THE Bass Irish Cup tie between Cliftonville and the RUC has been moved from Solitude to Windsor Park.
The decision was reached after the RUC was reported to have requested the Irish Football Association that the sixth round fixture be switched.
It is thought the RUC made its request in reaction to Tuesday’s bottle throwing incidents during the County Antrim Shield Final at Windsor.
Cliftonville chairman Jim Boyce said he “couldn’t fathom” the decision to force his club away from Solitude after having played against the RUC there on several occasions.
“I don’t know where we are going, I don’t know where I’m going, I’m confused and very upset at the events of the past 24 hours,” said Boyce.
“Why can the RUC not play at Solitude?
“We have played the RUC on four occasions and there is no reason why Solitude cannot host them again, I just cannot understand this at all.”
Reds boss Marty Quinn said: “We just have to get on with it. “We are a football club and our job is football and we must continue to play.
“If the game is switched then it’s switched, there’s nothing I can do about it.”
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ULSTER’S top inter-county referee Pat McEneaney will blow the whistle on this year’s O Fiaich Cup semi-finals in Crossmaglen on Saturday.
McEneaney faces 120 minutes of match officiating after agreeing to take charge of both games between Armagh, Tyrone, Derry and NFL division two promotion pace-makers Louth.
A competition introduced 10 years ago the annual event has proved a consistent success, and with Crossmaglen’s run of club championship progress this season, there is heightened interest in the 1997 O Fiaich Cup play-offs.
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NO momentum in the championship chase, no Enrico Annoni and possibly no Pierre van Hooijdonk.
This is the triumvirate of potential problems facing Celtic tonight. However, they are unlikely to get in the way of the business in hand against Raith Rovers.
A win for Tommy Burns’ side in the live Sky TV clash at Parkhead would take them to within four points of Rangers, who aren’t in action until Saturday.
AT first glance it looks cut and dried in Saturday’s Ulster Schools Senior Camogie Final at Casement Park.
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St Mary’s Magherafelt are favourites to complete a three-in-a-row and progress to a serious assault on the All-Ireland.
I doubt if their opponents, Sacred Heart Grammar in Newry, hold that view but the rest of the province would regard a win by the south Down girls as a major upset.
Captain Eilis O’Neill and midfield colleague Simone Forbes are the key playmakers and score-takers in the St Mary’s line-out.
But the whole side showed a toughness in the semi-final that opponents will have difficulty handling.
Sacred Heart expected lineout: Tanya Poland, Ciara Murphy, Catherine Keenan, Martina Doyle, Kathleen Kane, Catriona O’Hare, Deirdre Quinn, Michelle Goss, Mary McClorey, Cathy Mulholland (capt), Kerry McCabe, Lisa Parr.
Subs: Cailin Hynes, Patricia Ward, Orla McKeever, Kathryn Carroll.
St Mary’s expected line-out: Claire O’Kane, Martina McGuckin, Orla Donnelly, Orla Forbes, Catherine McCann, Simone Forbes, Eilis O’Neill (capt), Bernadine Quinn, Triona McAleer, Brid Mulholland, Maura McAuley, Catherine Pickering
