Judge & Jury

THE ACCUSED: The GAA’s fixture planners

THE RAP: Killing Derry with the six-day turnaround.

EVIDENCE: Only one beaten provincial finalist has responded with a back-door win within the week — Dublin in 2001.

WITNESS FOR THE DEFENCE: That Dublin manager Tommy Carr. “I think it is a cop-out by teams. If we are at the height of the summer and these teams are almost professional by now and supremely fit then it shouldn’t be an issue, physically, to be playing again six days later.”

THE PROSECUTION: What’s the rush? The provincial series amble along with aeons between games, then, when stakes are highest, the foot hits the floor, before slowing again before the final.

VERDICT: Guilty. Just another of the many inequities in a championship system that badly needs to be overhauled.