All-Ireland club final mess grows as Glen-Kilmacud saga looks set to rumble on

LAST UPDATE | 25 Jan 2023

IT APPEARED TO be a week in the GAA calendar which marked a changing of the guard.

The club season reaching a close last Sunday with the senior showpieces in Croke Park and the focus shifting to the big throw-in for the inter-county game, the serious business of the Allianz Leagues commencing this weekend.

It would be natural for the outcomes of the club finals to linger for a while in the GAA conversation. The themes of recovery from Ballyhale Shamrocks and Kilmacud Crokes, in winning less than a year after suffering crushing disappointment in the corresponding 2022 fixtures, was certainly noteworthy.

But while the enduring brilliance of Ballyhale is acknowledged, the football fallout has overshadowed Sunday’s fare and deflected the spotlight away from the inter-county fixtures programme.

With the final whistle of the senior football decider, Rory Gallagher, Dessie Farrell and indeed Pádraic Joyce would have been entitled to start thinking of a timeline for bringing those club stars back into the county fold. Rest would be needed after the exertions of chasing the Andy Merrigan Cup, yet this is a week generally to sound players out on their possible return to inter-county panels.

When exactly Conor Glass, Paul Mannion and Shane Walsh and others will officially have their club duties wrapped up is now up for debate.

Kilmacud Crokes won Sunday’s game by 1-11 to 1-9 but uncertainty has only intensified since with doubt cast on the outcome by the extra players they had on the pitch for that brief spell in injury time. The news that filtered through last night of Glen’s official objection to the result simply hardens the position. When a resolution will appear is unclear. This is a saga that looks set to rumble on.

The GAA’s CCCC are believed to be meeting today to review the matter in the wake of Glen’s objection. If they find the rule has been broken, there are three possible penalties – a fine, a replay or the forfeiture of the game.

The first may seem too lenient and the third too severe. Does that leave the second as the choice that will sit best with parties? That’s not guaranteed. It has been suggested that it is not clearcut Kilmacud Crokes would agree to a replay if ordered to do so. There is likely a sense of grievance amongst them that a hard-earned All-Ireland title has been diminished to an extent by this controversy and the confusion over whether the success will stand.

There is also the matter of when would a replay take place? Given Crokes have three days to lodge a counter objection to any decision, a second instalment of the rivalry will not take place this weekend and the appeals process could well rule out next weekend, 4-5 February, as well.

The next game pencilled in for Croke Park is a Dublin league double-header on Saturday 25 February. Would provincial venues come into play for a replay and how would that fit in with the stadium requirements for counties for league games already planned?

And can, or will, all the playing stakeholders stick around if the process is prolonged before a final decision is reached? It is likely that personal plans in the lives of the players have been put on hold while committing to what was necessary to pursue this All-Ireland club dream. Hurling champions Ballyhale Shamrocks have been open on how travel plans will now be the priority for a chunk of their squad. In a world that has now opened up again in the wake of Covid-19, it may well be a factor here as well.

Both sets of players, and those officials connected with their setups, have found themselves in a sticky spot.

For Kilmacud the sheer joy was clear at landing the Andy Merrigan Cup, particularly in light of the painful manner in which it slipped out of their grasp the previous year. Their celebrations were understandable in the wake of winning the game but they must have been gradually tempered by the ongoing speculation over a possible appeal. Now that the official objection has been launched, how do they get into the right headspace to get themselves right if a replay is ordered?

It is a strange situation to embrace and amidst their own dejection at their defeat, the Glen players had to wrestle with a dilemma. The lack of a concrete plan of action from the GAA at national level was clearly an irritant. The GAA kicked the ball into their court in terms of decision-making. “This is extremely disappointing for our club to be placed in this position,” was the Glen verdict in Monday night’s statement.

The pressure placed on Glen to be the ones to kickstart the review process must have jarred with those in the club. There may be an element of discomfort at the prospect that some will see an appeal as them refusing to accept their defeat.

Malachy O’Rourke, admittedly speaking in a personal capacity and just moments after the final whistle when the full implications of the injury-time drama may not have been fully absorbed, was measured in his summary.

“We had our chances, we gave it our best shot. Look it, that shouldn’t happen. I can’t speak for the club but I just think we’ll accept we got beat on the day.”

But there is certainly a legitimacy to the frustration that Glen must feel. A basic rule of the game was not adhered to, no matter for how brief a passage of play. There is no guarantee they will get the chance to make amends in future All-Ireland finals. It is a long club road to travel through county and province before reaching the final two in the national arena. Former Derry player Damian Cassidy described it as ‘a once-in-a-lifetime’ opportunity on Newstalk, his views chiming with those who believe every chance to get a shot at winning an All-Ireland must be explored.

From whatever angle it is viewed, this is an almighty mess for Kilmacud Crokes, Glen and the GAA to deal with.

The only thing that looks certain is fallout to last Sunday’s final will drag on.