New York hurlers are cuckoos come home to roost

The US outfit parachuting into the Lory Meagher Cup has been criticised.

MANHATTAN PROJECT: New York manager Ritchie Hartnett. Pic: Tyler Miller/Sportsfile

Like a cuckoo in a reed warbler’s nest, New York’s hurlers are pushing out the native eggs in the Lory Meagher Cup.

First to fall was Monaghan who they budged in last Saturday’s semi-final having received a bye to that stage of the competition, much to the chagrin of Monaghan manager Arthur Hughes.

"It’s an absolute joke in my opinion,” he said. “You don’t know what you’re coming up against, what level they’re at, and it’s completely unfair to just fly a team into the semi-finals. If you’re going to participate in a competition, you should be there from the start."

Featuring former Galway star Jonathan Glynn who is captain and Cork’s Seán O’Leary-Hayes and managed by Ballyheighue man Richie Hartnett, New York were backed off the board and for this Saturday’s final against Cavan the market is suspended. “It's almost disgusting how the GAA have handled the situation,” remarked Cavan manager Ollie Bellew about New York’s bye.

In Donegal town in February, over three-quarters of Annual Congress delegates (76.8%) voted in favour of allowing New York into the lower-level inter-county hurling championship this season. Offaly Central Council delegate and former county chairman Michael Duignan was vocal in his support for The Exiles’ admission to the competition.

However, concerns were raised that they would be too strong for that level of hurling and so it has come to pass. Cavan had reservations about them being handed the semi-final berth. Those who supported New York felt they first had to crawl before they could walk but as was demonstrated in Mullingar last weekend they are running. If they retain most of their current 31-strong panel that has travelled to Ireland and are basing themselves between Westmeath and Dublin, they might prove too strong in the Nickey Rackard Cup as well.

The tell-tale signs of their prowess had been there. Last year, New York claimed the pre-season Connacht Hurling League title when they beat Mayo, who had only been relegated from the Christy Ring Cup the year before.

In 2023, they marked their first appearance in that provincial competition with a win over then reigning Lory Meagher Cup champions Longford before losing out to a Galway development side in the semi-final.

Fermanagh are one minnow who will be hoping New York win on Saturday. If that comes about, they won’t be relegated from the Rackard Cup. Instead, New York will join the fourth-tier championship as the seventh team but again enjoy a semi-final bye against the team that finishes second in the group after five games.

New York will be seen by some as pariahs but they can’t be blamed for wanting a representative outlet in hurling. It was Central Council who endorsed the motion for them to join the Meagher Cup just as they did their entry into the All-Ireland junior football championship the last past three seasons. Those footballers have won the last two of those titles but both of those successes came by small margins and next month they face USGAA in a quarter-final in Gaelic Park.

New York’s involvement in a competition below their station is the latest promotional problem for hurling. Moved to Saturday to facilitate the Dublin-Armagh All-Ireland SFC game in Croke Park on Sunday, the Meagher, Christy Ring and Nickey Rackard finals at GAA HQ clash with the U20 All-Ireland final between Kilkenny and Tipperary in UPMC Nowlan Park in yet another concertinaed day for the sport.

GAA president Jarlath Burns will not be in attendance to present the cups at either venue as he is out of the country. Maybe he is better off missing out on Croke Park because the gulf in class last weekend, which is expected again in the Lory Meagher Cup final, doesn’t exactly scream hurling development.

If, as expected, Frank Sinatra’s voice booms from the PA system at the final whistle, start spreading the news – New York’s cuckoos have come home to roost.