Meelick seek junior football final postponement

MEELICK GAA club have appealed to the Clare County Board for the postponement of Sunday’s junior A football county final. Meelick are due to play Kilmurry Ibrickane in the final. However they have five members of the Clonlara senior hurling panel in their starting 15 who are preparing for the county final replay the following weekend.

The players are Oisin O’Brien, Cillian Fennessy, James Hastings, Shane O’Brien and Garrett Kennedy. Clonara are also down to play a Clare Cup game this Saturday.

Meelick manager Pat O’Rourke confirmed this afternoon that his club are appealing to Clare GAA on player welfare grounds.

“We’re looking to have Sunday’s junior A football final postponed to a future date in which Clonlara are not involved in hurling. We have gone to the county board with that. They are making fixtures this (Monday) evening. If we don’t have the Clonlara players we mightn’t be able to put 15 out on the field,” O’Rourke said, citing injuries to three Meelick players.

“Where does player welfare come in? They will all go to convention and trot the same story out about player welfare but when it comes down to it, they don’t care about player welfare and this is a test case for it. I don’t think it’s fair to ask those guys, when they are going out the following Sunday in the county hurling final, to line out with Meelick. You have to think of the players and I don’t think that it’s fair to ask Meelick to go out and play without them. I don’t see the urgency in playing this final because Meelick, being the only junior club left in it, will be representing Clare in Munster. So what is the urgency in playing this game?,” O’Rourke queried.

He insists that if players are granted permission to play as isolated players, they should be given that opportunity.

“There is no point in granting a player permission to play football or hurling with another club and then not allowing him to play. Why do you grant him permission from the start? I would also point out, that there are certain clubs in this county, both hurling and football, that seem to be able to make sure their games don’t clash. If games don’t clash for certain clubs, it should apply to all clubs,” O’Rourke maintains.

Peter O’Connell