Junior B Football

[gunnerman]

I see we are almost down to the last 4 in this championship. Can anyone shed any light on this championship about Ferbane, Ballycumber, Kinnitty and Cloghan/Pullough

[sparklin]

Ballycumber finished top of the group on 10 points after beating Doon, Durrow and Raheen. Drew with Daingean and St. Rynaghs and received a walk over from St. Brigids. We beat Rhode in the quarter final, which leaves us facing Ferbane in the semi final next sunday at 12 in Doon.

[kinnittyman]

Well I'd say Kinnitty will be lambs to the slaughter in the semi-final of this because I can't see the hurling management allowing the senior hurlers to play on this team a week before county hurling semi-final. Especially since Coolderry have pulled out of this competition. To the best of my knowledge there are 9 senior hurlers on the first 15 of the football team.

[bracknaghboy]

I can't see the hurling management allowing the senior hurlers to play on this team a week before county hurling semi-final.

This is disgraceful if its the case. There should be no question of management "allowing" lads to play in a county semi final (beit Senior or Junior C), you just bloody play. Any person advocating that players should not play is no GAA man in my book. The Junior B football is a county title at the end of the day and every effort should be made. What do the hurling management think is going to happen to the 9 lads if they play football? Seriously. Lets say Bracknagh were in the Intermediate final and also had a hurling team in the Junior B semi-final well I'd have no hassle in letting lads play both. Its just my opinion but if the Kinnity lads were stopped from playing (and I don't know how you stop 9 grown men) it would have little to do with the hurling and more to do with an anti football agenda being peddled by cavemen.

PS not sure if there are actual cavemen in Kinnity but stopping lads playing in a county semi-final would suggest a caveman or two on the loose!!!!!

[kinnittyman]

Your points are all valid but if Kinnitty get to Junior B final, lose James Rigney to injury and lose to Coolderry in senior hurling semi, who go on to romp to the county title the shit will fair hit the fan here.

[Lone Shark]

James Rigney is just as likely to get injured training in the next two weeks, indeed he could easily get injured at work either. In fact I'd say the football would be a nice distraction ahead of a game like the county semi final. If the Kinnitty management feels that football is such a danger, I can only assume that they'll make all training non-contact between now and then?

[kinnittyman]

I have no insight into what the management will do in Kinnitty as I was only surmising but I do find it interesting to note that Coolderry withdrew from football before a ball was kicked this year.

[Georgio1]

Well at least Coolderry withdrew before a ball was kicked! Therefore not knocking out teams who had a genuine interest.
It would be highly unfair on Daingean who lost a q/final to Kinnitty and then watch as Kinnitty, (Perhaps!!!) put out a much weaker team in the semi???
Let them play and if they won would give all those lads a boost for the hurling, I presume they will still be doing all the hurling training this week?

[TRUEGAEL]

i have seen kinnity hurlers play there a tough bunch,if they field a weakened team in a semi final what does that say to all the young lads in the area about football?we have a small pick as it is we need everyone we can get.a sad day for football if they do this.8 days is loads of time for a senior athlete to recover from a junior match.

[uimhir a cuig]

I feel the time is apt to write a post on this topic of junior b football.

I commend bracknaghboy, georgio1, loneshark and other like-minded individuals who speak in a fair, rational and non-caveman like way on this matter.

I write as a player on both the Kinnitty senior hurling team and junior B football team. At time of writing this post, we (our club Kinnittyman) should be playing our county semi-final, but instead we the players without appropriate consultation have been forced to adhere to a club committee decision to forfeit this match. To Cloughan/Pullagh, Daingean and other clubs in our group, we the players apologise.
A text from the committe on Thursday following an intensive hurling training session on Tuesday (in the dark for the latter part of this it must be added) was the first any players were advised that the committe were making a decision to ask the county board to reschedule today's match. They did this with the intention of forfeiting the game if this request could not be met.
I see Kinnittyman's post was on Monday which clearly displays more insight than alleged.

