No greeting for Christmas league fixtures

Armagh, Galway, Fermanagh and Meath have all delayed naming their teams for Sunday's rescheduled league fixtures, a date which has displeased all four squads. The other remaining fixture, between Mayo and Kildare, will now be played on December 19th as seven Mayo players are involved in club duty with Crossmolina this weekend.

While Meath had formally requested that their away clash against Fermanagh be postponed until after Christmas and although Galway manager John O'Mahony made it known that his squad were not thrilled about the prospect of again journeying to Armagh so late in the year, the GAC decided to push ahead with the fixtures.

"The committee members were aware that some counties were unhappy with the idea of the games going ahead this week but had to look at the bigger picture and they were anxious that the series of games be completed before the break," explained GAA PRO Danny Lynch.

The games in question were called off two Sundays ago following atrocious weather conditions across the country. The Galway football team, however, had already arrived in Armagh to learn that the Gaelic Grounds had become unplayable.

"We are not happy about this but we aren't going to concede the points," responded O'Mahony yesterday.

"Naturally, we would hope that the pitch situation has been remedied and now we face a number of personnel problems. Straight away, I know that Padraig Joyce and at least two other players have exam commitments, so we won't know the exact story until after training."

Armagh PRO Patrick Nugent predicted that breaking news of Sunday's game to the players would not make him too popular.

"This means that September is the one month of the year we haven't been involved in competitive games - the one month you do want to play!

"This is not a time of year you want to be playing football. Both Kieran McGeeney and Des Mackin are due to fly out on a 10-day holiday on Friday night, so this leaves them with a dilemma. They won't be pressed to cancel the holiday but it is unfortunate. And for everyone, it is just an inconvenient time."

However, he did not foresee any other pitch problems.

"The Gaelic Grounds had been fine until late Saturday night when a deluge of rain made it waterlogged. Even if that happens again, we have the Crossmaglen grounds on standby."

All-Ireland champions Meath also have to prepare themselves for one more gruelling outing.

"It's extremely disappointing, it really smacks of shoddy treatment. We had felt that a postponement wasn't too much to ask. Players and supporters a like have a lot on at this time of year and the lads are still busy going around with the cup and attending functions. There has been no let up and I would imagine that all of the players and management will be extremely annoyed about this," reacted Brendan Cummins.

Their hosts Fermanagh have problems of their own. Manager Pat King will be hard pressed to find a midfield duo capable of containing All Star John McDermott and his partner Nigel Crawford. Paul Brewster is to travel to the US and his brother Tom intends resting a thigh injury until the new year. Kinawley player Liam barron is also due to travel to the US but King hopes to persuade him to postpone the trip until after Sunday's match.

"With Colm Courtney not playing until after Christmas, Martin Greene injured and Dara McGrath no longer in the panel, midfield is giving me a serious headache," he admitted.

The Kildare county board met last night and their away re-fixture against Mayo was due for discussion.

"I don't think anyone is too pleased with it. It's a long way to travel for a game at that time of year and had it been played when arranged, we could have had maybe 3,000 Kildare supporters there. That's hardly likely now, six days before Christmas day. We were hoping to have it put off until after Christmas but if we have to honour the fixture, then I'm sure something will be worked out," said county PRO Syl Merrins yesterday.