SNOW WAY OUT
CARLOW could be the biggest losers from the disruption caused by Storm Emma after the GAA announced the rescheduled League fixtures. With last weekend’s full Allianz League programme falling victim to the weather, the Division Four football final has been put back a week until April 7/8.
London and Laois were pencilled in to play their Division Four tie this weekend and with Laois already having made arrangements to travel to Ruislip, the GAA was reluctant to change the fixture. It means Antrim and Leitrim are left idle this weekend and will not play their round five fixtures against Laois and London respectively until March 31/ April 1, a week after the other counties have completed their regulation ties. It’s customary for all final round games to throw in simultaneously to avoid any team gaining an unfair advantage in terms of promotion/ relegation but there is now potential for that to happen with Laois, Carlow (both on eight points) and Antrim (seven points) in a threehorse race for promotion.
Unless Carlow, who haven’t won promotion from Division Four since 1985, win their last three games, two of which are against Laois and Antrim, their fate will likely rest on the Laois-antrim tie.
However, Carlow boss Turlough O’brien refused to be drawn on suggestions that the new fixture arrangements created an uneven playing field last night.
He said: “I’m glad the Wicklow game is on this weekend, that’s the game that was supposed to be on last weekend so that’s the game we’re looking forward to and we’ll review it after. That’s something for the county board to take up with the powers that be.
“I’m sure they had a difficult situation in Division Four because all the teams are travelling to London this year and they probably all have booked their flights over and it’s complicated the whole fixturemaking I’m sure but, lookit, it won’t count for anything if we don’t beat Wicklow. That’s the one we’re focusing on at the moment.
“No point looking to anybody else to do any favours for you so we’ll be taking it one game at a time as we have up to now.”
Apart from Division Four, all the games scheduled for last Saturday and Sunday have been shifted forward to this weekend though the Dublin-kerry Division One football tie, initially fixed for last Saturday night, will take place on Sunday at Croke Park in order to avoid a clash with the Ireland-scotland Six Nations game and a march also taking place in the capital the day before. The final round of regulation hurling fixtures go ahead this Sunday. The quarter-finals, semi-finals and final take place on consecutive weekends up to the decider on March 31, the day before the Division One football final.
The prospect of both top flight finals forming a Croke Park double header hasn’t been ruled out. It would certainly become a runner if Galway, who boast 100 per cent records in hurling and football, were to reach both finals.