REFUSING TO LEARN FROM OLD MISTAKES
THE Ulster Council are doing their absolute best to ensure we will not grieve the passing of the AllIreland Under 21 football championship.
The grade’s last final takes place tomorrow night and its scheduling justifies the position taken by those – most notably Páraic Duffy – who advocated its removal from the calendar, citing its contribution to overloading the GAA’s top young talent.
For now we can lament how the Ulster Council have done their absolute best to sabotage the AllIreland ambitions of their own champions.
The winners of tomorrow night’s game between Donegal and Derry will get just four days to rest before taking on Dublin in the AllIreland semi-final on Saturday.
It will mean that those players who also togged with their senior team last weekend will have played three games – the semi-finals were played mid-week – in nine days and then have a four-day rest before taking on the Leinster champions.
Derry were also taken to extratime by Armagh in midweek, but have been left with a handful of games to prepare for tomorrow night’s final which, for many, will represent a career highlight.
The pity, and we are hardly going out on a limb saying this, is that Donegal have an exceptional side this year and one that could push favourites Kerry hard, but they may find that their race is run when they meet a strong Dublin side who have been resting up for 17 days.
How did it come to pass? Well, it has been a tale of draws, replays, extra-time and two flooded pitches that caused delay, but ultimately this is about Ulster refusing to learn from past mistakes.
Six years ago, Cavan were given just 72 hours to prepare for an AllIreland semi-final, which they somehow managed to win falling over the line against Wexford.
That was slammed as a disgrace at the time, and yet the northern body’s response has been to drag their heels once more.