Carr to remain at the helm with Cavan

GAELIC GAMES CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 NEWS:TOMMY CARR has surprisingly held on to his position as Cavan senior football manager after a vote of no confidence in him, proposed last Tuesday by the clubs, was defeated by seven votes in a secret ballot of club delegates last night.

Carr had been initially asked to resign by the executive of the Cavan board. However, the committee then made a U-turn and endorsed the outgoing management team of Carr and selectors Peter Reilly and Niall Lynch at that board meeting last Tuesday.

But club delegates still went ahead and proposed a motion of no confidence but that was defeated last night on a 30-23 vote, with one spoiled vote and one abstention.

It had been widely predicted that the delay in the vote - delegates requested an extra week to seek a mandate from their clubs - would be little more than a 'stay of execution' for the beleaguered manager, whose team slumped to championship defeats to Division Four sides Antrim and Wicklow.

However, Carr insisted over the past week that he had the support of the players and the county's notoriously-demanding clubs have voted accordingly.

Meanwhile, Mayo are almost certain to be without full forward Barry Moran for Sunday's All-Ireland football quarter-final against Meath in Croke Park.

The Breaffy player sustained a broken finger in training over the weekend and represents a major loss for the Connacht champions in their efforts to beat Meath.

Moran had been proving a highly effective partner for fellow full forward Aidan O'Shea and that axis resulted in Moran's first-half goal against Galway in the Connacht final on July 19th.

Billy Joe Padden is being mooted as a possible replacement for the full forward, with Conor Mortimer, who has been their impact substitute this summer, the other obvious choice.

Meath look certain to be without their captain Stephen Bray, unless they are successful in their appeal against a red card issued in last Saturday's All-Ireland qualifier win over Limerick, following an off-the-ball incident involving Mark O'Riordan.

Meath were yesterday seeking clarification as to whether the referee somehow erred in not showing Bray a second yellow card first, given he had been booked earlier - but as things stand the straight red card comes with the automatic four-week suspension.

The GAA yesterday announced that the postponed All-Ireland minor football quarter-final between Down and Dublin will take place at Kingspan Breffni Park in Cavan on Saturday August 15th.

Originally scheduled for the same venue last Saturday, the game was cancelled after a request from the Down County Board to the GAA after a severe viral infection - suspected to be swine flu - hit the county's underage squad.

Meanwhile, Kerry's victory over Dublin at Croke Park on Monday was the most watched game of the championship so far this year.

The Monday Game Live on RTÉ 2 attracted an average audience of 602,000 across the entire game from throw-in to final whistle and an audience share of 62 per cent meaning that more than three-fifths of those watching television at the time were tuned in to see Kerry book their All-Ireland football semi-final spot. The audience peaked between 3.15 and 3.29 pm when 662,000 viewers tuned in.

RTÉ Television's coverage of the three All-Ireland football quarter-finals from Croke Park attracted audiences with an average of 457,000 people and 56 per cent share of the audience tuning in.

This Sunday RTÉ 2 are covering the triple bill from Croke Park, starting at 11.45 am.

Weekend Fixtures

SUNDAY

All-Ireland SFC quarter-final: Mayo v Meath, Croke Park, 2pm, J McQuillan (Cavan).

All-Ireland SHC semi-final: Kilkenny v Waterford, Croke Park, 4pm, B Kelly (Westmeath).

All-Ireland MHC semi-final: Kilkenny v Tipperary, Croke Park, noon, D O'Driscoll (Limerick).