Challenge game could fall victim to Cork stand-off

THE CLOCK is already ticking as the stand-off in Cork GAA circles continues, with the senior hurlers scheduled to play a challenge game in less than a month.

The Cork senior hurlers opposed the reappointment of Gerald McCarthy as manager earlier this week, but former All-Ireland-winning captain McCarthy is adamant that he will continue in the post, though he met a group of players on Tuesday morning who asked him not to go forward as manager.

However, though Cork are not scheduled to play in the Waterford Crystal League or the National Hurling League until early in the new year, a game is scheduled for November 23rd at Fermoy GAA field.

To mark the 150th anniversary of St Colman’s College, and its hurling history in particular, a team of past pupils is due to take on the Cork team in a challenge match.

Current Cork players Brian Murphy, Neil Ronan and Timmy McCarthy played for the school, while former Cork All-Ireland-winning captain Mark Landers is also a past pupil.

Limerick forward Andrew O’Shaughnessy and Waterford defender Eoin Murphy also lined out for St Colman’s

That challenge game is obviously in doubt at present, given the current upheaval in Cork GAA circles.

The Cork senior hurlers met again on Thursday night in the Sunset Ridge hotel, when they reiterated their opposition to McCarthy’s reappointment. There has been mounting speculation about possible player retirements, and one player said after that meeting that it would be “fair to say it would be surprising to see any player going back” in the current circumstances.

It is also understood that a vote taken earlier in the week, reported in the media as relating to McCarthy’s future, related to another issue entirely.

Last year both football and hurling panels withdrew their services as a result of a county board decision to remove a manager’s right to appoint his own selectors. Although the current issue relates only to the hurling panel, it is not known whether it will impact on the Cork senior footballers.