Connacht SFC Postponements: A hard rain fell on yesterday's GAA fixtures, creating havoc with championship fixtures and forcing the postponement of the Bank of Ireland Connacht championship match between Galway and Sligo, scheduled for Pearse Stadium.

The matches have been refixed for next Saturday afternoon at the same venue for 3.45pm and 5.30pm.

A torrential downpour throughout the morning overturned earlier pitch inspections and an hour or so before the scheduled throw-in the pitch was declared unplayable.

It was at half-time in the minor fixture between the counties it became apparent conditions were no longer acceptable. In an unusual but unavoidable move, referee Declan Corcoran abandoned the match before the second half could begin.

Connacht secretary John Prenty explained the provincial council had had no choice but to postpone the match although the conditions had been monitored during the morning.

"There was a pitch inspection at nine o'clock and we thought it would be okay. Then we had another look at it at quarter to twelve before the minor match. Again it was okay but during the first half of the minor there was a downpour."

With the pitch deteriorating Prenty consulted Corcoran and senior referee Pat McEnaney from Monaghan, who had stayed over in Galway on Saturday night and conducted yesterday morning's inspections.

"The three of us chatted at half-time," said Prenty, "and by now it was bulleting down. We had contacted the met office and the forecast wasn't good. The only thing to do was to call it off."

McEnaney told RTÉ, who had been scheduled to broadcast the match live, the weather had left the playing surface unsafe.

"We walked the pitch at half-time of the minor game and there was water lying on the pitch. Even though it's a sand-based pitch, it can't cope with the incessant rain. It was an easy enough decision. The greater part of the pitch had surface water and that's a problem. There's no bounce in the ball and players are slipping and sliding, which can cause a lot of injuries. The main question has to be: is it safe to play?"

Galway Football Board chairman Frank Burke praised the decision to postpone the match. "Of course nobody wants to see a game called off. But this is a safety issue and really there was no choice," he said. "It was called off as early as possible. Of course it discommodes people but at the end of the day we must protect players. The correct decision was taken by the referee."

The postponement suits Galway, as their minor footballers were in trouble against Sligo, whose management were unhappy about the decision to abandon and their seniors will have an extra week to see if Pádraic Joyce can recover from the Achilles' tendon injury that kept him out of yesterday's starting line-up.

Galway minor manager Alan Mulholland told Galway local radio the abandonment had come as a surprise. "There was no talk of the match being called off and to tell you the truth we had just left the dressingroom to go back out for the second half when we heard the referee had left the pitch and decided he wasn't happy with the conditions.

"We were as shocked as anybody. Obviously, we didn't think the pitch was playable but in my experience I'd never seen a game being called off midway through."

He acknowledged his team had their backs to the wall. "The way the game was going we were two points ahead but facing into a gale so we had a lot of work to do in the second half."

Elsewhere, the weather also caused problems. Despite a deluge in Portlaoise the Guinness Leinster hurling championship double bill went ahead. Local officials were surprised at the decision to proceed but Dublin and Westmeath went ahead in conditions seldom glimpsed since Atlantis stopped hurling.

Appropriately, it was Westmeath, sometimes known as the Lakes county, who coped better, springing a major surprise by defeating Division Two champions Dublin.

It was expected the second match, between Laois and Offaly, would be postponed but with about an hour to throw-in, the fixture was confirmed.

The Gaelic Grounds in Limerick was doubly beset by traffic restrictions for the Munster rugby homecoming and the rain. Munster secretary Simon Moroney called off the Limerick-Clare intermediate match - it will be played tomorrow (7.0) at the same venue - after a pitch inspection at midday but gave the senior fixture the go-ahead. After a further inspection referee Tomás Quigley concurred and the match proceeded.