As teams lock horns once again in back to back encounters, we have plenty of tasty fixtures across 2B as we head into the second half of the season.
Galway Corinthians v Sligo, Friday January 12th, Corinthian Park, 8pm
Action in 2C will begin with the Friday night lights shining on Corinthian Park as the Connacht derby takes centre stage between these two.
Corinthians took a 15-11 win back in December making it seven wins in a row as Sligo succumbed to defeat on home soil. Corinthians certainly had a bone to pick this year in 2B having failed to make the play-off final last season after also missing out in the title race, history could repeat itself this year as they face a stern test to take top spot from Instonians. It could however all start with a win over their provincial neighbours.
Sligo are winless in their last two games, defeat to Corinthians came after a draw to Skerries, their hold on fourth spot is now only four points and they will want to kick on in this second half of the year if they are to make the play-offs once again. In each of their last four games the final score has been a tight margin, one game was a draw but twice only a point was the difference, while four separated them from their Galway neighbours. It may well be another cagey affair between these two and every score will prove valuable in the finish.
Belfast Harlequins v Instonians, Saturday January 13th, Deramore Park, 2:30pm
The Belfast clubs meet yet again this weekend as Harlequins play host to the all conquering leaders of 2B Instonians.
Belfast Harlequins are in a spot of bother having suffered their sixth defeat of the season last time out, now inside the drop zone, they need to find the route out as Instonians certainly form a formidable roadblock. In the early stages of their meeting before Christmas Harlequins looked like maybe getting the win but fell to a 63-22 defeat. They will know just what this Instonians team brings to the table.
Will it be the case of New Year New Instonians or will we see the leaders continue their remarkable unbeaten bonus point scoring haul since the start of the 2022-23 campaign. The numbers are quite staggering at this stage and the question will always be just who can stop them, they have made a serious statement since coming back into the AIL a season ago and will be the favourites to take the 2B title and despite their unbeaten nature cannot be too complacent going into these games.
Dolphin v Malahide, Saturday January 13th, Musgrave Park, 2:30pm
Malahide will hope a fixture with Dolphin proves to be another fruitful one as they travel to Cork looking to build on their win before the break.
Dolphin certainly need a jump start to 2024, the Musgrave Park faithful are bottom of the standings and in desperate need of points if they are to avoid consecutive relegations. Despite beating Sligo in round six which was their second win of the season, they have lost three on the spin since. This for them is a game they need to win, Instonians, Wanderers and Sligo are all on the horizon in the coming weeks.
Malahide eased their worries of the drop last time out and will look to build on that this weekend and kick on up the table. It was vital they won last time out to take just their third win of the campaign which ended a four game losing streak in the process. The gap is just three points so they still need to worry about a relegation battle if they fail to take further wins in the coming weeks.
Dungannon v Rainey, Saturday January 13th, Stevenson Park, 2:30pm
Rainey sit just four points behind Sligo in the race for a spot in the promotion play-offs, if they can take a win in this second instalment of their Ulster derby, they could sit fourth on Saturday evening.
Dungannon themselves lost ground when Rainey got the upper hand in their last outing and now back to face their foes from the same province, will we see an improvement from the hosts and return to winning ways. The hosts had such a great campaign last season and now are trying to find their feet to make it back to play-off contention. It all begins here for 2024, if they can get a strong result here and b will go a long way for the rest of the season.
Rainey have a strong chance of making fourth spot this weekend, it all rests more so on a result from the action in Corinthian Park. If Sligo were to lose then a bonus point win would see Rainey climb the standings, four points on their own will not be enough on this occasion. They will learn of that going into this game but regardless they want to stay on course for a shot at the play-offs.
Skerries v Wanderers, Saturday January 13th, Holmpatrick, 2:30pm
Another Dublin derby for these sides as this weekend will see the action move north toward Holmpatrick.
Skerries found themselves beaten 39-17 in their round nine encounter with Wanderers and will from their point of view have learned from that as they line out back on home soil. That result sees them lie eight just on the edge of the drop zone, for their first test of 2B they have done well and if they can defeat Wanderers they have a chance at remaining in the Division next season.
Wanderers bring a serious threat however in this contest, the Chaps have been ruthless in their pursuit of making the promotion play-offs and look a strong candidate to jump up to 2A. Only Instonians can take the award for scoring more in the Division this season, this Wanderers team all of the park as a massive commodity and will have the confidence to take the result here.
More Info on Division 2B here.
Diarmuid Kearney
Diarmuid Kearney is a freelance Sports Journalist based in Co Kerry. He has more than 5 years experience covering domestic and international soccer for different media organisations, while also working for local and national print and digital organisations covering GAA.