Kiely on hiding to nothing!

Don't you just love them in Waterford?
While Davy Fitz is expecting Antrim to throw the kitchen sink at his hurlers tomorrow in the qualifiers the football manager John Kiely is already complaining about a clash between the county's footballers and Wicklow on July19.
Kiely obviously has not gone to the Davy Fitz school of diplomacy for while Davy is insisting that nothing is a given in tomorrow's clash with Antrim Kiely is complaining that he won't have dual players available on July 19 because it clashes with the next round of the hurling qualifiers!
Obviously the football manager is a bit more confident about the hurlers' chances than Davy!
Kiely does make a good point however, about the treatment of football in the lesser counties when games can be fixed for the same day.
I have a certain sympathy for the football manager which is usually shared by hurling managers in most parts of the country who are trying to promote hurling in areas where football is king.
It is not uncommon for county hurling games to be fixed at the same time as football and it has been a huge issue in Derry for years.
However, I think that Kiely also needs to get a little perspective on all this.
Waterford hurlers are trying to win the Liam McCarthy Cup, the premier hurling trophy in the country.
The footballers are starting out their Tommy Murphy Cup campaign, a competition hardly designed to get the hairs rising in the back of your neck and in some counties the very mention of the name Tommy Murphy Cup is guaranteed to bring the Aer Lingus website crashing down with footballers rushing to get the next flight out of the country.
Kiely is on a hiding to nothing until there is a football competition for the minnows worthy of more interest than the battle of the worst eight!

Questions on St Gall's pull-out

Like everyone else in the county I'm just wondering why the four St Gall's players have all opted out of the Antrim panel for the Tommy Murphy Cup.
Now I want to make it clear from the start I wouldn't get up out of bed to watch a Tommy Murphy Cup match.
I think it is meaningless in its current format.
After all it is the very worst teams in the country who we have just watched playing each other in the National League Division 4 earlier in the year and it doesn't really turn me on wondering who has improved on the poor league form.
Now if the second tier competition maybe included the bottom 16 sides where there is a chance for your team to improve there might be some merit, even then I don't really know if I could be bothered.
However, I'm just wondering is the St Gall's pull-out is connected with the club championship where St Gall's have shown a lot of ambition in recent seasons or have these players just been playing too much football?
Or are they headed to America for a summer's football?
There was some speculation after Sunday's game that some players were so confident of as championship exit that they booked their holidays in advance.
Bit surprised though at CJ and Terry O'Neill, the first because he is still learning his trade at inter-county level and the second because he is finding it difficult to break into the team and hold down a regular spot.
Suppose we would all like some answers about why the players have pulled out although it won't have me rushing out to buy tickets for the Tommy Murphy anyway.

Tommy Murphy dead and buried!

The Tommy Murphy Cup has been pronounced dead by GAA President Nicky Brennan.
An t-Uachtarán was speaking after the vote to allow Division 4 sides the opportunity to play in the All-Ireland qualifiers once they are eliminated from the provincial championships.
I have to say I see no merit at all in letting the worst sides in the country back into the All Ireland and Nicky Brennan and Pauric Duffy are right in that the decision will make it almost impossible to play the secondary competition because of a fixture pile up and the knock-on effect on club games.
To be honest, I'm no fan of the Tommy Murphy or Christy Ring competitions, no one ever remembers who won them, no one is really that interested in playing in them and even when my own county played in the final last year I didn't even watch the match on TV.
Personally I'd rather watch paint dry than the Tommy Murphy final, so if it goes for its tea then I won't be shedding any tears for it.