Royals fume at Farrell as Leinster final moves to Portlaoise

Meath chairman Conor Tormey has slammed Dublin U21 manager Dessie Farrell and questioned the county’s explanation for refusing to accept home advantage for tomorrow week’s Leinster football final.

The game will be played in Portlaoise — a 176km round trip from the capital and 270km from Navan — after Dublin ruled Parnell Park out of commission due to pitch and floodlights maintenance work.

Meath had originally suggested a coin toss for the venue but Dublin rejected it. Meath then notified their neighbours saying they were willing to concede home advantage providing a replay was fixed for Navan.

However, Dublin explained pitch work was being done to Parnell Park next week and it was unavailable.

Tormey believes Farrell wanted the game moved to O’Moore Park as he would prefer Dublin face Meath on a bigger field than the Donnycarney venue.

“Dessie doesn’t want Meath to play there. Longford upset them there last year and he would prefer to get them (Meath) on a wider pitch.”

Tormey said Dublin’s decision will discommode players and supporters from both counties. “We’re dumbfounded by it. This means taking young lads out of work, college and everything, to play this game.

“You’re talking about heading onto the M50 and then the M7 at rush hour on a Wednesday evening and everybody knows the traffic on the M7 at that time of the day. This is an absolute joke.

“What they have told us now is that it’s maintenance but that was not their excuse at the start. The first time (we asked), Dessie just said no. Then they came back with this alternative. We’re no gobshites.

“There is no heat in the ground at this time of year for pitch maintenance. If you were a player who had the chance to play a Leinster final on your own home pitch, you’d take it. And they’re saying they are fixing the lights?

“They were fine the other night,” added Tormey in reference to the Meath-Offaly U21 semi-final played in Parnell Park last Wednesday evening.

The Meath chairman reckons the decision will cost the Leinster Council “over €20,000” as the game would have attracted a bigger crowd in Parnell Park or Páirc Tailteann.

Farrell referred queries to the Dublin County Board who insist their reasons for turning down home advantage are sincere. “Should Meath not choose to believe, that’s their prerogative but the work is actually taking place,” said chairman Andy Kettle. “This thing had been booked in for quite some time, and we don’t get very many windows to do work with Parnell Park. The pitch is in a bit of a state, and this was a window. We never expected to be offered to play in Parnell Park because provincial semi-finals and finals are played in neutral venues.”

Tormey doesn’t expect the tensions off the field will manifest on the pitch in eight days’ time. “I told Sean Barry to go ahead and get the team ready for Portlaoise. We’ll handle it from the outside. It’ll probably add further to the banter between the supporters but we’re a bit annoyed with Dessie. But we’re not afraid of playing Dublin anywhere.”