The Playr-Fit Championship promotion race has been the business in the 2023/24 season.
With as many twists and turns as a sidewinder snake in a division where no result is off-limits and no prisoners are taken, the hunt for a top-flight place has been fiercely competitive and involved a vast number of teams.
However, the breaking news that league leaders Dundela have been ruled out of the running has certainly rocked the Irish League landscape.
The east Belfast club, who have invested in and improved their Wilgar Park home by adding a pair of new stands along the dugout side and another behind the goal that backs onto the primary school next door, have categorically learned that they will not be able to host games in the Premiership at the venue and, as such, have decided not to apply for a Promotion Licence.
That’s due to the pitch at the Hen Run, as it is affectionately known for its compact surface and the closeness with which spectators get to the action, being four and a half metres too narrow – it is 55.5 metres in width where 60 metres is the minimum requirement to host top-tier matches.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Duns chairman Mark Snodden confirmed the club were refused special dispensation by the NI Football League and that they were unwilling to play home games at an alternative ground, admitting that “it was a kick in the teeth for us and has really knocked us for six”.
Stephen Gourley’s side can still win the Championship and, indeed, are in pole to do so, with 56 points picked up and five points separating them from second-placed Bangor having played a game fewer.
Even if they taste victory in the league, though, that still carries a knock-on effect for those chasing.
As it stands, Newry City, the bottom side in the Premiership, will be spared an automatic drop-out and instead be entered into the play-off against the second-tier’s runners-up.
The Seasiders, who have 51 points, are two clear of Portadown and Institute, while Ballyclare Comrades (44) and Harland and Wolff Welders (43) are also within range.
But if someone usurps Dundela at the summit and Gourley’s side finish second, the winners will be automatically promoted, the Premiership’s bottom side relegated and the third-placed team facing 11th-place in the top-tier in the play-off – currently Ballymena United.
That’s a la the precedent set following Warrenpoint Town’s administrative demotion in 2023, when the next highest-placed team with a Promotion Licence – Annagh United – entered the straight shoot-out with Dungannon Swifts.
It’s added a new dimension to the race, if also a tinge of frustration that, after the nature of how The ‘Point dropped out, administration is once again playing its part rather than necessarily – purely – what is settled on the pitch.
It is a shame that this is rearing its head again and that no dispensation could be applied that allows Dundela to fulfil their Premiership ambitions at the present moment.
Indeed, Wilgar Park’s compactness and intrinsic community surroundings may make this a conundrum that can’t be truly resolved for some time yet.
Dundela argued that their home stage has entertained Premiership big guns like Cliftonville, Crusaders, Linfield and Larne in cup competitions over the past few years that have ran without a hitch, believing that this merited the dispensation sought, but the request was denied in line with the current IFA Joint Ground Criteria.
Moreover, despite “exploring [sic] the potential of buying 10 metres off” a developer who had purchased the land behind the dugout stands, Snodden revealed that this was also not an option and that the builder has already secured planning permission, hence how it has come about that the Duns will not, as was also the case at the end of 2022/23, apply for a Promotion Licence.
How do you solve a problem like this?
Well, given NIFL Chief Executive Gerard Lawlor is on record as saying that every club in the three tiers of the Irish League should have Premiership ambitions, this such scenario is one where questions will be asked.
Dundela, who have 18 wins in 27 outings so far, have produced the goods on the pitch and have the talent to match, having the metronomic Andy Hall, razor-sharp Jordan Jenkins, seasoned campaigners Jay Magee and Jaimie McGovern in defence and fleet-footed Dee McMaster at their disposal to name a few.
They have Premiership ambitions and have made substantial upgrades that have put them at the heart of the community, also counting a thriving social club among their grounds, yet would appear not to fulfil crucial criteria to play at that level, at least in their own home – even if they’ve hosted top-flight clubs in knock-out settings.
