After being positive about the county football board and its handling of convention in this column last Thursday, it is disappointing to have to be a tad critical this week.
The Senior A League final between Caherlistrane and Corofin was cancelled late in the day last Sunday afternoon. People had paid their money in and were in-situ on a cold and frosty afternoon looking forward to some attractive fare. Some had travelled a considerable distance to support their clubs when the decision was taken to cancel the game due to the pitch being frozen and dangerous in spots.
Admittedly the correct decision was made from a player welfare point of view, and no one could criticise Gerry Kinneavy for that - the health and safety of both sets of players has to be the overriding consideration in such an instance, but that decision should have been made earlier in the day.
Up in Brewster Park, in Enniskillen, the Ulster football final was pulled at noon and that meant that loyal supporters were not put out and did not travel and plan their Sunday around a game that was subsequently called off.
In such a case as last weekend, and in an ideal world, the referee concerned should have the power to inspect the pitch an hour or two before the throw-in and make a decision accordingly.
Hopefully, lessons will have been learnt from last week and a provisional plan put in place to prevent such late cancellations in the future.
The game has been rescheduled for this Saturday in Tuam and it is difficult to predict the outcome as both sides might be without some key personnel.
Caherlistrane manager Peter Warren was frustrated by the late cancellation and told the Galway Advertiser that the decision had caused a lot of hassle for many of his panel.
“A few of our lads were going away this weekend and they have had to cancel their trip which is not ideal and costs a lot of money in some cases. Likewise the likes of Kieran Murphy has college exams and he has to go up and down to college again this weekend to play the final.”
While pleased to be in the league final, Warren, who was a selector with Galway in the glory years of 1998 and 2001, echoes the view of many GAA people.
“We had our first training session on January 10 and here we are in a league final on December 13 - 12 months later. It is not fair on lads, and in 2009 all the clubs and the county board have to make a genuine effort to run the league and championship on schedule and have the last two months of the year as a close season for all the clubs, bar the county champions who will be representing Galway in the Connacht club championship. Players deserve to have six or eight weeks at the end of the club season where they can throw their boots in the press and relax before they start thinking about the new season.”
