OFFALY FOOTBALL BOSS Stephen Wallace has hit out at the late cancellation of his side’s scheduled Allianz League Division 3 clash in Derry on Sunday.
The fixture which was scheduled for 12.45 was called off 75 minutes ahead of the throw-in, due to the snowy conditions on the pitch.
A number of other Allianz League matches were unable to go ahead as a result of the weather, and are expected to be rescheduled by the CCCC on Monday.
Wallace believes the decision to postpone their game should have been made earlier in the interests of the Offaly team and supporters, who made the long journey to Celtic Park for the clash.
Speaking to RTÉ Radio 1′s Sunday Sport, he said:
“Bit of a disaster for the lads, we were geared up to play. [It] looked doubtful from early this morning. To come all the way to the ground and be told to turn around and go home is a bit disappointing.
“It could have been called a little earlier but it is what it is.
Brendan Kealy / Twitter
Brendan Kealy / Twitter / Twitter
“The pitch is white. You couldn’t possibly play football on that. You feel for lads, they organise work and get off work.”
He continued:
“Supporters coming up the road from Offaly for the game and they have to turn around and go home again in dangerous driving conditions. I think possibly we need to look at this and call these things a lot earlier.
That is fit for nothing only making snowmen, and there is more snow coming. We will be back up to lovely Derry next Sunday and hopefully it goes ahead next Sunday.
“Lots of games were called earlier. Games were coming through on social media all morning as cancelled. We’re here in Celtic Park ready to go and find out the game isn’t going ahead.
That is not the fault of the Derry officials, maybe there needs to be a stricter protocol on these things. This game could have been called hours ago in my opinion.”
Allianz National Football League games postponed:
- Monaghan vs Kerry, Division 1
- Cavan vs Meath, Division 2
- Sligo vs Fermanagh, Division 3
- Derry vs Offaly, Division 3
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This highlights the farce of playing the league in February
@Noel Ryan: true
The farce of players not being burnt out, yet I’d love to see what each county team are like in regards Injuries so far this season.
The article Colm o Rourke wrote hits the nail in the head. Very soon the so called weaker teams will have to say enough is enough and we won’t compete for the sake of training games against the bigger teams.