Clubs need to find a solution – It’s Not A Funny Old Game

UP until a few weeks ago the season was running like clock work for Fermanagh and Western football teams.

The league competitions were bang on schedule and the first rounds of the Mulhern and Reihill Cups had been run off without a hitch.

Since then though the waters have been muddied somewhat.

First we had the handlin involving Derrychara United and Tummery Athletic, who played four substitutes instead of the regulation three in a cup-tie between the sides at Omagh Leisure Centre.

To cut a long story short Tummery were thrown out of the competition for breaking the rules and the Dromore club subsequently appealed that decision to an IFA Appeals’ Committee.

At the time of writing we are awaiting the outcome of that appeal which obviously has implications for progressing the competition.

The goings on that day seems to have jinxed that particular venue and any games played there since have been shrouded in controversy.

A few weeks later quite a few of us were back at the local leisure centre for the eagerly-awaited Irish Junior Cup quarter-final clash between Strathroy Harps and Enniskillen Town United.

The tie had all the ingredients to be a classic and in many respects we weren’t disappointed. Harps charged into a two-goal lead thanks to goals from Benny Boyle and Tommy Murphy and midway through the second half Eoin Beacom halved the deficit to set up a barnstorming finale.

There was no shortage of tension in the air as Town strived for an equaliser in a bad to send the compeling last-eight encounter into over-time.

With approximately 10 minutes remaining tempers boiled over in a mass brawl which resulted in red cards for Harps’ Darren Teague and the Town pair of Brendan Lilley and Callum Jones.

Then in the dying embers the visitors thought they had grabbed a precious leveller when Cathal Beacom got on the end of a Frank Wallace cross .

However that headed effort was chalked off for offside and referee Terry Foley was immediately surrounded by visiting players, officials and supporters. In the midst of the acrimony the match official stated in his report that he had been hit on the back and at that point – around 90 minutes -decided to abandon the game as he feared for his safety.

The powers that be subsequently handed out significant bans to two of the three players that were sent off and essentially ruled that Harps should progress to the semi-finals with Town coping the blame for the tie being abandoned. As part of their punishment the Enniskillen club were also expelled from next year’s competition.

Last week it emerged that Town have appealed against that ruling and as a consequence a photo shoot organised for the four semi-finalists Strathroy Harps, Coalisland Athletic, Bangor YM and Crumlin Star seconds was postponed on Wednesday evening.

So now we have another appeal that is likely to have implications for Harps and a knock-on affect for their participation in the Mulhern Cup and league.

Both controversies complicate matters for the Fermanagh and Western but the appeals process is in place so clubs have the right to challenge decisions they disagree with.

It’s fair to say that some clubs exercise that right more than others! Just the other day someone said to me that in recent times a certain club, which shall remain nameless, has had more appeals that SVP! I knew where he was coming from but told him I couldn’t possibly comment!

I suppose the one thing that the appeals do flag up is that within the current structures of the league there isn’t much spare capacity should the fixture programme get derailed for whatever reason, should that be inclement weather or controversies similar to the ones currently in play.

I suppose that’s not strictly true when it comes to divisions two and three which are near completion. In fact, four teams in the second tier have already completed their programme of games while a couple of weeks will clear up the outstanding games in both divisions.

Division One, which has 14 teams in comparison to Division Two, which has nine, and Division Three, which has only seven, still has a way to go. Most teams still have five or six games remaining and when you factor in their participation in the knockout competitions it’ll take the guts of five or six weeks to bring things to a conclusion.

There is an imbalance there that is a legacy of Covid and a decision not to relegate teams in the disrupted 2018-19 season. Clubs understandably voted against relegating more than two teams this season but that situation can’t be allowed to remain in place indefinitely.

There is a total of 30 teams in the Fermanagh and Western League and in my opinion that essentially means that in an ideal world there should be three divisions of 10 teams. That would create a better balance, make life much easier for the organisers and create more wriggle room to cope with disruption due to bad weather or any protracted arguments in the boardroom.

Most people would probably agree that the final destination needs to be three even divisions – what they might not agree on is the route to get there!