All in all, the other posters have hit the nail on the head with reasons stated as to why Kinnitty should have played in both semi finals. Quite clearly, there are many cavemen loose around Kinnitty and it saddens me to say this about my fellow clubmen- the vast majority of this group existing amongst the administrative side of the club. Membership of a GAA club should bring with it, the consideration for all codes and players in their club if they choose to pursue both codes.

Unfortunately in this case, such due consideration was never given to it's members.

[Bord na Mona man]

A pity this has happened. It looks more like posturing from a few individuals, rather than anything logical.

Its bad enough for the 9 starting players who have the hurling, what about the 6 more football oriented players, who have put in a fair bit of effort this year to try and win this title?
I hope for their sake, they aren't paying the same player's membership fee to the club! I'd look for a refund.

As has been said, the hurlers have just as much chance of getting injured in hurling training as they have playing a football match.

[kinnittyman]

Uimhir a cuig,

Firstly I would like to state that all my posts on this topic have been merely specualtion as to what the senior hurling management may or may not do. I am not privvy to their workings or the workings of the club committee for that matter.

Without question this matter has begun the process of driving a serious wedge throught the heart of our club and this is sad to see. Just today I heard a rumour that some senior hurlers are contemplating not making themselves available for senior semi-final and whether or not this is true its an awful situation to be in 8 days before our biggest match of the year. I can see both sides of the argument and all I can say is the decision was made, I presume, in the hope of giving the senior hurlers the best possible chance of beating Coolderry. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have that effect.

I wish you and your teammates all the best in the county semi-final and I sincerely hope you can bridge the 25 year gap.

[uimhir a cuig]

Kinnittyman, our committee handled this situation in the wrong way and should have left well enough alone. If they did this, right now we could have been looking forward to seeing our seniors hurlers join the footballers in a county final.

RE Bord na Mona Man's comment about the 6 non senior members receiving a refund. I think this would be most appropriate, not just to the 6, but also to all panelists who put in the effort in their matches this year. It would take a logical and rational minded committee to do this, so perhaps that won't be happening anytime soon! I wonder will they even consider (out of courtesy) writing letters of apology to the other Junior B clubs due to the consequences of their actions...

What's done is done, but there will be club members that will not forget their committee's actions in this regard. A good training session was had today and there will be no man stepping aside from playing in next weekend's match as that 25 year gap needs to be addressed in a serious way.

[bracknaghboy]

I find if hard to believe that they pulled the plug on the footballers, I really do. No man involved in this can dare call himself a GAA person. This is one of the greatest acts of backward extremism I've seen in my many years in GAA in this county and my time down south. All players should step down with immediate effect (i.e. no show for the hurling next weekend) until every person involved in this disgraceful decision is removed from the club. If they are not gone by the end of the week then tough. I'm no fan of player power but for me there comes a time when pride smply would get in the way for me. Many players go their whole playing days without ever making it to a county semi-final or final and the Kinnity club have just gone and made a mockery of a championship.

[Lone Shark]

While it was hugely disappointing that the Kinnitty committee took the actions that they did, I wouldn't agree with Bracknaghboy since I'm not a fan of cutting off your nose to spite your face. These Kinnitty hurlers, and not the committee, have earned their place in the county semi final against Coolderry and they're entitled to take their shot. The committee's job is to facilitate that and it's clear that they have failed miserably in that duty by taking such a foolish and divisive decision. Ultimately a lot of these committee members (I presume) have their county medals won back in the early eighties. The current generation of players would only be hurting themselves by depriving themselves of the opportunity to win one of their own.

What's done is done, but there will be club members that will not forget their committee's actions in this regard. A good training session was had today and there will be no man stepping aside from playing in next weekend's match as that 25 year gap needs to be addressed in a serious way.

That's the crucial bit here. Bord na Mona man's idea made perfect sense since players pay membership in order to play games. If they are deprived of games, of course they should be refunded membership.

However the other aspect of that is that the club will probably try to fundraise in the coming weeks and months, while at the end of the year they will have an AGM. That is the time to make your feelings known on this, by opposing and voting out committee members who supported this. Make it clear that no fundraising efforts will be supported until they are all removed. You can then guarantee that if the same thing happens again next year (as is highly possible) then a different action will be taken.