Tulamore Intermediates

[Lone Shark]

Look, this isn't about Tullamore, no matter how much ye insist that it is. Neither do I think for a minute that this was about Tullamore deliberately planning to win a Junior B - my point is that the club clearly had players available who could have held their own at intermediate level, and chose not to field them. That just seems odd to me is all - but it appears that I'm very much in the minority.

[Archangel]

I agree with LS, in that whether by design or opportunity or just chance, the Town's B's have been enhanced by availability of extra players. I know there's grading of players at issue, so no wholesale fudging can take place, but whatever club you are, you take whatever opportunity comes your way.
It's difficult for a club like Ballycommon, the only Junior-B club left in it, to feel sure about the legitimacy or fairness of this scenario, but whatever B team the Town put out will be above board and within the rules, so they just have to get on with it.

The other scenario is that next year, Tullamore's second string will play in the Junior-A championship, and will probably piss through it, depriving real Junior-A teams of their year's dream. This happened 3 years ago when Shamrock's second team got relegated from A to B (unfulfilled fixtures again the issue) and walked the B-champioship the following year. Something must be put in place to prevent this again, like starting the next year's group stage -2 points or something, or having no home fixtures.