Meaning the Hurling League semi-finals can’t go ahead next weekend.
Another weekend has been lost and the GAA are paying the price for leaving themselves with so little room for error, so little room to wiggle in their grand fixtures plan.
In fairness, they can’t be held responsible for the weather, but they dug their own hole with this overly ambitious new calendar, and they’re only counting the cost of their own carelessness now.
In previous years, we were under enough fixture pressure. There was no need to bring in all of these extra games in the championship, and at the end of the day it’s the club player who will suffer once more.
Sunday was a bit of a disaster.
The GAA are lucky this is a Bank Holiday weekend https://t.co/am5TtMbtC2
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 18, 2018
A host of games fell victim to the icy blast. The majority of them were rescheduled for tomorrow, the Bank Holiday Monday, but with a yellow weather warning in place until Monday morning, there are no guarantees that the Gods of the weather will facilitate that.
At this early stage, two games have already fallen victim. Galway and Wexford’s National Hurling League Quarter Final will be re-fixed for next weekend.
It was supposed to go ahead on Monday, but with Wexford Park unplayable, the call was made on Sunday evening to nip that eventuality in the bud.
One might suggest that it would have been worth looking for another pitch to host the game, given the adverse effect the missed weekend will have on the GAA calendar, but Wexford may have been reluctant to give up the home advantage and it’s often not as easy as it sounds to organise such changes.
The re-fixture details will be confirmed on Tuesday.
Tipperary’s Division Two Football League clash with Down, having been postponed on Sunday, also won’t go ahead on Monday, with Mourne County legend Benny Coulter claiming that many of the Down players have to work tomorrow, which put paid to those hopes.
https://twitter.com/BennyCoulter82/status/975321714304475136
That will mean that both the hurling and Division Two football will be delayed one full weekend. So the Hurling League won’t be completed on Easter Sunday, as was originally planned, now. It’s looking like an April 7 decider.
Hurling counties were planning on beginning their championships on the first weekend in April. Tipperary, for one, certainly were.
Those, as well as the football counties in Division 2 will all have to wait now.
You play with fire, you usually get burned.
