Croke Park doubts resurface

Gaelic Games News round-up: Doubts over the Croke Park surface have re-emerged after players, set to take part in Sunday's National Football League Division One semi-final between Armagh and Mayo, questioned whether it would be in adequate condition., writes Gavin Cummiskey.

Robert Ellis, head groundsman at Croke Park, refused to comment when queried yesterday about the state of the pitch, but players from both panels, who were in the stadium on Tuesday for promotional work, felt the grass was too short.

The other fear is that persistent rainfall this week will make the surface much softer underfoot, especially as the semi-final is preceded by the Leinster under-21 football final replay between Dublin and Kildare. "The word from our two players that were there (Conor Mortimer and Ciarán McDonald) is that it's not in brilliant shape at the moment," said Mayo selector George Golden. "The grass is quite short and considering the good bit of rain that has fallen recently, it will cut up quite a bit. Then you must consider the under-21 match is on ahead of us. However, those in charge of making the decision are professionals. They have invested time, effort and money in the pitch so we just have to go with that."

Armagh's Steven McDonnell also commented on the short grass when pitch-side on Tuesday.

Stadium manager Peter McKenna stated earlier this week that Croke Park would be ready. Sunday had been pencilled in for the National Football League final anyway, until last Sunday's bad weather forced a postponement of the Armagh-Mayo semi-final.

Golden also backed up Armagh manager Joe Kernan's criticism of the decision to call off last week's game in Dr Hyde Park just an hour and 20 minutes before throw-in. This occurred because referee Maurice Deegan was delayed in traffic travelling to the ground. The main concern was regarding the expense incurred by supporters travelling to Roscommon and players who were in the final stages of preparation.

"It is something that needs to be looked at. Maybe referees can come seven or eight hours beforehand as it must be the referee that has the final say on whether a game goes ahead."

Mayo have made one change from the team that never took the field last Sunday with James Nallen replacing Alan Roche at centre back. It was the natural decision, said Golden, considering Nallen had not been considered initially because of holidays. He did return last Sunday and even rushed from the airport to act as a replacement.

"Alan is very unlucky in this instance as James Nallen is our regular number six and the current All Star number six. He is simply too good to be left out of a game of this magnitude."

Armagh are unchanged, while all four teams involved in the rescheduled Division Two finals at Clones this Sunday are also expected to remain the same. Monaghan have already confirmed this with Meath, Fermanagh and Derry to confirm teams today.

However, Derry's Patsy Bradley is available again after serving a 12-week suspension for the straight red card he received in the McKenna Cup semi-final against Fermanagh. Seán Marty Lockhart should join the Slaughtneil midfielder among the replacements in the all-Ulster tie against Monaghan.

The GAC are meeting after Sunday's matches to finalise the dates and venues for all the football and hurling finals. The likelihood is that both football deciders will take place over the May bank holiday weekend, especially if either Armagh or Fermanagh are involved as they meet in the preliminary round of the Ulster championship on May 15th. Thurles has been mooted as an alternative venue to Croke Park for the hurling or it could be played on the bank holiday Monday, May 2nd, or even put back to the following weekend alongside the Division Two and Three hurling finals. The All-Ireland under-21 semi-finals also have to be reassessed as Down await the winners of Dublin and Kildare.

MAYO (SF v Armagh): D Clarke; K Higgins, D Heaney, D Geraghty; C Moran, J Nallen, P Gardiner; R McGarrity, BJ Padden; J Gill, C McDonald, A Moran; C Mortimer, T Mortimer, A Dillon.

ARMAGH (SF v Mayo): P Hearty; A Mallon, F Bellew, P McCormack; A Kernan, K McGeeney, C McKeever; J Toal, P McGrane; M O'Rourke, J McEntee, O McConville; S McDonnell, R Clarke, B Mallon.

MONAGHAN (SF v Derry): S Duffy; G McQuaid, V Corey, C Flanagan; D Freeman, J Coyle, J Ward; F Duffy, J McElroy; P Finlay, M Daly, S McManus; R Woods, R Ronaghan, T Freeman.