McDermott denies retirement reports

Meath midfielder John McDermott has denied speculation he had informed manager Sean Boylan of his retirement. Newspaper reports yesterday stated McDermott would no longer be available for intercounty selection but these have proven to be exaggerated and he will be available for the championship campaign.

It was believed McDermott had been juggling with the decision to retire coming up to the Christmas break and that he wouldn't be rejoining the panel for the new year. Whether Boylan persuaded him to stay on is unclear but the former captain is likely to have another major say in Meath's championship fortunes this summer.

The last 12 months had been a troubled time for the 30-yearold, and a complete contrast to the previous year. McDermott had struggled to return from a back injury at the start of the season and only returned to regular football in time for the National League semi-final against Kerry in May. He was also well below his best when Meath were eliminated from the championship by Offaly in the first round.

Part of the problem seemed to be the commitments of a new job that McDermott started in Donegal which hindered his ability to train with the Meath panel. He has since returned to a job with team sponsors Kepak in Meath, and his appetite for the game seemed to be gradually returning in the first three rounds of the league before Christmas - even though Meath ended up losing two.

County PRO Brendan Cummins admitted yesterday there had been a lot of speculation that McDermott was thinking about calling it a day. Meath resume their league campaign against Cavan on February 11th.

Meanwhile, the Hurling Development Committee last night met Galway County Board hurling officials for one of the key meetings in the design of a new championship structure.

Galway are seen as one of the main stumbling blocks in the committee's attempts to redesign the hurling championship to broaden its appeal.

Hurling chairman Phelim Murphy has admitted Galway are going to be "difficult to accommodate" although exactly how the committee intends to facilitate their requirements will not be known for some time yet.

Galway are seeking a structure where they get at least two games, but they reject any system of doing that by being included in either the Munster of Leinster championship.

It is expected the development committee will attempt to introduce a qualifying group for counties beaten in the first round, similar to the new football plans. But with no provincial championship in Connacht, that would still leave Galway with a guarantee of just one game.

It is expected the development committee - which is headed by former Kilkenny manager Nicky Brennan - will present the first blueprint of its plans to Croke Park before the end of the month.

Galway are also rejecting the proposal to enter an eight-team championship knockout containing the Ulster champions and the first three teams beaten in Leinster and Munster. But it does appear certain the current back-door system will be abandoned in favour of more sweeping changes.

There has also been a new twist in the problem of finding a date for the refixed Dublin-Kerry National Football League game.

Originally set for November 26th, it was then meant to be played on December 9th only for a waterlogged pitch in Tralee to cause a further delay. The Games Administration Committee named February 4th as the new date.

But the Dublin County Board have informed the GAC they cannot fulfil the fixture on that date because of the clash with the under-21 football championship.

"There is no reason why the game could not have been played in another Kerry venue on December 9th," said county secretary John Costello. "We have a very important under-21 football championship game on February 4th and we are not going to be punished because of it."