Quick turnaround for finalists as Mayo GAA don't delay

Mayo GAA has opted not to reschedule this season’s finals of the county senior and intermediate football championships, meaning eight and six day turnarounds respectively for the winners of next weekend’s semi-finals.

Mayo County Board has confirmed that the Connacht Gold Mayo SFC Final will be played on Sunday, October 19 with the Egan Jewellers Mayo IFC Final to take place the evening before, on Saturday, October 18. Both matches will be played at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar.

Following the board’s decision to cancel the entire programme of club championship matches last Saturday and Sunday because of the impact of Storm Amy, there had been speculation that the finals would be pushed out to later dates because of breathing room in the fixtures calendar.

The Mayo senior football champions are not due to play in the AIB Connacht Club SFC until the weekend of November 8/9 when they will host the London champions at the quarter-final stage. It’s that same weekend that Mayo’s intermediate champions will travel to take on the Galway champions so providing Mayo’s county finals are settled on the day, both the senior and intermediate winners will have three weeks to prepare for their provincial competitions.

In choosing to proceed with the county finals as planned however, Mayo GAA’s communications officer John Walker told the Western People that the board did so with a number of factors in mind, including the potential of replayed finals, further weather events and a desire to proceed with the Mayo U21 Football Championship and avoid the scenario that saw last year’s final played just four days before Christmas. That competition is due to commence next weekend but already, only four matches can now proceed on account of rearranged county semi-finals and relegation playoffs across the senior, intermediate and junior championships.

The senior semi-finals had been due to go ahead on separate days last Saturday and Sunday, however, both will now take place next Saturday at their original venues – to avoid a clash with Sunday’s Mayo LGFA Senior Championship Final which sees Knockmore take on Westport.

Knockmore’s men face Ballina Stephenites at St Tiernan’s Park in Crossmolina at 1.30pm next Saturday, with the other semi-final between Crossmolina Deel Rovers and Westport throwing-in at 4pm in Fr O’Hara Park, Charlestown.

The respective winners will have eight days to prepare for the Moclair Cup Final but the winners of the intermediate semi-finals will have just six days to wait until the Sweeney Cup Final on Saturday week, on account of their last-four matches both going ahead next Sunday, October 12. Kiltane and Kilmeena clash at 1.30pm in Knockmore while at 4pm in Ballina, Moy Davitts take on Ardnaree Sarsfields.

There was the option for Mayo County Board to reverse the finals and play the senior on Saturday and intermediate on Sunday and therefore give all four teams seven days to prepare, or even play the games as a double-header, however, the Western People understands it was the preference of the executive officers to have the senior final take place on Sunday, October 19 as a standalone fixture.

The cancellation of last weekend’s matches was made “following consultations with all the relevant authorities,” said Mayo GAA chairman Seamus Tuohy, adding that “player and supporter safety is of paramount importance to Mayo GAA”.

The heavy rainfall that accompanied Storm Amy on Friday had rendered some of the venues unplayable.

Meanwhile, the Treanlaur Catering Mayo Junior ‘A’ and ‘B’ Football Championship Finals are both to be played on the weekend of October 25/26 as a double-header. The ‘A’ champions will enter the Connacht championship at the semi-final stage on November 15/16 where they will take on the winners of the quarter-final involving the Roscommon and Sligo champions.