Rasharkin struggling in Division One

Rasharkin's Paul Doherty

RASHARKIN are finding it tough to survive in division one this year.

The St Mary’s club have won just one of their first three games and Paul Hassan, who is assistant to manager Dominic Kelly, believes that themselves, Ahoghill and Rossa will be battling to avoid the drop at the business end of the season.

Rasharkin’s problems began last year, when a referee was attacked during an u-21 Championship semi-final match. The club expelled one player, two club members and a member of the coaching staff following the incident. The Antrim CCC excluded the club from all competitions, excluding u-18, for one year.

Yet after an appeal, the club had all their adult teams reinstalled in Antrim competitions, however, they are not allowed to play any matches at home.

This decision, along with a series of injuries has hindered the club so far this season, but Paul Hassan believes that another issue is the real reason for the club’s poor start.

“The biggest problem for us is that we are struggling with emigration,” said Hassan. “There are ten in total who have gone, and six of those who are starters. That also affects the hurlers because some of those are dual players.”

Hassan explained that a lot of those footballers worked in construction, which is in the doldrums at the moment. But others have decided to take a career breaks and are travelling for the year.

“We are finding it tough. We were up in division one in 2010 after winning the intermediate championship. We had a good year last year when we finished joint fourth. We are going to struggle this year.”

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