SQUARE BALL
Fixture planners get it all wrong
TIPPERARY’S dismay at having to travel up to Cavan for the ‘neutral’ venue of yesterday’s qualifier against Derry was understandable but lost in the controversy was that Parnell Park, the most obvious venue, was offered to the Tipp county board and it was turned down. The anger felt in the county over the way last year’s All-Ireland Under 21 final was switched from Navan to Parnell Park at the lastminute is still raw, and there are too many bad memories in the Donnycarney venue. But was it not a case of cutting your nose off to spite your face? SATURDAY’S football doubleheader in Croke Park is a strong line-up — Donegal vs Cork and Mayo vs Westmeath. However, ticket sales are reported to be slow, hardly surprising on a Bank Holiday weekend as three of the four counties, Donegal, Mayo and Cork, depend greatly on tourism. Putting the final two qualifiers on the Saturday is an effort to ape when all four quarter-finals were on the same weekend. That was an appealing proposition — the eight best teams descending on Croker in one weekend. This is a pale substitute and if the fixture-planners had sense, they would ensure the Bank Holiday weekend became the festival of football it once was. TIPPERARY’S Ed Donnelly pointed out the unique distinction held by senior county hurler Ronan Maher, one detail lost in the fine print of the Munster hurling final. Turns out that in the 52 years since the Under 21 grade began, no Under 21 hurler had ever lined out at centre-back on a successful Munster senior hurling final team until 2016. And the history of the storied final is littered with great centrebacks. That’s one he already has over older brother Padraic in the half-back line.