Club quandary - being asked to manage against your own

There are few bigger moral dilemmas in the world of Gaelic games than the possibility of having to manage against your own club.

At county level it would surely cause anguish but it often comes with the territory. Davy Fitzgerald, Kieran McGeeney, Pete McGrath, Mick O'Dwyer, Mattie Kenny – they, and many more, have all had to plot ways to take down their native counties in various codes and competitions.

Club is different. The very idea is stomach-churning for many, and in the case of the Ulster Club Championship, rather than being part of the terrain, it often happens after a serious of both fortunate and unfortunate events.

Take Ballybay joint-manager Jerome Johnston for example.

This Sunday, there are suggestions that he may opt to temporarily stand down as the Pearse Brothers take on Kilcoo in a provincial quarter-final - the managerial duties instead left to his fellow manager, and new Clare coach, Mark Doran.

The presence of All-Ireland champions Kilcoo at this juncture is not a major surprise, but Ballybay had the fortune of claiming a first Monaghan title in a decade and earned an impressive preliminary round win over Armagh champions Crossmaglen to get here.

The misfortune arrived back in June before a championship ball was kicked as the Ulster CCC made the draw that confirmed that the eventual Down champions would face the winners of the Monaghan and Armagh champions.

It’s not the first time it’s happened in the senior competition, and different managers have taken different approaches.

Back in 2012, Errigal Ciaran manager Ronan McGuckin shot into the headlines with a self-imposed exile as the Tyrone champions, who face another Derry side in Glen this weekend, came up against the Oakleaf club he had played for,