If there is one standout to take from the Division Two Club Players' Competition it is the number of goals scored by Lisnaskea as they went on to take the maximum three points on offer.

John Reihill's side have flirted with promotion to Division One since he took over just falling away but with 20 goals bagged in five games they will go in with great confidence that they can challenge at the top once more.

And with three points already on the board it gives Skea a small cushion that they will be determined to hold on to.

An opening win against Brookeborough this evening (Thursday) a day before the other challenging teams play could lay a solid foundation for the Emmets.

But they will not be the only team looking at a promotion tilt.

Teemore will probably feel they have been down in Division Two for too long and will want to remedy that.

The Shamrocks had a mixed bag in the Club Players' Competition and consistency will be the key if they are to be promoted. The return of Ronan McCaffrey and Sean McNally will strengthen their challenge.

They travel to Maguiresbridge and will be hoping to add to their point they took forward from the Club Players' Competition.

A youthful Newtownbutler squad will be hoping they can build on the two points they secured in the Club Players'.

They topped their group before being beaten by Skea in the first place play-off and manager, Frank Mulligan has admitted that making the league final is the goal.

Kealan Fitzpatrick and Sean Conlon have been among the leading lights during the early season competition and with Diarmuid King to come back in their attacking threat will be strengthened.

Irvinestown and St. Pat's, Donagh dropped down from Division One and will be aiming to put a challenge in to bounce back quickly.

Shane McDermott's Irvinestown has a good mixture of youth and experience throughout the squad and with the addition of more from the successful minor teams of recent years Division Two should be a good blooding ground for the Naomh Molaise club.

Josh Largo-Elis, Kevin Duffy, Kevin McDonnell have been round long enough and Conor O'Hanlon should only get better in his second season while Mattie McDermott will be another useful addition stepping up.

Donagh had a season to forget in Division One last year and will be looking to bounce back and be competitive. They have a tough opener when they welcome neighbours and another team with promotion aspirations in Newtownbutler to Louis Leonard Memorial Park.

At Tempo, Ryan Keenan and Ryan Cassidy have come in and will be another side looking at promotion.

They have the likes of Aidan Breen, Ryan Breen, Lorcan McStravick and Tiarnan Bogue to lead the charge and with two points taken from the Club Players' Competition they are in a good position going into their opening game away to Coa.

But they will be wary of the O'Dwyers who snatched a draw when the sides met in the Club Players' Competition.

Coa begin on one point from the Club Players' and manager Gary Lynch is aiming for wins over the sides around them such as Maguiresbridge, Brookeborough and Aghadrumsee.

These four teams will likely battle it out in the lower half of the division.

Maguiresbridge will be hoping the return of the Fermanagh hurlers following their Lory Meagher triumph will see them go from strength to strength.

Aghadrumsee and Brookeborough blooded plenty of young players during the Club Players' and it will be a case of building on those performances when the league begins.

 Division Two is notorious for throwing a spanner in the works of a club's aspirations and expect nothing less this season as some teams fight for promotion while others do their best to upset the odds and expectations.

What the managers say

John Reihill, Lisnaskea: “There are some more experienced teams than us but at this time it is good to know we are fit to compete with these teams and it is clear the second division will be a very competitive league. Our aspirations will be to try to stay in the top half of the league but we know this will be a very difficult task. The team is young but has a few older heads too so we know that we need to continue our progress and improve further to have more success in the future.”

Frank Mulligan, Newtownbutler: “Heading into the league, we’ve set our sights on trying to get to a league final. That’s what we’ve been talking about from the start of the year, so, hopefully we can get a couple more men back on the field and push on and try to secure it.”

Ryan Cassidy, Tempo: “You’ll know more after the first few games. Really once after Fermanagh come back, and we can see the fixtures, we’ll know how the layout is but really we’ll be taking it a game at a time and hopefully we’ll be able to get everyone available and just try to give the best account of ourselves moving forward and hopefully that will take us to a decent position in the league.”

Gary Maguire, St. Pat's, Donagh: "We would be aiming to be competitive I suppose like any of the teams. Division Two is very tight this year and I’d say a lot of teams will take points of each other. Keeping lads fit is the key, if we can do that we will not be far away, but I suppose every team is in the same boat in that regard. 
"Club Players' went well for us, a lot of lads got a lot of games which will strengthen us in the long run. All to play for now as it’s ding dust to end of the season."

Gary Lynch, Coa: “We never get to far ahead of ourselves going into any league campaign we have a really young team still finding there way, without sounding like a cliche we take it a game at a time and see what happens we aim to take points of the teams around us(junior championship teams) and most other games are bonus territory to take points, but we certainly have the quality on board to surprise a few teams.”

Doanl Boyle, Brookeborough: "We have a young squad. Looking for them to gain experience. The more games the better. Hoping for improvements in each game and to be competitive against the stronger teams."

Adrian Diver, Maguiresbridge: “We are looking forward now to the league and having our full squad available. We want to make our home pitch a fortress and if we can win our home games and pick up some points away from home then we will be there or there abouts come the end of the league. We have shown in the past that we can compete against all these teams but a lot will depend upon injury’s and availability and if we get lucky with those, we could be in the shake up at the end.”

Jason O’Connor, Aghadrumsee: “Look we blooded in a lot of new players into the team during the club players league and a few of the games could have went either way and looking forward to the league we are aiming to push as high up as we can, the experienced lads have really brought the young lads on and with a bit of luck of getting a few lads back we can get real momentum to head into the championship, the lads have really trained hard and the other lads who have been out injured have really worked hard to get themselves available for selection come the league. The lads have been great so far and am looking forward to the league to start.”

Tony Collins, Teemore: "Again this year, we would just like to compete in every game and take it from there. You hope at the end of it, it takes you into a situation where you are pushing for promotion. The Club Players’ was a tight competition but it was beneficial to some of your younger players to give them a bit of a chance and blood them for senior league football."

Shane McDermott, Irvinestown: