Tag: Playr-Fit Championship
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Registration debates are tiring… appeals should drive improvement to banish them for good
Irish League registration sagas. You’re always guaranteed one or two over the course of a season these days. The latest has just been resolved; in the Irish Cup, Ards lodged an appeal following their Sixth Round defeat to Institute regarding the eligibility of Oisin Devlin for the fixture and, as it happened, there was merit…
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With the grounds for complaint, how do you solve a problem like progressive Dundela?
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…
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Ambition of Irish League must be matched by Government with Sub-Regional release
After a two-year hiatus, the Northern Ireland Executive is back up and running – and the to-do list in respect of domestic sport is a long one. With preparations for the Euro 2028 Finals to account for that includes the redevelopment of west Belfast’s Casement Park, which is scheduled to host five fixtures at the…
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Top-six face-offs poised to cap off massive week of decision in Championship title race
A highly charged Playr-Fit Championship title race that is too close for comfort took a fresh twist in midweek when Dundela defeated Bangor at Wilgar Park – and the weekend fixture list could be make-or-break as far as promotion challenges and top-half ambitions are concerned. That’s because the top six all face each other in…
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Defences can win titles in the Irish League… but sometimes attack is the best form of it
There’s a classic saying in football that has rung true in many hunts for league glory all over the world across the years. “Attacks win you games, defences win you titles.” First famously coined by the legendary former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who suggested that scoring bucketloads of goals may win you battles…
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Home advantage can help promotion-chasing Institute and Portadown spring Irish Cup shocks
With the last-16 out of the way, the Irish Cup quarter-finals will be the point of focus come the first week in March as four Premiership versus Championship clashes were revealed on Saturday. In two cases, the lower-league side is the one at home; a meeting of the first and second-tier pacesetters with Institute entertaining…
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Big guns beware… Ballyclare and Newington showed they can cut it when chips look down
The Irish Cup last-16 proved a fruitful round for Championship clubs, with six entering the fray and four coming out the other side unscathed. Indeed, there wasn’t a single instance of a Premiership club toppling a second-tier adversary, with north Down duo Bangor and Ards eliminated by division rivals Portadown and Institute respectively. Harking back…
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Michael Moore: Tight-knit dressing room just what Ballymacash need to light up our PIL promotion bid
From the midst of a Mid-Ulster League title race to a televised showdown in the Irish Cup, it’s been a whirlwind two years for Ballymacash Rangers. Battling hard for promotion, it was an objective they would ultimately fulfil; 79 points out of a possible 90 was good enough to fend off Crewe United and take…
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