The Unite the Union Cup controversy rumbles as Shamrock Rovers and St Patrick’s Athletic saw their push to play their semi-final next Monday night failed.
There are no League of Ireland games next week due to the international window, reports the Irish Mirror, and the Dublin rivals felt that was an ideal opportunity to play the knockout game after a number of false starts.
But organisers would prefer that the Northern Irish participants - Linfield and Coleraine - are aligned to the same schedule.
And with the Irish League approaching the business end, it is proving a struggle once again to nail down dates, but Rovers boss Stephen Bradley is eager to nail down a game of some sort for his team next week.
Asked if that could be the Unite the Union clash with Saints, Bradley said: “That would be common sense. Don't get me started on that.”
The cross-border competition was in turmoil last November as Rovers and the Athletic were in the dark as to when the matches would be played.
As it was the end of the domestic League of Ireland season - with players going on holiday and St Pat’s in the FAI Cup final - it was a struggle for all to settle on dates.
At the time, Shamrock Rovers and St Pat’s expressed a desire to play the cross-border matches as part of their pre-season schedule this year.
Both had also threatened to play underage teams if they were made to play at the end of last season, but on November 19, organisers postponed the tournament citing Covid concerns on both sides of the border.
Eyeing next week’s international break, Bradley said: “We’ll make sure we train as normal and we’re trying to get a game at the moment.
“We've spoken to teams up the North but they’re right in the thick of it. We spoke to one or two teams in England to try and get a game there as well.
“It's really important we don't come away from our workload that we've built up over the last eight to ten weeks as we're only getting going.”
The Unite the Union 'Champions Cup' winners will pocket €60,000, the runners-up land €40,000 and there €25,000 for each of the beaten semi-finalists.
