At the third time of asking the Galway senior hurling semi-final between St Thomas’ and Gort will take place this Sunday afternoon in Pearse Stadium (throw-in 1.30pm ).
Last Saturday afternoon it came to light that Gort, still in the midst of a Covid19 outbreak with players awaiting test results and one positive case with underlying health problems, had contacted the county board to inform them they would not be able to fulfil the fixture as planned for last Sunday in Kenny Park, Athenry.
A county board statement released later that day contested that the fixture stood as scheduled and that Gort’s failure to fulfil the semi-final would have to be dealt with by the Galway competitions control committee in due course.
The Gort senior hurling team released a lengthy statement later that night on their social media channel outlining the reasons behind their stance and asked that “the county board reschedule the game and allow the competition to be completed when it is safe to do so".
The assumption at that stage was that a lengthy dispute over the technicalities involved would lead to a delay in finishing the championship, but on Sunday evening it was confirmed by the county board that St Thomas’ had graciously offered to play the fixture this coming weekend, which was gladly accepted.
Elsewhere, the intermediate final between Moycullen and Killimor will take place on Saturday afternoon in Athenry, while the Junior A final replay between Craughwell and Liam Mellows is set for Duggan Park on the same day.
Galway hurling committee chairperson Paul Bellew has also confirmed that he will put his name forward in a bid to succeed Pat Kearney, who has completed his five year term, as Galway GAA chairman at the annual convention next month.
