there is great competition for places. We’ve had one player injured out of the 30 this year, which is unbelievable.”

Kildare haven’t been so fortunate. John Crofton will be without at least eight bodies for the hop across the county border, with key men like Dermot Earley and Karl Ennis on the casualty list.

Had things been different, they could easily have been looking ahead to the last four this week instead of frantically peering over their shoulder at the looming spectre of relegation.

“We’ve probably had a few unlucky results over the league,” says Rainbow. “We’ve lost three games by a point and drawn one against Wexford. There was probably one or two of those games that we should have won. Had those results gone our way we would have been top of the division.”

The old saying is that the table doesn’t lie.

Expect it to tell a few useful tales tomorrow night.