Chances of changing date of Clare clash are slim
The Games Administration Committee has a meeting scheduled for tomorrow night, at which they will consider a letter of protest from the Wexford County Board, but they are committed to having all three games go ahead this weekend. Tipperary and Offaly meet on Saturday in Portlaoise, Cork are paired with Galway in Thurles on Sunday (after the Munster football final) and the Clare/Wexford game is due to go ahead in Portlaoise in the evening, (6.30).
On the GAC side, it would be acknowledged that they erred in first fixing Clare's game with the Leinster runners up for July 20. With both qualifier competitions moving towards their concluding stages, they were concerned that any draws in hurling could pose major problems.
While Thurles would have been the automatic venue for the Clare/Wexford tie, it could not be played there on Saturday because three games are fixed for Semple Stadium on Sunday. Croke Park was ruled out because of the Leinster football final on Sunday.
After initially deciding to play the game on July 20, the GAC took Clare objections on board when they changed it back to next weekend, much to Wexford's annoyance who dispatched a latter of protest in advance of the Leinster final.
More significantly, the GAC accepted that if the game was to go ahead on Sunday week and ended in a draw, neither of the two quarter-finals could be played on the 27th.
The reason for that is Clare and Tipperary have already met in the Munster championship, so in the event of them both advancing they could not be drawn together.
The Committee argue that back in November when the Central Council adopted a Master Fixtures Plan, it was known that the losers of the Leinster final would be playing in the qualifier competition seven days later.
*The four football quarter-finals are fixed for August 4, with the first of the All Ireland hurling semi-finals on August 11.
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