“It’s never over ’till it’s over” as the saying goes and yesterday’s events around the Camogie All Ireland Championship proved to be another whirlwind of decision making.
On Tuesday afternoon it was decided that the appeals of Clare and Dublin were to be rejected and a coin toss would be broadcast live on You Tube at 0930 to determine which of the two would go through to face Wexford in the All Ireland Quarter Final this Saturday.
Two hours before that though Clare and then Dublin withdrew from the Championships amid statements of betrayal and disrespect.
Rumours were rife that others among those counties who had already secured their place in the knock out stages might follow suit.
Deadline
We understand that while none came out and acted on the threat that a deadline to change the Association’s decision was indirectly placed on the table.
Shortly before 4pm it was announced that an offer had been made to Clare and Dublin to play off for the final place on Saturday at 2pm in Thurles. The winners would then play the rescheduled Quarter Final against Wexford 48 hours later in the same venue. By the early evening all sides had accepted and the Championship was back on track.
Camogie Association CEO Joan O’Flynn was on a variety of media explaining the decision which we agree was a common sense solution to a set of unfortunate circumstances.
The governing body has come in for some extreme criticism over the past week but they were put in the position by the decisions of a wider group, including all the counties involved, and isn’t everyone very intelligent with the benefit of hindsight.
Fixtures
The principle of placing club fixtures at the heart of the national fixture planning is a sound one and should remain. The option of deciding things on the field of play when all other options are sorted though is an equally important principle.
Perhaps to avoid the need for replays, to resist the temptation of introducing overall points difference which would encourage potentially damaging high winning margins, and to have teams win on merit we should adopt an extra time principle for all the round robin matches played next year.
A winner on the day would mean no need to relive the events of the past week.
It’s been seen as not ideal to play two matches in quick succession but that’s often what happens at club level even down as young as U10 and fixture congestion is a matter of life to be dealt with by an player at the top of their game balancing club, college and county.
Unfortunately the ill feeling generated will doubtless persist but in the interests of the sport, those who play and those who enjoy from the sidelines, a line should be drawn, just as it would be at a final whistle and the focus now switch to the game itself.
Both squads were back out training last night with renewed vigour. They’ve been given a chance to play and win. That’s all anybody wants when they embark on sport.
