GAA must fix Croker slip-up, says O’Mahony

FORMER Galway manager John O’Mahony believes the Croke Park authorities need to address the pitch surface as a matter of urgency.

Footballers and hurlers in recent times have had trouble maintaining their footing in a number of high profile games this season.

O’Mahony, who led Galway to All-Ireland SFC titles in 1998 and 2001, said the GAA must act on the matter sooner rather than later.

“My experience of the pitch in recent times is that the surface is becoming an issue.

“You have a situation where if players wear the moulded boots they are slipping and sliding all over the place. And if they wear their six studs there are very sore calves and feet after it. Something would need to be done and from what I gather, Croke Park authorities are aware of that.

“I noticed that in Saturday’s game the ball didn’t seem to have a true bounce. And you saw Derry changing their boots on Sunday.”

Meanwhile, Tyrone manager Mickey Harte claims that players slipping is not the only problem confronting GAA chiefs at headquarters.

The All-Ireland-winning boss highlighted the more recent issue of footballers having difficulty bouncing the ball. He pointed to an incident in Saturday’s Mayo/Fermanagh replay involving Conor Mortimer to reinforce his point.

“The ball bounced away from him. That has been even more acute in recent games than players slipping.”

Harte, who was in Croke Park yesterday for the Lucozade Breakthrough Awards, revealed that Tyrone had in the past approached stadium officials about a particular area on the Cusack Stand side of the ground.

He pointed out that the problems were quickly corrected.

“You can only learn from experience and experience at the minute tells us we need to take a look at this. You can’t throw the book at anyone because it is happening. People do their best to provide the best facilities and if there is some wee problem with it, they have to find it out before they can deal with it.

“Players are conscious of the fact that your footing seems to give way more than you would expect it to and on dry days you wouldn’t expect to be slipping so much. There is a wide range of footwear for playing the game at different times of the year and still they are experiencing difficulty. I think it is something that needs to be looked into and examined to see why this is happening away above what you would be expecting to. But the GAA authorities are taking note of that fact. It’s something to be tackled during the close season.”

Meanwhile former Meath All-Ireland-winning selector Eamon O’Brien has withdrawn his name from the race to be the next manager of the Royal County footballers.

O’Brien, who acted as a selector alongside Sean Boylan in the All-Ireland-winning years of 1996 and ’99, had been interviewed for the position by the Meath County Board last week.

Following this meeting he allowed his name to go forward for the position, having been earlier nominated for the job by club delegates in the county.

However, the former county player yesterday informed the Meath County Board that he was withdrawing his application for the job, which now leaves just three men left to challenge Sean Boylan.

The Dunboyne man, who is aiming for a 23rd successive year at the helm, will have Eamon Barry, Paul Kenny and Mattie Kerrigan running against him when the vote takes place at next Monday’s County Board meeting.

Despite rumblings of discontent with Meath’s performances over the past two years, it will come as a major surprise if Boylan is not re-elected to the position.