Club draws bring the buzz back but leagues a let-down
THE COMPLETION of the domestic championship draws on Saturday has brought the club scene back into sharp focus, right at the time when the inter-county campaigns are starting to crank into gear.
The real action won’t be starting for another two months, but at least now managers and players know the composition of the groups plus the order in which their games will be played.
As ever, there’s a lot of intriguing questions surrounding the Pettitt’s Senior hurling championship, particularly because Naomh Eanna were first-time winners last year.
How will they deal with being the new big target for all other contenders to try bringing down to size?
And can St. Martin’s pick up the pieces from a campaign that promised so much but fell so spectacularly at the last hurdle?
I’m looking forward to seeing how Fethard fare after returning to the top flight which they departed from in 2001, while I don’t for one moment believe that Oulart-The Ballagh are a spent force.
I think there might be one big kick left in their more experienced players, and their opening round game against a neighbouring Oylegate-Glenbrien team keen to build on last year’s semi-final appearance will be watched with particular interest.
As for the Senior football championship, now seeking a new sponsor, will Shelmaliers be able to break the mould and become the first team to win two titles in succession since Horeswood in 2005 and 2006?
As ever, there really is nothing between most of the teams in this grade, but I sincerely hope that the overall standard will improve.
Just because so many of the games are impossible to predict, that doesn’t necessarily translate into quality, a point highlighted by the failure of any champion to win a game in Leinster since 2004.
I believe the twelve-team, two groups of six, format is perfect in a county where the clubs don’t want to have straight knockout championships.
The reduction over two years from 16 down to a dozen may have been painful for numerous relegated teams, but before the change several of them were out of their depth in Senior but managing to hang on simply because only one was making the drop on an annual basis.
It’s a different story nowadays, and one only has to witness the demise of Cloughbawn and Buffers Alley in hurling to note the unforgiving nature of a twelve-team championship.
However, I’m disappointed at the format agreed by the clubs for the All-County Leagues, whereby each will play six games against the teams not included in their championship group.
Under this system, there will be neither relegation nor promotion, so all those contests will be in reality are glorified practice matches.
Wexford as a county has never embraced the true worth of really meaningful leagues. At a time when there is a growing disconnect between club and county, surely it would have been all the more important to ensure that some real value is attached to games in the secondary competition.
I’m a weekly reader of ‘Gaelic Life’, an Ulster newspaper devoted entirely to G.A.A., and one of the key differences between here and there is the impressive league structures up north.
It’s not uncommon to have a ten-team group with 18 games apiece for example, nine home and nine away.
And while I realise that wouldn’t be workable in a dual county like Wexford, our own league is watered down to virtually nothing by comparison and the games have absolutely no consequence.
On another topic, I note that ‘District teams’ is an item on the agenda for next Tuesday’s Gorey District A.G.M. which was sent to us by Michael Maguire.
As stated before, I’m in favour of their inclusion, and I would ask the non-Senior clubs to consider which one of the following scenarios they would prefer: a) their star player remains with the club while getting his fix of Senior action with the District; or b) that player gets frustrated with the lack of progress up the grades with the club and tries to get a transfer to the nearest Senior team instead.
This is a topic I will return to one last time next week.