Kelly urges Louth chiefs to seek answers
COLIN Kelly feels Louth GAA chiefs should be pushing Croke Park to explain why his players were forced into a six-day turnaround between their Leinster exit and All-Ireland Qualifier clash with Derry.
The Reds boss thought he had drawn a line under the matter after venting his frustrations immediately after the Derry defeat in Owenbeg, however, the Central CCC’s decision to push back Meath’s qualifier with Derry to avoid a similar six-day turnaround, rubbed salt in what is still a very raw wound.
‘We were disappointed to say the least [by the CCCC’s decision], but it kind of confirms for me that as a weaker county you don’t get treated the same way as the big boys. It’s really disappointing and it leaves a sour taste again.
Kelly’s comments come on the back of a interview Declan Byrne gave to LMFM, revealing the Louth players felt let down by the GAA and GPA, and Kelly admitted it’s difficult to argue with the St Mochta’s man.
‘As I said after the game, it’s about player welfare, which is something the GAA speak highly about - but what do we actually do about it?
‘It should be addressed and if that means someone from Louth taking it to a higher level then that’s what should happen.
‘Maybe moving the Meath/ Derry game is an admission that a mistake was made but that’s not the point. What we need to know is when our qualifier was fixed and why there was only a six-day break. Did we know that?
‘We certainly can’t be looking at beyond the next championship match, particularly when it amounts to planning for a defeat, but someone should be looking at it.
‘When these fixtures are made surely someone has to take a hard look at them to spot any problems.’
Meanwhile, Louth’s early exit has triggered a hectic spell of club activity, with the penultimate round of league fixtures scheduled for this weekend, followed by three straight weeks of championship action.
In Division 1, Dreadnots and Geraldines are already safely through to the O’Donnell Cup semi-finals and Sean O’Mahony’s and Kilkerley Emmets are in pole position to join them in the knockout stages.
The bottom of the table is even more interesting, however, with St Patrick’s and Newtown Blues still not out of the rele- gation equation following their draw on Saturday night.
The picture should become a lot clearer by Friday night.
In Division 2 St Bride’s and Clans are still neck-and neck, although the latter need the Knockbridge men to slip up in their final two games as they boast the head-to-head advantage.
At the bottom Glyde Rangers and Naomh Fionnbarra look doomed to relegation and a play-off respectively.
In the third tier, Glen Emmets all but guaranteed automatic promotion with victory over Lannleire last weekend.
Relegation comes into the mix in Division 3 for the first time this year and John Mitchels, Cuchulainn Gaels and St Nicholas are the main candidates for the drop as things stand.
Meanwhile, the first round of championship fixtures have been revealed, with the SFC double header involving Dundalk Gaels v St Mary’s and Geraldines v Dreadnots tops the bill at Castlebellingham on Sunday 10th July.