That will be a burning question for the hierarchy to plan for, but just now, the Championship will remain their home for a little while longer.
Meanwhile, what a blockbuster result it turned out to be for Newington at Shamrock Park on Tuesday night.
Inspired by Darren Stuart’s hat-trick, The ‘Ton swept to a 4-0 triumph over Portadown and gave their hopes of a top-six place for the split a massive boost.
Ruaidhri Donnelly also put his name on the scoreboard – his fourth in three matches since arriving on loan from Glentoran late in the January window – and helped the Swans seal a rampant win that puts them within three points of the sixth-placed Welders in the table.
An excellent collective display that the Ports simply could not reply to, two goals in four first-half minutes were the means to go on after Stuart’s striker instincts kicked in, rifling home a 21st-minute deadlock-breaker before sliding in his second just 240 seconds later as the ball bobbled in the penalty area.
Donnelly converted a third at home stopper Gareth Buchanan’s near post for Paul Hamilton’s panel 19 minutes from time, four minutes before Stuart completed his treble after Buchanan could only parry lively substitute Peter McKiernan’s fizzing effort back into the danger zone.
It lifts Newington up to 40 points, becoming the ninth team in the division to hit that marker, and puts the north Belfast men nine points back from Portadown with a game fewer played.
For Niall Currie, his task is to get his players back on their feet because there is no relenting or time to wallow in their sorrows as the four-time Irish League champions and BetMcLean Cup Finalists target an immediate top-flight return following their relegation in 2023.
A chastening night for the Co Armagh club, all the same, that they will hope does not dampen morale too deeply.
- It’s unfair to put blame at feet of Linfield and Cliftonville for Irish Cup Final crowd disorder
A penny for the thoughts of Linfield and Cliftonville this week. This year’s Irish Cup Final was a spectacular in every sense. Nearly 15,000 packed inside Windsor Park for the biggest-attended domestic fixture in Northern Ireland this century and an occasion to savour that, for the most part, featured backing from both sides that supported… Read more: It’s unfair to put blame at feet of Linfield and Cliftonville for Irish Cup Final crowd disorder - Irish League chiefs must improve provisions in place to attract younger fans and families
Let’s get a basic fact of life out of the way first – no one likes a price hike. No one likes a price hike in the same way that no one likes paying taxes, bills, debts, insurance and other such necessary expenses which, in themselves, are rising amid a general rise in the cost… Read more: Irish League chiefs must improve provisions in place to attract younger fans and families - How the Irish FA’s new ‘Conference Layer’ for intermediate football can be big hit or own goal
Changes to the intermediate football sphere in Northern Ireland have long been touted and, going by the Irish FA’s latest update on the topic, closer than ever to coming to fruition. From the 2026-27 campaign, a new ‘Conference Layer’ will be in effect as part of a radical shake-up of the intermediate levels of the… Read more: How the Irish FA’s new ‘Conference Layer’ for intermediate football can be big hit or own goal - Steven McCullough’s crucial goal in relegation play-off seals him as a Ballymena United great
There’s been a change in priorities for Ballymena United during recent years – albeit not necessarily the type supporters would’ve perhaps wanted. In 2019, the Braidmen were the second best team in the Irish League. Runners-up behind Linfield that year, and just seven points adrift of top spot, the peak years of David Jeffrey’s tenure… Read more: Steven McCullough’s crucial goal in relegation play-off seals him as a Ballymena United great - Ending Cliftonville’s Irish Cup drought proves Jim can fix it… now he must target league glory
Finally, it’s Cliftonville’s year in the Irish Cup. An agonising waiting game ends at last and a drought that lasted 45 painful years is over in one burst of champagne rain. Since 1979, the Reds have contrived to fail in various ways in their pursuit of that elusive ninth Irish Cup – until a man… Read more: Ending Cliftonville’s Irish Cup drought proves Jim can fix it… now he must target league glory
Football Chatters 
Leave a comment