LONGFORD MANAGER Luke Dempsey says Division Three games have reached championship intensity this year due to the spectre of being denied a route through the All-Ireland qualifiers for the relegated teams.

Dempsey has branded the ongoing adoption of the unpopular rule as "ridiculous" and "disastrous", arguing it reduces the credibility of the Tommy Murphy Cup which he maintains should have been more than a Division Four competition.

Longford have just one win from four games to date in a very competitive group but there is no panic yet as they are joined by Sunday's opponents Louth, Sligo and Leitrim on two points at the bottom, while Limerick have three. Dempsey claims he is not surprised by the fact that apart from four-out-of-four Fermanagh, the teams have all been taking points from each other.

"It was exactly what I had anticipated. We're down to the important last three matches now and we hope to get six points from them, especially as two of those games are at home. It's a very tough division, especially with the ridiculous rule they have that the bottom two in the division will not be allowed to participate in the All-Ireland qualifiers. Because of that, every team in the division is so intent on winning to avoid finishing down there.

"The Tommy Murphy Cup was never designed for the eight counties languishing at the bottom of Division Four. Of those eight counties, only four could win it.

"The same four or five teams have been winning the All-Ireland in the last 10 years, so the Tommy Murphy Cup should have been a meaningful second-tier competition.

"It's such a disastrous treatment of what was a great idea. It's absolutely ridiculous to connect Division Three to it and is really annoying."

Sunday's clash with Louth is a crucial "must-win" tie for both teams, according to Dempsey.