There needs to be change Éire Óg coast past Aughrim

at Aughrim teams go into the semi-finals and the bottom two teams play-off to get relegated.

We need the best teams playing each other in high quality matches on a regular basis in our marquee championship. Lower quality matches must be played at a lower level.

Have the same structure for the other clubs that would be Senior next year but call it the Senior ‘B’ championship. One team can go up and one team goes down to Intermediate.

Don’t let group teams compete in either Senior championship because the standard just isn’t good enough. The idea behind a group team is understandable but there must be also an acknowledgement that some players and some clubs don’t make themselves available for the group team and if there is a schedule conflict players will choose their club over the group team.

This is simply a proposal. Maybe it’s a bad one or maybe it’s reasonable and maybe somebody has a better one. Whether it’s this idea or another idea, something has to be done. The current system has produced three matches where one team has beaten the other by 19 points. Therefore the current system is broken.

If anyone has ever attended a county board meeting they will know such a proposal would never be passed because the clubs that would be put in the Senior ‘B’ championship would object. Likewise the top six clubs would probably vote against it too. As, of course, is their right. At some stage though, clubs and delegates must cease voting in their own interests and put the interests of the county first. A cynic might think that will take years however. He or she can only live in hope.

This hasn’t been too heavy on details about the Éire Óg – Aughrim match for the very simple reason that there are only so many ways to say that Éire Óg kicked a point, won the kick out, and scored again.

Aughrim put together more than a couple of passes in the Éire Óg half of the field for about 30 seconds in the first half but any other ball in came back out straight away. Conor Lambert was left isolated with a couple of Éire Óg defenders for company.

Darren Hayden pulled the strings at centre-forward, kicking points off his left and right while Dominic Reilly and Sam Thompson were on fire, but then again it was easy for them. Éire Óg will have to find a free-taker for the tougher challenges ahead and hope Danny Woods and JP Connolly can recover to full health.

Scorers – Éire Óg: Darren Hayden 0-7; Dominic Reilly 1-3; Sam Thompson 0-3; Daniel O’Keane 0-2; James Leonard, Karl Monahan, Declan O’Mahoney 0-1 each.

Aughrim: Robert Lambert (1, 45), Richard Keegan 0-1 each.

Éire Óg: Billy Norman; Jack Tanner, James Kelly, Peter Keane; Daniel O’Keane, Justin O’Brien, Seanie Horan; Danny Woods, James Leonard; Jamie McDonald, Darren Hayden, JP Connolly; Karl Monahan, Dominic Reilly, Sam Thompson. Subs: Billy Cuddihy for Danny Woods (8 mins, inj); Declan O’Mahoney for JP Connolly (10 min, inj.); Eddie Davis for Sam Thompson (35 mins); John Deeney for Jack Tanner (47 mins); Eoin McHugh for Darren Hayden (50 mins).

Aughrim: Cillian Donegan; Eoin Forsyth, Andy Holt, Paul lacey; Bobby Newsome, Stephen Mann, Oisin Doyle; Robert Lambert, Mick Brennan; Dean Newsome, Richard Keegan, Dan O’Hare; Conor Lambert, Peo Kavanagh, Conor Phelan. Subs: Paul Whelan for Paul Lacey (35 mins, inj.); Shane McGuckian for Mick Brennan (41 mins, BC).

Referee: Garrett Whelan