Knockbreda, the Irish League’s great escape artists of the past decade, look to have finally found a hole they couldn’t squirm through.
The club from the Castlereagh Hills have mastered the art of avoiding relegation in recent years, but their Championship stay appears all but over leading into the weekend agenda.
Following their 3-0 ‘home’ reversal against Ards, rescheduled from the weekend and played at Crusaders’ Seaview due to Breda Park’s lack of floodlights and the urgency with which the games must be played, they are 11 points from the relegation play-off with four matches remaining.
It would take four ‘Breda wins and four Dergview losses to salvage safety – odds you would scarcely expect to be short given they would double their entire victory count for this term to even sustain hope of a miracle.
And with Ards doing themselves a favour at their opponents’ expense, with Aidan Steele’s first-half finish supported by added-time strikes from Lee Newell and Callum Dougan that rubber-stamped the result, it is likely all but pride that the yellow-shirted east Belfast club are playing for now.
It would be the end of an era for Colin McIlwrath’s side. Over the course of 11 years in the second-flight, they’ve fought their ground and stood the course when others have fallen.
In some cases, it’s taken an unexpected lifeline – last season a case in point; the turbulence resulting from Warrenpoint Town’s licence controversy that turned Knockbreda’s automatic drop-out into a play-off they won, beating Ballymacash Rangers 4-2 over two legs to survive – but they’ve proved unshakeable in this league.
Until now. Next campaign, barring the greatest escape seen in football anywhere, the Premier Intermediate League will be their calling card.
Their chances always looked stacked from the start, in truth. In the summer of 2023, ‘Breda saw star men Anto Burns and Charlie Dornan depart for Dundela, while Linfield loanee Ewan McCoubrey signed for Harland and Wolff Welders and fellow full-back, Larne’s Max Greer, linked up with Ards – they were big losses.
More followed mid-season, with top scorer Guillaume Keke joining Greer at Ards, influential midfielder Lee McGreevy being snapped by Ballyclare Comrades and another forward, Igor Rutkowski, dropping down a division to Armagh City.
That’s some exodus to handle and, on the back of having just four points to their name in mid-February, Knockbreda were, by consensus, the worst side that the Championship had seen in the division’s modern history.
Ignominious indeed for an institution who, in 2022, won another play-off series 4-2 to keep their spot in the league at Bangor’s expense and in 2020 survived when an eligibility dispute was ruled in their favour, three points handed their way after an initial defeat to Loughgall that kept them up by two. PSNI resultingly went down.
Knockbreda will go down in 2024, too, but they know it will not have been without a battling fight.
Since February 17, when they sank John Bailie’s Ards at Clandeboye Park to rise to seven points, they have since played out a creditable 2-2 draw with Newington at Inver Park while defeating Ballyclare and Ballinamallard United by 2-0 scorelines at home. 10 points in nine; it’s not bad – but, regrettably, not enough given what had already come before.
Their display during an afternoon Easter Tuesday encounter with the Mallards certainly showcased their endeavour despite all else.
It was a positive, front-footed performance, particularly in the second period when Marcus Murphy and Caleb Crawford hit the deciding goals, and Conor Quinn was alongside Murphy among the scoring stakes when they shook off the Comrades a couple of weeks earlier.
Such spirit while, admittedly, much of the pressure has been alleviated should be commended.
Murphy’s impact has also been transformational. At 26, his signing from Dromara Village of the Amateur League Premier Division has coincided with their upturn, with eight strikes in 11 features a tally you wouldn’t scoff at.
A tall and physical frontman with an endearing work-rate, he’s the obvious standout if you’re looking at the transfer block having adapted to the rigours of Irish League football in double-quick time, injecting a fresh shot of life into Knockbreda when they could easily have wilted.
And battle they will continue to do. However, now is probably the most conclusive time for them to start preparing for PIL life.
McIlwrath will hope to inspire a speedy return out of a competitive division that is featuring a hotly contested promotion race in itself.
Limavady United, Armagh, Queen’s University, Ballymacash and NI Football League newbies Rathfriland are all vying for those coveted spots by the top of the table to step up – be it automatically or in the play-off against, in the most likely scenario, Dergview – and ‘Breda are under no illusions that no three points will be handed to them on a silver platter.
Mathematically, their relegation will be all but confirmed if they fail to beat Ballyclare Comrades at Solitude on Saturday. Even a win won’t suffice should the Dergs secure total derby bragging rights in Ballinamallard simultaneously.
But a strong end will inspire belief for those players who remain and their supporters that they can adapt to the change in scenery.
Intermediate football is different; it’s structurally not the same as the senior ranks, no less than when you factor in the cup competitions that dovetail a shortened league campaign.
Warrenpoint, after being hit with an administrative relegation last year that handed Knockbreda the chance to save their skin, have found challenges in their way despite being the second-best club in the Championship at the time of their drop-out and currently sit ninth-placed in the third-tier – albeit with Barry Gray remaining in charge until the new year, they did look hot.
A flying start on the back of a flying end for Knockbreda could yield similar results and, if they retain the bulk of their core playing panel, they can mount a bid for a quick return.
Featured image from Carl Morrison Photography.
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