Who’s for the chop and who can avoid the drop?

Cork, Down, Meath and Offaly are all battling to remain in Division Two of the Allianz Football League. And with the introduction of the Tailteann Cup more than pride is at stake this season.

Cork manager Keith Ricken, centre, leaves the pitch with his players after their Allianz Football League Division 2 defeat to Galway. 

For the four counties involved in the mini-league at the bottom of Division 2, the survival stakes are considerably raised this weekend. In Newry later today, the two teams currently mired in the drop zone - Offaly and Down - won’t get a better chance to record their first win of the campaign, while in the second of the weekend’s relegation four-pointers, fifth plays sixth tomorrow in Navan as Meath entertain Cork. The collective inertia of the quartet means no one team has yet been cut adrift at the foot of the table. Indeed, their weekly efforts to outdo one another on the below-par performance front is summed up by the fact that Cork, despite collecting only one point from four games, aren't in either of the relegation places.

The strong likelihood for whoever is relegated will be heading for the Tailteann Cup this summer, unless of course a path can be found to their respective provincial finals. But if ego and pride can be parked, these counties will quickly realise that second-tier championship fare is no life sentence.