Allianz Football League Division Three
Antrim v Sligo (Corrigan Park, Sunday, 2pm)

BETWEEN the standoff surrounding the venue of the Ulster SFC quarter-final and further tweaks to the new rules in football, there are no shortage of talking points ahead of Antrim’s Division Three game against Sligo at Corrigan Park on Sunday, but the only thing that matters for the Saffrons is gaining two points and removing the threat of relegation.

Andy McEntee’s men go into this game knowing that victory will secure their place in the third tier for another season, but anything less and the prospect of dropping into Division Four becomes very real.

As it stands, Antrim hover just outside of the drop zone, one point above the Yeatsmen who grabbed a big win over Clare at the weekend, but they will be out of sight with a win ahead of the final round of games next week.

Fail to do so and the survival pendulum swings firmly in Sligo’s favour as a win for Tony McEntee’s men will see them leapfrog Antrim going into the final weekend and even a draw - which will keep Antrim narrowly ahead - gives Sligo more than a fighting chance considering their last game is at home to the already-relegated Leitrim, while Antrim travel to Kildare.

Therefore, the importance of this week’s fixture is impossible to downplay as Antrim seek to make it three wins from three on their home patch for the season in what could even be their last game in Belfast this year.

And it’s a tough one as Sligo have proven quality as although their League campaign had been underwhelming, their win against Clare highlights more of what they are capable of.

The most recent meeting between the teams occurred in the Tailteann Cup last year when ended with the sides locked on 0-20, while the Connacht side were seven-point victors when they met at Markievicz Park in the league earlier in the year.

Therefore, there can be no underestimating the challenge coming down the tracks as Sligo appear to be finding form at the right time and it raises the stakes for this do-or-die clash for both teams with so much on the line.

“You’re expecting Sligo to beat Leitrim the way it’s going, so Sunday is must-win,” said Antrim attacker, Patrick McBride.

“I wasn’t surprised they beat Clare, but more surprised they are in the position they are in because they beat us down there two years ago and we drew with them last year in Breffni (Tailteann Cup) and they got to the Tailteann Cup semi-final and only lost to Down in extra-time.

“I was expecting them to push on in the league this year, but they started slow and are only now getting momentum.”

Last week’s decision by the Ulster Council to fix their quarter-final with Armagh for Newry on Saturday, April 12 saw the Antrim players reaffirm their stance that should there be no change to that decision to set the game for Corrigan Park as the draw had deemed, then they will not play. The knock-on from that is every prospect they will be expelled from the subsequent Tailteann Cup.

“We have to look at it that we are playing Championship now,” McBride stressed.

“The whole story around the Armagh match may be massive, but it’s not on our radar because this Sunday is Championship to us. People on the outside who have followed the story but aren’t following how the league table stands may not know this Sunday is our biggest game of the year because of the impact it has on next year. We’ll worry about all the rest of it after the league but it is effectively championship on Sunday.

“We have a good home record and have got some really good results there over the last few years - beat Caban to stay up and then Wicklow last year to stay up - so we hope that will be the same on Sunday.”

There is still time for the right thing to be done and the game to be set for Antrim’s home ground, but there is every chance their season could be over by 4pm next Sunday.

Therefore, the importance of victory this week increases further and so too does the need for those who support the team’s stance to turn up and get behind them for what is a playoff game in all but name.

There are other factors to consider this week with tweaks to the new rules and the one that sticks out centres on the ‘12 v 11’ dynamic.

That came into being with the new rule that teams must keep at least three players at each end of the field, but also allowed goalkeepers to join the attack, which in effect, resulted in an overlap.

That has been altered this week where it is now deemed teams must keep four back, so if a goalkeeper gets forward, an extra outfield player must retreat to ensure it remains 11 v 11 on the attacking side of the pitch.

“I don’t think that will be much to get used to as you still have your three back anyway,” McBride opined.

“The only difference will mean you’ll have less time to pass the ball about as teams will go man-to-man instead of setting up zonally, so there may be less moving the ball left and right as teams can press out on the ball.”