HQ likely to agree to game deferral

Croke Park was waiting today for a call from the Cork County Board seeking a deferral of Cork’s opener in the NFL against Meath on Saturday.

The Cork Board took the decision at last night’s meeting to seek a postponement in order to allow more time between the board and the Cork players to sort out their current difficulties.

Croke Park Press Officer Fergal McGill outlined to the Evening Echo newspaper today that if and when a request from Cork is sought to have the game deferred it would then be a matter for the Central Control Competitions Committee and the Meath County Board.

It is expected that Croke Park will look favourably on the request given the circumstances and, while they have already stated that there is hardly any room for manoeuvre on fixtures, the fact is that the game could go ahead the following weekend if the Cork impasse is sorted out in the meantime.

That is a football-free weekend and the likelihood is the game would go ahead on Saturday night, given that Cork hurlers are scheduled to play Kilkenny on the Sunday.

Reacting to the situation Meath PRO Brendan Cummins said they would be disappointed if the game is not played.

“We have been looking forward to it since the fixtures were made.

“It would afford us the opportunity to atone for the defeat in last year’s All Ireland semi-final.”

“Should Cork be unable to resolve their differences and request a week’s postponement then Meath will accede to that request.”

Meanwhile, last night’s Cork County Board meeting in Páirc Uí Chaoímh heard delegates utter strong condemnation of an article in last Saturday’s Irish Times where Cork hurler Seán Óg Ó hAilpín suggested that county secretary Frank Murphy might step aside.

After a vast number of delegates stated their views, a vote of confidence in the runaí was then taken and there was unanimous approval for his work as runaí, for his handling of the current impasse and the process which saw Teddy Holland elected.

Last night’s meeting also decided to ask Kieran Mulvey, CEO of the LRC, working in a personal capacity, to return and re-open talks between the county board representatives and the players’ representatives who were unavailable for comment today.

Article courtesy of the Evening Echo newspaper.