Carbery want leagues finished by late June

WEATHER and pitches permitting, the Carbery/Beara Regional Football leagues begin on Sunday.

This season, the main leagues are divided into three divisions, with the secondary leagues due to begin later in the season. 

There are nine teams in each division, with Division 3 being restructured from last season. Whereas Division 1 consists entirely of junior A first teams, Division 2 includes the second teams of four senior teams. Division 3 consists of the junior B first teams plus second teams from a mixture of junior, intermediate and senior clubs.

The starting date for Divisions 1, 2 and 3 is Sunday with June 3rd as the date for the final round. There will then be two weeks to catch up on missed games, with the league finals scheduled for June 24th. 

This is the first time an effort will be made to finish the leagues completely before the championship resumes with round 2 on July 1st. 

The full co-operation of all clubs will be needed to accomplish this.

Where a pitch is deemed unplayable, the game must be switched to the opponents’ venue and where both venues are unplayable, the game must be played within a fortnight of the original fixture. The league committee will meet on a regular basis to decide on unplayed games.

While games are fixed for Sundays, they may be changed to Saturdays to avoid clashes with first teams. Martina Burns, the fixtures co-ordinator, is to be notified of these changes.

After this weekend’s opening round, games are also scheduled for the following two Sunday with February 25th then free so as to catch up with any unplayed games.

Division 1 – Kilmacabea are the reigning champions, having beaten St James’ in the final last season to complete the championship and league double. St Oliver Plunkett’s and Tadhg MacCárthaigh have been promoted from last season, while Barryroe, Clann na nGael and Urhan are relegated. 

There is no Beara team in this division. Teams: Kilmacabea, St James’, Ballinascarthy, St Colum’s, Kilmeen, Diarmuid Ó Mathúna’s, St Marys, St Oliver Plunkett’s, Tadhg Mac Cárthaigh. The top two sides meet in the final while the bottom two are relegated.

Division 2 – Tadhg Mac Cárthaigh beat St Oliver Plunkett’s in last season’s final and both are promoted, while relegated from to a restructured Division 3 are Goleen and Ilen Rovers’ junior team. Teams: Barryroe, Clann na nGael, Urhan, Kilbrittain, Muintir Bháire, Carbery Rangers, Castlehave, Dohenys, O’Donovan Rossa. Top two play final and are promoted, bottom two relegated.

Division 3 – This division has been restructured to bring the number of teams up to nine. Glengarriff beat Randal Óg in last year’s final. Castletownbere juniors are in this Division. Teams: Glengarriff, Randal Óg, Argideen Rangers, Goleen, St, Colum’s junior B, Castletownbere, Ilen Rovers, Gabriel Rangers, Bantry Blues.