Giving teams a second chance is a joke says McGuinness

TOMORROW will see the Ulster champions, Antrim, take on Limerick in what might be their last All Ireland hurling semi final for at least two years.

From next summer, for an experimental period, the losers of the Munster and Leinster finals will be readmitted to the All Ireland series at the quarter final stage where they will play the Connacht and Ulster champions.

Sean McGuinness is an authority on Ulster hurling. Having managed both Antrim and Down in All Ireland semi finals and also taken charge of the province's Railway Cup side which came within a point of winning the title last year he is well positioned to judge the likely impact of the championship restructuring.

"To be quite honest, it's a scandal, people getting two goes. The whole emphasis of a championship is that you get one go. That's what makes it so attractive. Bringing teams back is a joke.

"Last year Down played more matches than any of the teams in the semi finals. Playing more matches wouldn't worry me. But say Limerick had to play Clare again in the All Ireland this year. Why should they have to play them again? How do you pick a team to play in a provincial final?

"Do we peak in the Munster final, teams will be asking. It doesn't matter. I'll not be at a Munster final or Leinster final next year because it's irrelevant who wins. What guarantee do you have that both teams are trying? It's like running in the heat of a 1,500 metres. Doesn't matter who wins once you qualify."

Feelings within Ulster arc running high. The championship reforms and the rescheduling of the National League to the late spring and summer which it is widely believed will undermine clubs by forcing players to choose between them and the county are seen as being forced on the province with little thought for the good of the game in the North and re-enforcing a sense of isolation.

"A committee made all these decisions," says McGuinness. "I'm Ulster manager, myself and Jim Nelson have run Ulster hurling on the pitch for over 10 years and no one asked us about what we wanted. It gets to the stage where you're banging your head off the wall.

"Tyrone won the special junior All Ireland and Derry won the B. There's people working hard working their pants off up here and they feel they've been kicked in the teeth."

As in Connacht, there is resentment that the reforms allow beaten teams in Munster and Leinster to have another chance and the preference is strongly for the national open draw which McGuinness sees as being blocked by the sectional interests of provincial councils.

"The open draw gives everyone a fair chance. Why not try that for two years. I mean look at football. Ulster teams have won nearly all the All Irelands this decade but no one's saying let another Ulster team back in again.

"The semi final at Croke Park has become a pilgrimage in the North, something you strive for. This new draw is just picking the two stronger provinces. It's a setup between Leinster and Munster and a long, long step backwards. Antrim and Down will end up out of "sight and out of mind."