Last week in this column I let off a bit of steam in relation to the GAA’s treatment of the lesser hurling counties in the country. As far as I was concerned unless you are a leading contender for Liam McCarthy honours you just don’t matter. Last weekend, the quarter-finals of the Nicky Rackard and Christy Ring cups were played and for the counties involved their season hung on the result. I mentioned about how shoddy the arrangements were for the draw for these quarter-finals. While the draw was being made for the qualifiers in the premier competition, the rest of the counties involved in their own championships, were left to hang on with no idea of who their opposition would be. What I didn’t mention though was my surprise that the knockout games in the Ring and Rackard cups would be on a home and away basis.
Surely when any championship reaches the elimination stage, each game should be played in a neutral venue. Carlow seemed to be the biggest victim of this policy, as following the previous week’s trip to Newry to play Down which involved an overnight stay, they had to travel to Tralee last weekend to play Kerry in the quarter-final with this trip also requiring travel the night before. Following a very impressive victory against The Kingdom, the first in well over thirty years on Kerry soil, a well earned semi-final place was the reward. Now whatever about the quarter-finals, Carlow were surely entitled to expect that a neutral venue would be put in place for the semi final. But it was not to be. We’ve been drawn away to Mayo (who shocked Wicklow in Aughrim ).
This game will be in McHale Park in Castlebar. So now for the third consecutive week, the county squad is expected to arrange to travel the night before a major championship game with each of these games increasing in importance. Carlow will be at a distinct disadvantage due to these arrangements. Who is to blame for this? Croke Park of course. Again they can be seen to be treating the lesser counties as an afterthought. I find this astonishing. In my opinion the powers that be looked at this competition and decided that it would be too much of an inconvenience to try and arrange a neutral venue at a time in the season that would be very congested fixture-wise.
So why not let the counties involved sort it out among themselves. Another point of interest is that the finals of the Ring and Rackard cups are down to be played on the August bank holiday weekend. Now these games have traditionally been played as curtain-raisers to the All-Ireland semi-finals but the first semi-final is not due to be played until the following week. Is this to be seen as a further demotion for the tier one and two championships? I think so. Much is being made in GAA circles about the importance of developing the game of hurling in Dublin. Millions of euros are being pumped into the game in the capital. The fruits of this investment are beginning to show with success at under-age level and progress being made at senior level also. Are the rest of the smaller hurling counties being neglected in preference to Dublin? You can work that one out for yourself!
So, following a weekend in Ulster and Munster, Carlow will travel to Connaught next Friday night in preparation for the semi-final against a Pete Finnerty managed Mayo side. Casual observers would maybe see this game as an easy one for Jim Greene and his squad. However this could not be further from the truth. Over the last decade or so the westerners have made great strides in the game. They have proved quite difficult opposition for Carlow on many occasions. Their recent form has also been impressive. They beat eventual champions and Christy Ring favourites Westmeath in the league and also accounted for Kerry in the opening round of this year’s competition.
They scraped into the knockout stages by one point in scoring difference over Meath but made the most of this opportunity by beating Wicklow last weekend in Aughrim. This result paired with the Westmeath one should be enough to have Carlow on their guard. Having said that though, Jim Greene is bullish about our chances. The posting of Mark Brennan on the edge of the square he feels, has given the attack far better balance. Ruairi Dunbar has hopefully put his injury problems behind him, as evidenced by his three point return against Kerry.
The defence was rock solid in Tralee and has proved to be excellent this year. Following his goal scoring contribution last Saturday Craig Doyle comes into an otherwise unchanged side for the weekend. Dual player Keith Higgins is the Mayo danger man and if he can be curtailed, Carlow should be well on their way to a Croke Park final date against either Westmeath or Derry. Despite the inconvenience of having to travel, I think Carlow should have too much hurling ability for Mayo and I fully expect an away win!
So basically the team is the same as the weekend except that Craig Doyle will be in for Brendan Lawler.
