Promotion could be settled by Christmas

BECTIVE Rangers have recruited heavily, Greystones have not. Two clubs with dramatically different perspectives. Two clubs who are tipped to be in contention for promotion to Division One of the AIL. Add in Malone, Wanderers and Sunday's Well and what you have are teams who have responded in various ways to the revolution in a tight competition, a competition that could hinge on the first volley of games before Christmas.

Any side who cannot win two of those first three critical matches can look forward to a 1997 campaign that will not allow for any further slip ups if they have an eye on the two top places which give promotion. Last season, none of the teams who finished in the top two places of any of the four divisions lost more than two matches.

Division Two winners Old Crescent did not lose a game and drew only one in the 10 match competition with Division Three winners Monkstown and Division Four winners Portadown losing only one game each. Shannon, in fact, were the only side to drop two matches and still emerge as divisional champions.

Pressure in the opening games will therefore be substantial. Greystones place kicker Richie Murphy is already likely to be feeling the pressure of necessity breathing down his neck. With an 397 points from his boot last season, Greystones will look to Murphy in their first game against Malone, one that could shape their season.

First division aspirants do not usually like to meet each other in the opening match and Malone, particularly, will miss their business tied Irish centre, Maurice Field, and captain Stuart Duncan, neither of whom will travel to Dr Hickie Park.

The home advantage that Greystones have in their opener is another factor that may have important and wider influences on how teams perform overall in the 13 match league.

Monkstown, for instance, play 10 of their games in the Dublin area, with six of those matches at home. In the course of their entire AIL campaign, they only need travel overnight to Derry and Highfield.

Malone, however have to travel five times from Belfast to either Dublin where they face Monkstown and DLSP, as well as Greystones and Munster, where Sunday's Well and UCC are their opponents. That's Malone's geographical misfortune, or, rather the luck of others in shaving six teams in the division based close to Dublin city.

What has also emerged across the spectrum of sides is the enormous importance of having depth in the squad. Already, several clubs have been hit by injury and are finding it difficult to find adequate replacements. Over the course of a protracted four months, it seems likely that teams will need to have at least 25 to 30 players available to them.

Wanderers' claims to be out training four nights a week gives foundation to the overall feeling that Division One is the only place to be - if you can afford it.

Half of Division Two definitively know that they do not, at the moment, have the overall package of players, club structures and income to thrive at higher altitude. That said, relegation at this early stage is far from team's mind, with, perhaps, NIFC, DLSP and UCC having to contemplate it a little bit more than the others.