Hurling clubs are still angry over lack of a ‘back door’

KILMOYLEY chairman Joe Walsh has lamented the decision to make this year’s County Senior Hurling Championship a straight knock-out affair with the competition set to commence with all four quarter-finals this weekend.

Walsh is adamant that, despite the prolonged lockdown due to Covid-19 leading to a curtailed season, the round-robin aspect of the race for the Neilus Flynn Cup should have been retained.

“No, we shouldn’t just have to put up with it. We should have a second chance,” Walsh told The Kerryman this week. “I know the year is different, but how are hurling clubs expected to survive if you are out on your ear after just one match this weekend? The same preparation has to go in, even though we were stood down for a while.

“The hurling clubs are completely against this, and we made our feelings known. For the sake of the eight clubs, all we were asking for was another week to run off the back door.

“All the clubs are fiercely disappointed with the County Board. All the football teams have had three games in the last few weeks and, even those that haven’t progressed, will have another one or two matches in the relegation play-offs.

“It’s just not fair to the hurling clubs. How do you keep running the club and keep the interest going with no games? Some other counties have seven games for their minors, they are using eight team groups. We could have one game for the minors and one game for the seniors.

Mr Wlash continued: “We were looking for challenge matches for our minors in Limerick and Cork, but they are all booked into seven-week games programmes. Like, in Kerry, we are all playing each other in minor challenge games anyway. Why not formulate that into a minor County League or a minor North Kerry League?”

Ballyduff v Ballyheigue gets the ball rolling on Friday (6.30pm), St Brendan’s face Kilmoyley on Saturday (6pm), and there are two games on Sunday – Lixnaw v Abbeydorney (1.30pm) and holders Causeway v Crotta (6pm).

All four knock-out quarter-finals matches will be staged at Austin Stack Park and will be live streamed.