Time to rejoice at hurlers’ feats, but clubs are suffering

IMADE a note of the finishing time of Saturday’s exciting hurling tussle in our main county ground for a couple of reasons. It was 4.35 p.m. when the last blast of Fergal Horgan’s whistle signified another major step forward for a very promising team gaining traction with every passing game.

And at that exact time, throngs of delighted supporters, young and old, happily left their seats in the main stand and on the uncovered side to congratulate the players.

It was such a heart-warming sight, coming hot on the heels of the equally positive scenes at half-time when the pitch remained a hive of activity, with swarms of youngsters eager to have a few pucks of a ball themselves.

It’s in such situations that dreams are fashioned, and long may it last. The boys and girls out there at the interval are being inspired on a match-by-match basis by this Wexford team, and in time to come several of them will hopefully emulate their deeds.

However, 4.35 p.m. was also significant for another reason: at 25 minutes to 5, managers and players of club teams all over the county would have realised that their first round championship games were going to be put on the back burner.

A full programme of football matches had been scheduled from Friday to Sunday, but the exploits of the hurlers and the visit of Kilkenny to our fortress next weekend put paid to those plans.

I’m not blaming anyone for this state of affairs, and of course everyone is delighted to see Davy Fitzgerald and his crew just 70 minutes away from a first league final appearance since 1993.

Still, who could possibly gain satisfaction from being a club player these days? I’ve no doubt many footballers, particularly those with families, would have decided to spend the Easter weekend at home as a result of those club fixtures.

With the children on holidays from school, it was an ideal time to take a break, and some probably tried to make frantic last-minute plans to get away after the outcome of Saturday’s clash with Galway.

Already it can be said with emphatic certainty that the plans to play four club rounds, two football and two hurling, before the end of April have fallen by the wayside.

Where will that leave us in November? I predicted many months ago that several championships won’t be finished by that stage, so I’m only repeating that earlier assertion with greater certainty.

However, if the local fixtures have already been thrown out of kilter, that’s nothing compared to the utter farce of the games programme under the control of the national C.C.C.C. at present.

It’s too convenient for the authorities to put the entire blame for their current plight on the loss of two weekends to bad weather.

Any fixtures plan worth its salt needs to have some wriggle room, and the committee members simply must think of all the ‘what if’ scenarios that may come to pass.

Just to give one example, it was absolutely staggering to think that Cuala and Na Piarsaigh had to wait until the following Tuesday before the details of their AIB All-Ireland Club hurling final replay were finalised.

The drawn game took place three days earlier, and it beggars belief that the arrangements weren’t ready to be announced on the public address system within seconds of the final whistle.

Then there was the arrogant assumption that all the teams subjected to postponements on Sunday week would have been in a position to play instead 24 hours later.

Clearly the G.A.A. decision-makers at the top seem to think that nobody works on bank holidays, but it was another prime example of their utter disdain for the most prized assets of all: the players.

For those of you not involved with a club, clearly there is no down side to the current run by our hurlers and, let’s be clear on this point, we all want them to go as far as they possibly can in both league and championship.

The disconnect between county and club is growing with every passing week though, make no mistake about it.

And unless a workable solution is found, grassroots activity will be eroded to such a degree that many club players simply won’t bother any more.