West Cork leagues two Oscar Traynor Cup coaches resign

BY GER McCARTHY

THE West Cork League’s Oscar Traynor Cup campaign has been thrown into doubt following the resignation of two of the squad’s coaches Keith Kennedy and David Hall.

West Cork are still scheduled to travel to Limerick on Saturday evening for a 7pm kick-off to complete their second match in a provincial (Munster) group comprising of Cork AUL, Limerick and Kerry. 

Qualified coaches Hall and Kennedy have failed to get the required commitment in West Cork’s first foray back into junior inter-league (Oscar Traynor) action this year despite selecting a young squad and looking to build towards future campaigns.

Repeated failures to get requisite numbers together for training sessions made it increasingly difficult for a WCL management team that also includes former Drinagh Rangers striker Mike Doolan to properly prepare for what is a very competitive junior inter-league competition.

Disappointingly, a warm-up game arranged against a combination of Drinagh Rangers’ A and B teams failed to go ahead last weekend with confusion over the booking of an Astro-turf facility to stage the friendly plus the fact only a handful of the West Cork squad made themselves available for selection proving the final straw for two of the three WCL coaches.

Dunmanway Town’s John Buckley has made an appeal through an on-line post for the West Cork League community to come together and attempt to put a team out for Saturday night’s encounter away to Limerick. Any players or coaches willing to help out or make themselves available are asked to get in touch with the Dunmanway Town manager as soon as possible.

West Cork’s opening fixture in this year’s Oscar Traynor competition ended in defeat to Cork AUL at the end of September. Lyre Rovers’ floodlit facility played host to a high-scoring encounter won 6-3 by Cork. Mark Cronin (2) and Dan Mac Eoin found the net for West Cork on that occasion but, at the time of writing, it remained unclear if this weekend’s scheduled fixture in Limerick will go ahead.