SHOULDER TO...
Tomacork withdraw from SFC over heavy fixture load
TOMACORK have withdrawn from the 2018 Wicklow Senior football championship before a ball has been kicked.
The amalgamation of Carnew Emmets and Coolboy, who were due to compete in the Senior football championship later this year, have pulled the plug due to the pressure of fixtures in their own championships across hurling and football.
Tomacork become the second team in two years to drop out of a championship. Last year, it was the group team from the west, St Boden’s, a combination of Lacken and Kilbride, who entered the championship draw (Intermediate) but withdrew prior to any games being played.
Wicklow County Chairman Martin Fitzgerald confirmed that the Tomacork project was over. He also said that the decision as to whether the fixtures in the group that had contained Tomacork would go ahead as drawn last month or be redrawn will be made by the CCC in the coming days.
He warned that changes would have to be made to the process for next season to avoid situations like this in the future.
Carnew Emmets Chairman Tim Balfe said the decision to withdraw the team came down to one of player welfare in the end.
“Our logic was based on player welfare,” said Balfe. “When the fixtures were published we realised that we would be playing IHC, SHC mid-week and IFC and SFC at the weekend. We were looking at playing six games in 11 or 12 days and that would be happening for a while.
“Originally, when we discussed this we were under the impression that there would be football and hurling weekends. That’s not the case.
“So, on that basis we decided to withdraw. And it wasn’t just us, it was Coolboy as well. It was a joint decision. It just came down to trying to avoid injuries and player welfare at the end of the day”.