The appointment of Dave Barry to manage the representative team to face Mick McCarthy's B team at the Carlisle Grounds in a couple of weeks time and the way his predecessor Pat Devlin was let go without being told is a disappointing way of setting the scene for what should be an interesting occasion.

Barry and his assistant Liam Murphy undoubtedly deserve the honour for what they have achieved at Cork City but the build-up to the announcement of their squad yesterday might have gone a little better for them.

The fact that Saturday's game between Cork City and St Patrick's Athletic was won by a substitution and tactical switch made by his opposite number, Liam Buckley, tended to have the effect of making Barry look like the second best manager on the day.

He had, he admitted, before the game, already selected the 16 players for his panel but the fact that Cork lost has highlighted his decision to select seven from his own club.

Of the seven probably five would have been certainties whoever the manager had been. Dave Hill, Derek Coughlan and Declan Daly have all been outstanding in the southerners' defence this season while Patsy Freyne's key role in the centre of midfield and Ollie Cahill's attacking ability all deserved some recognition.

The inclusion of left back Gareth Cronin and goalkeeper Noel Mooney might be viewed as a little more controversial, however, with both clearly having done well for the club this season and Mooney perhaps having won over many of those who were a little wary of his ability, especially under high balls.

Part of the reason for the pair's inclusion may be explained by Barry's comments yesterday about having sought to give opportunities to younger players. But the fact remains that at left full-back Declan Geoghegan is certainly one who may have reason to feel disappointed while more than one goalkeeper might feel a little hard done by.

Dundalk's Steve Williams, who has been included, is viewed by many as the best goalkeeper in the league but Trevor Wood of St Patrick's, Tony O'Dowd at Shamrock Rovers and Finn Harps' Brian McKenna might all make an argument for inclusion.

Wood's team-mates, at least, are well represented in the squad with Colin Hawkins, Paul Osam, Eddie Gormley and Trevor Molloy selected. Packie Lynch could have made it too while Trevor Croly has been a major contributor to the side's current campaign and it is a pity that Ian Gilzean's work over the last few months has gone unrecognised.

Barry has said that it is very difficult to come up with just 16 players for the panel but there are notable omissions. The Finn Harps central defensive pairing of Declan Boyle and Gavin Dykes for instance, Pat Fenlon in midfield or, up front, Tony Sheridan who has done tremendously well for Shelbourne this season.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the league's best players handle McCarthy's team. For a couple of the under-21s the game will have an added importance (it was, it's worth mentioning, good to see Ian Evans down in Cork on Saturday) especially for Trevor Molloy who, should he play on the night, will have another chance to impress upon McCarthy and Evans that his form at club level these days deserves some class of international recognition.

It is also a positive thing that players such as Hill, Williams and Liam Coyle, though they are not eligible for or hoping for international honours here, are getting some reward for the contribution they have made to the league. Coyle has been a wonderful servant to Derry City and has long been recognised as one of the most technically gifted individuals in the game.

As for Hill and Williams, the pair have had an extremely positive effect on their clubs. Both have settled well and the Dundalk goalkeeper has repeatedly shown his commitment to Oriel Park when many other players would surely have opted to move on.

The only pity is that opportunities such as this game come along so rarely. There would, in other circumstances, be a case to be made for only using players who are eligible for Brian Kerr, Ian Evans or Mick McCarthy's teams in a game like this. But the pitifully few representative games organised over the past couple of seasons and the lack of a consistent policy towards their organisation means that it would be unfair to pass over some of the league's most impressive players when such games do come along.

It also, however, means that those players who feel hard done by because of Dave Barry's decision to rely on the two leading clubs for 11 of his 16 players will probably have a long wait before they get another crack of the whip.

National League Squad: Steve Williams (Dundalk), Noel Mooney (Cork City); Pat Scully (Shelbourne), Dave Hill (Cork City), Gareth Cronin (Cork City), Colin Hawkins (St Patrick's Athletic), Declan Daly (Cork City), Derek Coughlan (Cork City), Tom Mohan (Finn Harps), Paul Osam (St Patrick's Athletic), Eddie Gormley (St Patrick's Athletic), Ollie Cahill (Cork City), Patsy Freyne (Cork City), Liam Coyle (Derry City), Trevor Molloy (St Patrick's Athletic), Tony Cousins (Shamrock Rovers).