Skelly open to return of Friday night lights

Leinster could be the setting for another Friday Championship game next year with Longford and Offaly’s first-round game a leading contender.

Wicklow and Laois’s opener might also be considered as a weekday option but support for a Friday game next May has already been intimated in Longford. Leinster chairman Martin Skelly has been a significant proponent of the Friday night initiative and gave support to the idea of repeating this past June’s qualifier clash between Carlow and Laois in Dr Cullen Park.

“We’re looking at everything and are still open to Friday night ideas,” he said. “The success of the Carlow-Laois game last year showed these games can happen and unlike that game, when the notice was short, it would be signalled a good six months out.”