St Finbarr’s irked by Cahalane’s packed playing schedule

Cork dual player Damien Cahalane could be instructed by his club St Finbarr’s to train with them in the lead-up to inter-county games as a result of the scheduling of a county SHC tie.

The Barr’s are due to meet Bishopstown on Monday, June 23, just two days after Cork play Tipperary or Limerick in the Munster SFC. The club game was meant to be held tomorrow night but was moved after the Cork hurlers drew with Waterford last week.

Debate raged at Tuesday’s Cork County Board meeting over the postponement of games and St Finbarr’s hurling delegate Denis Harrington has reiterated they may ask Cahalane to train with them in the period during which players refrain from club activity.

“It possibly will happen, we were just putting it out there that this thing could happen,” he said.

“In our situation, we’re playing two days after the Cork footballers and in Damien Cahalane’s case – I didn’t want to be naming names but he was named at the meeting on Tuesday – he has inter-county activity for six weeks and we only have him for two days. Can anyone tell me that’s fair? If Cork beat Waterford, the dual players will have played three weeks in-a-row and if the two Cork teams make the Munster finals, one is playing on July 6 and the other is on July 13. The point we were making is, what’s the difference between that and playing a club match nine days before an inter-county game? He’ll be playing for our hurlers against Bishopstown, so we’ll have to bring him in for training at some stage.”

The game with Bishopstown will go ahead on the Monday night, however, as the Barr’s will not be seeking a further alteration.

“We’ve no other choice, the delegates don’t have any more say in the matter,” Harrington said.

“The rules were changed two years ago, what the CCC bring in on a night you can’t change now.

“All you can do is vent your feelings. If the two clubs were to refuse to play the game, they’d just carry on and rule you out of the competition and nobody wants that. The board are between a rock and a hard place because the selection committee wouldn’t stand for it if the games were played. We can only make our own case, but a lot of people have a lot of things to say and then when it comes down to it they just keep their mouths shut.”