Wicklow give up in bid to switch venue for Leinster clash

WICKLOW GAA chiefs have given up in their bid to switch the venue of their Leinster SFC quarter-final against Westmeath on June 6 to either Carlow or Portlaoise and revealed they will accept the Leinster Council decision to keep the match in Tullamore.

Wicklow sought the change as they argued that the distances from the venue to the competing counties were disproportionate, suiting fans from Westmeath and creating extra travel for Wicklow supporters.

Wicklow’s nearest town to Tullamore, Dunlavin is still a distance of 51 miles from O’Connor Park whereas Kilbeggan in Westmeath is only eight miles from the venue. Supporters from Arklow will have 105 miles to travel to Tullamore, Wicklow is 90 miles away and Bray is a 75 miles distant from the Offaly town.

Wicklow also protested against the decision due to the fact that Tullamore hosted the corresponding fixture between the counties last year when Westmeath won the last eight clash 1-16 to 0-10. But Wicklow county board secretary Michael Murphy insists they will now let the issue rest.

“The Leinster Council said the game is already fixed and they weren’t for changing on it. We felt it was unfair based on the trip that some of our fans have to make and the fact we made the trip last year. But there’s no point continuing to argue and go against it now. The last thing we want is for player or management to be sidetracked by an issue outside of the match. We’ll concentrate on the Westmeath game now.”

Meanwhile Mayo boss John O’Mahony looks certain to be without key forward Aidan Kilcoyne for the Connacht champions provincial quarter-final against Sligo on June 5. The Knockmore attacker injured his knee in a club senior league match against Charlestown last Sunday and an initial examination suggests that he has torn his medial ligament. The projected recovery time for that type of injury is a minimum of four weeks. Kilcoyne confirmed that he had suffered ‘some sort of tear’ but was hoping that a scan on the injury later this week would allay his worst fears.

“I’m waiting to go for a scan to get everything confirmed but the initial diagnosis is that I’ve got a tear of some sort in my medial ligament.

There’s no good time to get injured but this is obviously not a great time. It’s just a setback and I have to get up and get on with it.”

Galway boss Joe Kernan is aiming that his squad incur no more injury problems before they meet the winners of the clash between Mayo and Sligo in the Connacht SFC semi-final on June 27.

Kernan’s side face his native Armagh this Sunday in a challenge match in Clonmore in Armagh, and with goalkeeper Adrian Faherty coming back to full fitness, Kernan is hoping more players soon join him.

“We’d ten boys on the treatment table the other week which isn’t good. After the club championship last week, we can look forward now to the next five weeks until the game on June 27th, and we just hope that we can keep everyone fit.

“Paul Doherty, one of our keepers, has had an ankle injury now for a couple of months, but Adrian Faherty is back after a collarbone and shoulder problem. Michael Martin and Michael Meehan have had injury problems in attack, as has Fiachra Breathnach who had been showing great form. It just seem to have been a continuous conveyor belt of injuries this spring but you can’t plan for injuries.”

Mayo and Galway are both in challenge match action this weekend, with John O’Mahony’s side facing Dublin on Friday night in Hollymount and Joe Kernan’s team playing Armagh in Clonmore on Sunday.