National league division four

Wicklow v Antrim

Sunday, Aughrim , 2pm

Martin Johnston has a good reason to be more excited than most about the final two games of the National League.

Yes Antrim are just two wins away from confirming promotion to the third division of the National League, and they are coming off the back of a great win against Limerick, but for Johnston, who played for part of that match. He’s just glad to be able to play.

“It feels great to be back. It feels great to have the months of rehab over. It is good to get back out onto the field and playing football. And it feels like I am back at the right time.”

Johnston was hit with the news last year that he had developed the issue of Osteo Pubitis, the same condition that affected Kevin O’Boyle, his Antrim team mate.

Johnston was forced to miss last year’s championship matches against Tyrone and Louth. He returned to play a little bit for his club, but for the past few months he has been rehabbing the injury. He didn’t need surgery, he just worked with a physiotherapist who helped him build the muscle so that he could better handle the problem.

“I have been feeling good so far.”

Johnston got to play a part of the win over Limerick, and he enjoyed the experience, even though the weather in Portglenone that day was difficult to play in.

“I thought there was a lot of good points. There was a strong performance from Odhran Eastwood who got 2-3. We performed well. It was a game of two halves, and we were happy to get the two points,” he said.

“It was right up there with one of our better performances. We are peaking at the right time.”

The league has not been straightforward, the loss to Sligo set them back, and then the draw with Carlow was another set back, but Antrim find themselves still in contention. And two more wins would be enough to see them through to promotion.

“We knew we had to bounce back. If we had have lost [to Limerick] that would have been our year over, and we would have been back in Division four next year,” Johnston said.

“There’s everything to play for. It is the same for the three or four teams. They all have something to play for. We just have to look after ourselves and try to do the job.”

Last season, it felt as though Antrim missed out on promotion because they didn’t recover from their loss to Derry in round one. This year, they are still in contention despite having dropped points.

“Compared to where we were last year, we are in a better place at the moment. We are playing well at the right time.

“Last year we wanted to win matches and play our best football. But when we didn’t win, boys dropped out, and boys lost interest.”

The opposite is the case this year. Mid way through the season it feels like the team is getting stronger. Johnston himself is back, but then there are also the McCann brothers from Cargin who have joined the set up. Paddy Cunningham is there too, though he’s been involved at the start of the season his presence highlights the maturity and experience that is around this squad.

Johnston said: “It is good to have them in there. It is what is needed. We need that experience. There are players on the team who have looked up to those boys. They have got to Ulster finals.”

Johnston also said that just as the personnel has improved so has the approach to training.

“It is more competitive. In my first few years, training was good. But this year it is better. Now we look at things in greater depth. We are looking at all the ways that we can improve. And what we have to do against specific opponents.

“Lenny (Harbinson) doesn’t leave any stone unturned. They are putting in the work with the video analysis.”

That work has lead them to the point now where two wins would get them to a league final.

Johnston said: “This is our semi-final this weekend. League is our priority this year. Getting promotion is our goal, it’s our season. So this weekend is our semi-final. And if we win that then we are in the final. They have six points. So they will fancy their chances against us.

“But we will take a lot of confidence from the Limerick game.”