Fixtures foremost for GAC

THE Games Administration Committee of the GAA meets tonight to consider the mounting difficulties surrounding the schedule of coming fixtures.

Whereas the National Football League has been relatively straight forward with only two play-offs necessary to sort out the final positions, there is every possibility that the hurling equivalent will not be so accommodating.

In addition, the teams in Sunday's Railway Cup football semi-final between Ulster and Munster stayed resolutely inseparable even after extra-time.

The replay may well go ahead at Thurles this coming bank holiday Monday on a double bill with the hurling final. Originally it was intended that the double bill would include both finals. If Ulster had won, the venue for both finals would have been Portlaoise. But Munster are due a home tie in the football and, last year in the hurling, forfeited home advantage as a concession to surprise finalists Ulster and played the final at Croke Park.

The GAC will also announce dates and venues for the National Football League quarter-finals. In the official, diary, two dates are set aside for the matches - March 31st and April 7th. The former date is favoured as the latter is the weekend of Congress and may not now be used for any of the fixtures, although there is a school of thought that believes at least one of the quarter-finals should be played that day.

There has been no official complaint from Limerick about the refixing of the Dublin-Laois Division Two hurling match at Portlaoise. To Croke Park the compromise was preferable to Dublin fielding an under-strength team which they believe would have happened had the match gone ahead last Sunday.