FROZEN OUT
Fans and players left fuming at late postponements
THE decision to wait until the last minute to postpone several GAA games yesterday left fans and players fuming.
Six inter-county pre-season games were wiped off yesterday’s calendar as the wintersnap left several pitches frozen, but most of those games were postponed after very late pitch inspections.
Three McKenna Cup and two Connacht FBD fixtures all fell victim to the weather including the headline Galway/Mayo clash at Castlebar.
In excess of 1,500 supporters were in MacHale Park, where the frozen pitch was deemed unplayable two minutes after the official 2pm throw-in time.
And the mood of fans was not improved when no refund was offered by Connacht chiefs, but instead supporters were told to queue for a coupon that will give them free admittance when the game is rescheduled this Friday night.
Mayo, who face Leitrim on Wednesday night, will now have to play two games inside 48 hours.
Galway boss Kevin Walsh was furious at the lack of foresight shown by GAA officials in not calling off the game earlier.
‘We’d be very disappointed. We left Loughgeorge at 11.30am and you would expect to get that call before we left. There isn’t a 12-hour day of sunlight at this time of year,’ said Walsh.
The postponements have left both the Connacht and Ulster pre-season competitions in chaos.
CALLING off Armagh’s Dr McKenna Cup game with Derry was the correct decision, according to manager Kieran McGeeney – but the former All-Ireland-winning captain is now worried about a possible fixture pileup in the wake of yesterday’s postponements. A potential finalist could have to play four games in 11 days after the fixtures scheduled for yesterday between Armagh and Derry, Monaghan and Donegal, and Down’s clash against Ulster University at Jordanstown, were called off due to frozen pitches. ‘It’s far from ideal but it was the right call, you have to look after the players first,’ said McGeeney. ‘It is going to be tough now because it tightens things up a bit. Whoever gets through to the semifinals is going to have to play three games in seven days. ‘More than likely it’s going to be either us or Derry, though it could be Jordanstown. But whichever team goes through to the semis will have three games in seven days, which is a big ask.’ The postponed games will be played this weekend, which pushes the semifinals back until January 17, just three days before the final. Some of yesterday’s games were called off at a very late stage, with the Armagh-Derry throw-in first delayed from 2pm to 2.30pm before finally being postponed at around 1.45pm when many supporters were already in the ground. However, McGeeney didn’t think the call
came too late. ‘No, it was the right call, it’s easy for us because we’re at home but it’s a long journey for Derry to come here. ‘They had to give the game every chance to go ahead. ‘It’s quite difficult to try to give fellas a run out and then pull the rug from underneath them, but hopefully as the years go on in the GAA, people will get better organised and there’ll be other pitches.’ Referencing Tyrone’s opening McKenna Cup fixture against Antrim, which took place in the Athletic Grounds in Armagh last Wednesday night due to a waterlogged pitch in Omagh, McGeeney added: ‘Us having the game here in midweek didn’t help.’ Asked what he thought about Tyrone playing their ‘home’ games in Armagh, McGeeney smiled and replied: ‘No comment!’