Winter chaos for fixtures

All Lidl LGFA NFL games scheduled for this weekend have also been postponed, due to the adverse weather.

Counties involved in Division 3 and

4 will play this round on the weekend of the March 17/18, while those involved in Division 1 and 2 will play their games on the weekend of April

7/8. For GAA fixtures-makers, it has been a very challenging winter/ spring with less room to manoeuvre with postponements because of the compression to facilitate a ‘free’ April for clubs.

As far back as last December, a snow-covered O’Moore Park in Portlaoise forced the postponement of the Leinster club football final between Moorefield and St Loman’s which went ahead seven days later.

In early January, pre-season competitions also suffered with two games in Connacht including Mayo and Galway and three McKenna Cup games in Ulster falling by the wayside due to frozen pitches. Ulster also had to postpone a McKenna Cup semi-final between Donegal and Armagh by three days.

The Bord na Móna O’Byrne Cup in Leinster was shelved for the first time at the end of January because of heavy rain that fell in the midlands, weather that also claimed four All-Ireland club semi-finals in hurling and football.

The leagues have already been affected with Kerry having to make the trip to Monaghan twice and Cavan and Meath’s Division 2 game re-fixed on the same weekend because of rain and snow. Derry/ Offaly and Sligo/Fermanagh in Division 3 were postponed.

The O’Byrne Cup final may now go ahead on the weekend of March 30/31, if Westmeath and Meath are not involved in any of the league finals.