Edwin McGreal
TO B team or not to B team, that is the question. The answer looks to be fairly straightforward. It is no coincidence that the six highest achieving B teams in Mayo are all from clubs whose first teams occupy the top six places in the Super League.
Clubs like Manulla, Westport, Castlebar Celtic and Ballyheane have had strong first teams for quite some time but they have been helped in no small part by successfully fielding strong B teams in recent years.
The benefits for the first team are manifold. Attendances at training are increased (where the teams train together). This should improve the quality of training and allow meaningful training games which will bring on both panels.
Injuries are an occupational hazard of the game. If you are a club with no B team you will have to bring in players who have been flirting on the fringes all year when injuries occur. They will have had little match practice and there is every chance they won’t be attending training on a regular basis.
However, if you have a B team and have absentees from the A team you will be able to call on players who, while maybe not having been exposed to the same level of football as the first team, will be at a serious advantage compared to someone coming in from the cold.
But the greatest benefit of all to having a B team is the general well-being that will be created within the club. Players not of the standard for the A team will be given an outlet, more interest will be generated in the club and the club will, in most cases, prosper.
Westport, Celtic and Manulla have three very strong B teams, all operating in the Premier Division. These teams are keeping players in the club involved rather than losing them to neighbouring clubs.
People who might go onto become very good club men when they retire aren’t being lost and underage players coming up are given an exposure to junior football.
Ballyheane B have also made progress, competing in Division 1 this year, and while they are struggling it is exposing them to a higher level whereupon it will be known more readily if players are capable of stepping up to the Super League.
The only two ‘top six’ sides who don’t have B teams in divisions outside of Division 2 look as if they are going to change that.
Ballina Town B have reformed this year after a couple of year absence. They sit atop Division 2B while Erris United’s decision to enter their first ever B team this year has already been vindicated. They won the McDonnell Cup Final on Sunday and look on course to gain promotion to Division 1, topping, as they do, Division 2A.
There are, of course, instances where a B team can be counter-productive. Players good enough for the A team can opt for the greater comfort of the B team but that is a minor drawback.
By and large a club that has a strong B team can be said to have a strong structure generally. Erris and Ballina will be grateful that they took the plunge this year. Other clubs in a position to do likewise shouldn’t stand back. With the right person in charge (someone committed, organised and personable) a B team can easily be run. You’d be surprised the players that can come out of the woodwork too.
