April start to club football is no longer acceptable
WITH Louth having safely secured their promotion to Division 2 of the National League, last weekend was the turn of the club players in the county to stretch their legs in competitive football.
Most of these lads have been slogging away since early January, and some since before Christmas, with only challenge matches and subsidiary leagues breaking the monotony of weekly training.
With so many other opportunities and distractions now available to young people, this annual debacle of a three or even four-month pre-season is no longer acceptable. This intolerable situation of not knowing when your season starts or finishes has gone on for long enough.
There are no excuses in this day and age for the absence of a proper, structured and well thought-out club fixture schedule.
The formation of the Club Players Association (CPA) was inevita- ble given the current frustrations of the average club players. Officialdom in Croke Park cannot be oblivious to what’s happening on the ground, but they appear to be adopting the traditional ‘head in the sand’ approach to the problem, much like they did in the late 90s and early 2000s when the GPA was formed.
County boards around the country adopt varying approaches to the problem, some with greater success than others. From talking to other lads in neighbouring counties, our own ‘Top Table’ are probably no worse nor better than any other administration at tackling the issue, but that is still no excuse for the current malaise.
There is obviously little direction being given to the subject by Headquarters, so individual boards need to sort the mess out themselves.
Paraic Duffy’s recent rule change proposals highlighted the disconnect that currently exists between the high echelons and grassroots and his ‘super 8’ idea at the height of the summer’s club football season was almost laughable.
This is a problem that will only escalate in the months and years ahead.
Anyway, rant over and back to last weekend’s action.
If I was sitting down with my Easter pools coupon for the first round of the Division 1 League, I would have completed it as follows. Home wins for O’Mahony’s, €20 on 8/1 shot Vicente to repeat last year’s Scottish National win at Ayr. Dreadnots and Geraldines and away wins for Ardee, Blues and St Pat’s. The Kilkerley/Blues game was a bit of a marginal call, but I was pretty confident with the other five selections.
Just shows what this pundit knows about Louth club football!
O’Mahony’s defeat of town rivals Gaels was the only tick on my card. The county champions were as mean as ever at the back, limiting their opponents to just four points over the hour and shutting them out completely for the final 40 minutes. League holders Dreadnots could only manage a draw with Clans in Clogherhead, but by all accounts the Dundalk men should have left the seaside village with both points.
Geraldines surprisingly went down to Mattock in Haggardstown, where both Reid brothers were in fine form. It’s been quite some time since the Collon men have fielded without either Christy Grimes or David Brennan in their ranks, but the post Brennan/Grimes era looks bright.
Having enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence last year, I expected St Mary’s to hit the ground running this season, but the Ardee side found Cooley and Brian White in top form as they went under in a high-scoring encounter 3-14 to 3-10.
St Pat’s travelled to Monasterboice with a strong starting fifteen, but they found the home side - and in particular last year’s minor stars Sam Mulroy and Conor Whelan - too hot to handle. The two youngsters kicked 10 points between them as Naomh Mairtin ran out four-point winners despite conceding three goals.
League specialists Kilkerley have two early points in the bag as they accounted for Newtown Blues at home by a single goal - 2-13 to 1-13.
Notable results in Division 2 were Joes’ narrow victory over St Bride’s, John Neary’s Oliver Plunkett’s win at Young Irelands and St Fechin’s 3-19 scoreline against O’Connell’s.
Two more rounds of fixtures are planned for this coming Sunday and the following Friday night. Jessica Harrington’s Our Duke romped to victory in the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse on Monday. The 9/2 heavily backed favourite, with Robbie Power on board, looked a winner from a long way out as he left the field in his wake.
Our tip Foxrock, like many others in the race, just couldn’t stay with the seven-year-old novice’s pace, with only Gordon Elliot’s Bless the Wings challenging.
This week we go for Paul Nicolls’ Vicente at 8/1 to win the Scottish Grand National for the second year running on Saturday.