Seconds teams

[Milltown Row2]

By all means have them playing league football. There should be a proper reserve championship to accommodate them however. As much as the CE lads would have enjoyed winning a junior championship last year, there was hardly a celebration out of them after they beat Ballyhegan.

As for this year, St Peter's seconds are doing well, only lost one game to league favourites Corrinshego early in the season. Come championship you'd imagine that Forkhill and Middletown would be the favourites if they're at full strength.

That St Peters team will be hard stopped. Yeah probably a tiered league competition for seconds and reserve teams would be best. 

Yeah they'll be one of the favourites along with Forkhill, Middletown and Ballyhegan. Corrinshego have beaten them already this year and were semi finalists last year so they'll be up there you'd imagine. Playing in the lower division won't benefit  Corrinshego and St. Peters though.

On your second point, I'm all for seconds teams competing in the league system, if anything I'd be encouraging more clubs to do it. But we need to have a properly organised reserve championship that is running at the same time as the other championships  for them to take part in.

I get the points on seconds playing in the lower championships being unfair on other clubs, but if it's graded and policed properly then the lads on those seconds, that's their level and being associated to a senior club without a huge opportunity of getting on the senior squad then they are being denied an opportunity to win a recognised all county trophy.

[ranch]

By all means have them playing league football. There should be a proper reserve championship to accommodate them however. As much as the CE lads would have enjoyed winning a junior championship last year, there was hardly a celebration out of them after they beat Ballyhegan.

As for this year, St Peter's seconds are doing well, only lost one game to league favourites Corrinshego early in the season. Come championship you'd imagine that Forkhill and Middletown would be the favourites if they're at full strength.

That St Peters team will be hard stopped. Yeah probably a tiered league competition for seconds and reserve teams would be best. 

Yeah they'll be one of the favourites along with Forkhill, Middletown and Ballyhegan. Corrinshego have beaten them already this year and were semi finalists last year so they'll be up there you'd imagine. Playing in the lower division won't benefit  Corrinshego and St. Peters though.

On your second point, I'm all for seconds teams competing in the league system, if anything I'd be encouraging more clubs to do it. But we need to have a properly organised reserve championship that is running at the same time as the other championships  for them to take part in.

I get the points on seconds playing in the lower championships being unfair on other clubs, but if it's graded and policed properly then the lads on those seconds, that's their level and being associated to a senior club without a huge opportunity of getting on the senior squad then they are being denied an opportunity to win a recognised all county trophy.

You end up in a situation where you have seconds teams winning a junior championship but they can't go on to play in the provincial series - surely that opportunity is also being denied to them in that case.
The key point you make is that it needs to be policed properly - a good idea in theory but the reality is much different. A reserve championship that's played at the same time as the other championships would be my preference. I'd also remove the link between leagues and championships and encourage clubs to enter reserve teams in the league system if they have the numbers to do so.

[SouthOfThe Bann]

Was there not something in Offaly hurling this year where Kilcormac Killoughey had a vote on whether they'd have 2 teams in senior this year.

Since they won intermediate this year.

[Armagh18]

Was there not something in Offaly hurling this year where Kilcormac Killoughey had a vote on whether they'd have 2 teams in senior this year.

Since they won intermediate this year.

Not sure. I know in Armagh you can only have one team at each grade so if your seconds were promoted to senior or the unlikely event your first team was relegated you could only have one team in intermediate the following year.