Limerick to get little rest before showdown

The Limerick footballers got little relief yesterday when the GAA's Games Administration Committee met to fix the dates and venues for Round Four of the All-Ireland football qualifier series.

Beaten by Kerry on Sunday, and drawn against All-Ireland champions Armagh later that evening, they must now travel to Hyde Park in Roscommon this Sunday evening in an effort to keep their season alive.

It was suggested that Limerick might be given an extra week's reprieve after the disappointing loss to Kerry as the county's hurlers, several of which are dual players, are in action this Thursday evening in their All-Ireland hurling qualifier game against Offaly. But for logistical reasons the GAC had limited flexibility in fixing the football qualifier dates.

Had they fixed the game for the following weekend, and the Limerick hurlers beat Offaly, it would have meant the footballers would end up playing their qualifier the same weekend as the hurlers in the All-Ireland quarter-finals. In the end the best the GAC could offer was a Sunday evening throw-in rather than the Saturday.

For Limerick football manager Liam Kearns, news of the draw and their date against the one team no one wanted to play came exactly as he expected it to - a blow. "Well it's like we've been on the wrong side of draws for the last four years," he said yesterday.

"But I just had that feeling we would draw Armagh, just to go with the day that was in it. In fact I was asked by a journalist about the draw a while before it happened and I said we would get Armagh. I just knew we would."

There is some consolation for Kearns though in that his team have bounced back from a similar sort of defeat earlier this year to produce one of their finest moments to date. That too came within seven days, and saw the team lift themselves from the NFL Division Two final loss to Westmeath to secure the victory over Cork in the first round of the Munster championship, a game that provided the most significant boost to Limerick football in several decades.

"Well it's an awful lot to ask to have a team do something like that again," added Kearns. "But we'll meet for training tomorrow night and have a talk about it. We have a lot of injuries to look at as well, and a week is an awfully short time to get ready for a game like this. So it's going to be a massive challenge for us."

The losers of Sunday's Leinster football final between Kildare and Laois were drawn against Roscommon. If that team is Kildare the game will be played in Portlaoise; if it is Laois the game will be played in Tullamore. Either way the game has a 6.15 throw-in.

Similarly, the losers of Sunday's Ulster football final replay between Tyrone and Down, who were drawn against Donegal, will play their qualifier in either Enniskillen (if Tyrone are the losers) or Clones (if Down are the losers). That game will have a 4.15 throw-in.

There is now the growing threat of congestion hanging over the qualifiers. If the Leinster final ends in a draw, or if the Ulster final goes to a second replay, it would mean the qualifiers would run into the All-Ireland quarter-finals, which are scheduled for the first weekend in August. As things stand the teams that emerge from the round four games of July 26th will just have another week before their quarter-final.

Yesterday the Ulster Council announced that Sunday's football replay at Clones would have a 2.30 throw-in, thus giving RTÉ the opportunity to provide live television coverage of that game as well as the Leinster football final, which has a 4.30 throw-in at Croke Park.

It has yet to be confirmed, however, if RTÉ will broadcast live the Ulster replay, or the Limerick-Armagh qualifier later that evening. Live coverage has been announced for this Thursday's hurling qualifier between Offaly and Limerick, and also the remaining hurling qualifier, between Waterford and Wexford, on Saturday evening.

Down have also confirmed their intention to appeal the straight red card shown to midfielder Gregory McCartan just before half-time in Sunday's drawn Ulster final. Afterwards manager Paddy O'Rourke described the decision of Kerry referee Aidan Mangan as "very, very harsh" and an effort will now be made to get the decision overturned in time for Sunday's replay.

The incident involved McCartan and Tyrone centre forward Brian McGuigan, with McGuigan initially seen to trip McCartan, who then threw the ball back at the Tyrone player after losing the free. For now the red card carries an automatic four-week suspension, yet Down are claiming the offence was accidental rather than intentional and will use video evidence as the basis of their appeal.

Finally, the GAA have begun the process of requesting submissions to the new competition task force set up to streamline the overall fixtures programme. The task force, chaired by former GAC chairman Páraic Duffy, is attempting to address the needs of hurling, football, clubs, counties, schools, colleges and underage and adult units.

An initial deadline of August 20th has been set for submissions, with the task force then preparing their recommendations for consideration at next year's Congress. As the Hurling Development Committee - chaired by Pat Dunny - is undertaking its review of competitions, for now the task force will initially concentrate on football matters.