‘Division 3 winners in Tailteann Cup is wrong’
DOWN coach Mickey Donnelly insists it would be ‘ethically wrong’ if the winners of Saturday’s Allianz League Division 3 final end up in the Tailteann Cup. Table toppers Down go head-to-head with Westmeath in the third-tier decider, with the losers demoted to the Tailteann Cup — unless they reach their provincial final. That is because a lower tier county is certain to take up one of the Sam Maguire berths by reaching the Munster final. And with Dublin and Westmeath also on the weaker side of the Leinster draw, there remains a strong possibility that Down could still miss out playing in the All-Ireland even if they claim silverware this weekend. ‘They used to talk about the Championship play-off in English soccer being the most lucrative game in the world because teams were trying to get into the Premiership,’ quipped Donnelly, who said that the provincial championships may have to be played at the start of the season to give teams certainty. ‘Ourselves or Westmeath could get over the line on Saturday evening and still not get to play in the Sam Maguire,’ he said. ‘There is something ethically wrong about that and there is a question as to have we got the competitions right? ‘We probably don’t; ultimately, a provincial series, followed by a league followed by a championship, and there is absolute clarity then. ‘The timing of that would be difficult, of course, because you dilute the value of the Ulster Championship but to have gone through the League unbeaten with 13 points and now to have to go toe-to-toe with a Westmeath team that ran Tyrone and Armagh really close last year, it is going to be a huge battle, it really is. ‘We would be exceptionally disappointed if we are not in the Sam Maguire, just given the fact we had five League wins last year, six and a draw this year, in relative terms that is a decent return over two years. ‘To not be in the Sam Maguire would be disappointing.’