Ards manager John Bailie feels there’s a growing gap between the Premiership’s top teams and the rest of the Irish League with the elite “starting to get further and further away”.

Bailie got a close look at reigning Irish Cup kings Dungannon Swifts, who are on track to secure consecutive top-half league finishes, on Saturday as his side were comfortably beaten 3-0 at Stangmore Park.

Ards were one of two Championship teams – alongside eventual second-tier title winners Bangor – to reach last season’s Irish Cup semi-finals.

The division will once again have a host of representatives in the last-16 this term with Limavady United, H&W Welders, Warrenpoint Town and Institute still going strong, while Loughgall will host Knockbreda on Tuesday as they look to seal progression.

placeholder image — Ards manager John Bailie. (Photo by David Maginnis/Pacemaker Press)

Conversation has centered around the perceived gap between teams plying their trade in the Premiership and Championship as the Irish League continues to move towards a more professional set-up with four full-time top-flight outfits.

In last season’s promotion/relegation play-off, Carrick Rangers defeated in-form Annagh United 8-3 on aggregate, while Ballymena United were victorious 12 months prior as they narrowly preserved Premiership status against Institute.

The 2018/19 season was the last occasion when the Championship’s second-placed side won the play-off – Carrick defeated Ards – while all five Irish Cup fifth round meetings between a Premiership and Championship team last weekend was won by the former.

It’s undoubtedly a challenge for second-tier clubs to sustain themselves in an increasingly competitive Premiership environment, and Bailie feels there’s a gap being created within the top-flight itself.

"The top seven or eight teams in the Premiership are starting to get further and further away from even the four teams at the bottom of the Premiership and the rest,” said Bailie. “You're looking at structures of clubs and you're looking at the finance of clubs you have to try and live with.

"I know Dungannon’s finance aren't the same as what some of the bigger clubs are, but they have a structure here that they'll be in the top-six and they seem to be stretching away.

"If you go back four or five years ago, Dungannon were probably 10th or 11th and trying to avoid the play-off – they've got themselves out of that place and they've been in that top-six.

"I know teams fear coming here (Stangmore Park) because I come down here and watch U20 games and teams struggle because of their brand of football.

"That comes from the structure they have and it's becoming more and more difficult. Whilst they're not full-time, they're full-time to us because of their facilities, where they train, how they train – everything's got to a different level.

"That's the difficulty we have coming here...we're always hoping it's going to be one of them days where they miss chances and we sneak one, but it wasn’t to be.”