What’s in a name? Quite a lot as it happens. Partly to see what sort of reaction it would receive, when doing my Facebook Check-In for Meath’s match against Wexford, it was referred to as the All Ireland IFC quarter final. Disappointingly, nobody took the bait.
That’s what it should be called, though. As should the Cup competitions in hurling be re-branded. Simply because referring to a competition as the x, y or z Cup leaves it open to devaluation and derision. Thus, the Cups other than Mac Carthy could be known as the All Ireland IHC, JHC and JHC B.
Just as is the case at club level. There’s certainly room for at least one more tier in football to cater for counties who presently aren’t even at Tailteann Cup level. It’s worth noting that there were All Ireland IHC, JHC and JFC competitions which were for some reason culled.
Now, those with misconceived ideas about Meath’s current status in football vehemently deplore their presence in the Tailteann Cup, but wait until you see the woodworm clambering aboard the bandwagon next weekend. Be careful, they might stick a flag in your eye!
We are where we deserve and need to be. In more ways than one. At this point in time, we are far better off in what’s effectively the All Ireland IFC competing against teams of similar ilk rather than being at the top table for the sake of it and getting seven shades of recycled food kicked out of us.
More than that, by dint of being in at an appropriate level of competition for them, this developing Meath team have been able to string a run of four wins on the bounce together which has culminated in them being Croke Park bound this coming weekend for the Tailteann Cup semi finals.
Mind you, lest one be accused of bias, the group based system has been vindicated as worklng in both tiers, though tweaks wouldn’t go astray. Some have decried the fact that three teams emerge from all groups, but I wouldn’t have a problem with that.
The more matches the more teams can get at the best time of year, that better. Furthermore, it’s only because of the group stages that novel results such as Armagh beating Galway and Cork defeating Mayo can transpire. Also, the new system has revived the interest in and value of matches at provincial venues. The more of them the better going forward.
An empty vessel makes the most noise and in this case, the Good Ship Croker sparsely populated is something to bemoan rather than behold. Joe Canning was spot on with his overtures regarding the Leinster SHC Final being played at a provincial venue and there’s no reason why the same couldn’t even be trialled with the football.
Doubtless, there would be an outcry about how to accommodate what the current Meath manager once referred to as “Dublin’s cider brigade” but there is such a thing as tough luck. In other words, sell as many tickets as a venue will hold, and for anyone who misses out it’s just tough sh**. We’ve all been there at some point.
Wheels transporting yours truly were in Croke Park 13 times in 1991 but when it came to the All Ireland there wasn’t a ticket to be had this side of China. All the while, word filtered through that what one might refer to as the local prawn sandwich brigade were all looked after.
Anyway, while largely impressed with the new structure, what would I change? Well, with no disrespect intended to anybody, granting the Joe McDonagh Cup runners up another ‘in’ may be extending generosity a shade too far.
To be clear, that view is in no way a dig at Offaly. Though I will say that the mauling Johnny Kelly’s side endured from Tipperary does no team, or the development of the game, any good.
Whatever about granting promotion to both McDonagh Cup finalists asking the vanquished in particular to latch onto the tail end of the Mac Carthy Cup is counterproductive in the extreme.
However, to return to matters in the bigger ball code, while I would have no issue with three teams emerging from each group, I do feel it’s wrong that the head to head between two sides is used to determine matters of deadlock instead of score difference.
Head to head is a disgusting way to sort anything out. If, in the unlikely event that score difference cannot differentiate between two teams, what in God’s name is wrong with having a play off? These things should be settled on the field, not by a collection of suits.
That such is the case is yet another consequence of the kneejerk reactionism. A shudder descends my spine at even the prospect of agreeing with Pat Spillane, but the blustering Kerry man, is wholly correct in his assertion that the split season is the result of the Paying People of Ireland being bought for fools by the power-junkie suits.
At a more basic level, it’s an outrageous case of the GAA biting the hand that has for so long fed it. That is to say, replays and/or play off matches. Think of the four games between Meath and Dublin back in 1991 or the trilogy between Meath and Kildare from ’97 or a similar set involving Cork and Wexford in a National Hurling League Final. Not to mention the rivalry which has germinated between Dublin and Mayo over the last decade or so.
Yes, the new system is a tenfold improvement on what went before it, but with a little bit more tinkering it could be better still.
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