London have another opportunity to taste success in the All-Ireland Football Championship when Antrim visit Ruislip on Saturday afternoon.
There was plenty of optimism going into the Connacht Football Championship quarter-final meeting with Leitrim and indeed the Exiles were favourites to progress to a last four clash with Mayo.
Paul Coggins’ men led for long stages but they were restricted to just three points in the second-half and there would be no building on the success of 2011 where they achieved their first in 34 years.
Their performances in the league were poor and having failed to beat arguably the worst side in Connacht, this is exactly the type of game they need.
Antrim is a much tougher challenge than Leitrim so a big improvement is required, especially in front of the posts, with poor finishing a telling factor in the defeat last time out.
The Saffrons were also involved in a tight encounter in their provincial, going down to Monaghan, after throwing away a lead to lose by three.
It is a must-win game for Liam Bradley after some poor results in recent years, with little impact in 2011, failure to make promotion this season and another limped exit from the Ulster Championship against the Farney men.
London boss Paul Goggins is hoping to see his side dig deep and trouble Antrim: “It is going to be a very difficult game. They are one of the better teams in Division 3.
“They put in a big performance against Monaghan so we realise that.
"They would be favorites but at the end of the day we’ve got the game in Ruislip, we have the experience of playing there and we’re hoping to put in a very, very big performance.”
It will be a tense opening in Ruislip but Antrim should have the extra bit of quality to prevail over the 70 minutes.
Verdict: Antrim
