The musical chairs between the first and second divisions of the Munster Men’s Senior League is set to continue, with Bandon B requesting permission from the Munster Branch to voluntarily drop out of the top tier.
The west Cork outfit — who had avoided relegation via a 4-2 playoff win over UCC after finishing at the foot of Division One last season — made the decision at a players’ meeting following their 5-0 loss to their firsts on Saturday, a result which will be voided if they drop to Division Two.
Bandon B: Set join Belvedere by voluntarily demoting themselves to Division Two.
While the branch have yet to rubber-stamp the issue, it is likely that they will not stand in Bandon B’s way, given the precedent set when Belvedere were granted permission to drop a division earlier this month.
The branch subsequently approved a request from UCC to replace the Ballincollig outfit in Division One, but if Bandon B’s request is granted, the top tier will once again be reduced back to an uneven seven teams.
Club spokesperson Mark Kingston told Southern Fried that the club had no problems with numbers, rather that they feel Division Twon would serve as a better breeding ground for their younger talent.
“It’s a case of taking one step back to go two steps forward. We have a lot of young players who need experience at a lower level, not being thrown in against Harlequins forwards in Division One. It’s not fair to ask them to step up so quickly,” he said.
“A couple of the younger players are very disappointed, as they have their own personal ambitions. But this is the right step for the club, we have to consolidate.”
Kingston added that the club’s seconds hope to be chasing promotion again within a couple of years, and that the move will free up more seconds players to partake in first-team action on Saturdays, once they prove they’re up to the task.
Post Author:
alangood
4 Replies to “Bandon B request demotion”
I don’t think this is the same as the Belvedere situation. Belvedere asked to be demoted before the league began but Bandon 2nds have now fulfilled a league fixture. How can it be fair for any team to play matches in 2 divisions in one season. If it does happen one would have to question the Branch. I don’t think this would happen in any other sport.
I dont agree with this situation one bit. Bandon must have known what it was gonna be like. They were in exactly the same situation last season. All they have done now is cause more hastle as the fixtures now need to be amended. It is gonna make it more difficult for any of the players who did want to play first division to find a new team. They would have had the option of Belvedere if they had just gone down at the end of last season.
I think this is very unfair. Bandon 2nds went into a play-off at the end of the season last year with UCC. If Bandon feel that the 2nd division would be a better breeding ground for their younger players, why were they not aware of this at the end of last season and gone down voluntarily.. This has left UCC in a very poor position. Where they could have been put in Div 1 at the start of summer and they could have had all summer to recruit new players and any players in college apply for a scholarship which helps most hockey players through their 3/4 years of playing with college. Not only have players now lost out on a chance of applying for this scholarship, but many players have already gone to bigger cubs and ruined any chance of letting the smaller clubs grow like the UCC’s, Belvedere’s,Ashton’s and Middleton’s. Bandon have made a grave mistake and should be made live with that mistake. Their decision at the end of last season affected the whole of munster not just themselves. They should learn from their mistakes and Munster branch should not be pushed around because Bandon ‘want to’ go down.
Looking at the Branch website this morning it appears that Bandon 2nds have already been demoted to Division 2. When did the Branch meet to make this decision? I also observed that they are still included in the Peard Cup which is a competition for Division 1 teams only. Should this cup now be re-drawn with Bandon 2nds excluded from this competition?
Hockey in General
No wonder so many young players reject hockey in favour of sports like soccer and rugby when you have far more matches and play against so many different clubs. Hockey in Munster and men’s in particular is getting smaller by the year. It will continue to decline in popularity if this trend continues. I fear it will.
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I don’t think this is the same as the Belvedere situation. Belvedere asked to be demoted before the league began but Bandon 2nds have now fulfilled a league fixture. How can it be fair for any team to play matches in 2 divisions in one season. If it does happen one would have to question the Branch. I don’t think this would happen in any other sport.
I dont agree with this situation one bit. Bandon must have known what it was gonna be like. They were in exactly the same situation last season. All they have done now is cause more hastle as the fixtures now need to be amended. It is gonna make it more difficult for any of the players who did want to play first division to find a new team. They would have had the option of Belvedere if they had just gone down at the end of last season.
I think this is very unfair. Bandon 2nds went into a play-off at the end of the season last year with UCC. If Bandon feel that the 2nd division would be a better breeding ground for their younger players, why were they not aware of this at the end of last season and gone down voluntarily.. This has left UCC in a very poor position. Where they could have been put in Div 1 at the start of summer and they could have had all summer to recruit new players and any players in college apply for a scholarship which helps most hockey players through their 3/4 years of playing with college. Not only have players now lost out on a chance of applying for this scholarship, but many players have already gone to bigger cubs and ruined any chance of letting the smaller clubs grow like the UCC’s, Belvedere’s,Ashton’s and Middleton’s. Bandon have made a grave mistake and should be made live with that mistake. Their decision at the end of last season affected the whole of munster not just themselves. They should learn from their mistakes and Munster branch should not be pushed around because Bandon ‘want to’ go down.
Looking at the Branch website this morning it appears that Bandon 2nds have already been demoted to Division 2. When did the Branch meet to make this decision? I also observed that they are still included in the Peard Cup which is a competition for Division 1 teams only. Should this cup now be re-drawn with Bandon 2nds excluded from this competition?
Hockey in General
No wonder so many young players reject hockey in favour of sports like soccer and rugby when you have far more matches and play against so many different clubs. Hockey in Munster and men’s in particular is getting smaller by the year. It will continue to decline in popularity if this trend continues. I fear it will.