In Monday’s Hospital Pass, we take a look at The Game Of The Decade at Kingspan Breffni Park, and the strangely Irish and GAA phenomenon of analysing the pundits.
By Shane Breslin and William Nestor
Cavan has been afforded the lucrative All-Ireland first round qualifier between Louth and Meath, because the GAA suits decided that even with two red cards, the Championship fixture hosted at Breffni Park at the weekend clearly wasn’t controversial enough.
The eyes of the GAA world will focus on The-Nice-People-At-Kingspan Breffni Park (Well, we do need sponsorship to survive…) on Saturday week and there isn’t a sports fan in the country with even the slightest interest in GAA who won’t want to see what happens there.
We didn’t expect Louth to lose to Carlow at the weekend, we didn’t expect them to be paired with the Royals in the qualifiers and we certainly didn’t expect this venue.
But with the GAA grounds in Drogheda too small to cater for the massive interest and Pairc Tailteann in Navan – Louth’s “home” for many Championship games down the years – ruled out for obvious reasons, the decision was taken to move this particular all-Leinster encounter across the provincial boundary to Breffni.
It may be 11 months too late, and there’s no silverware at stake this time, but Louth have at last been given the chance of vengeance. For now, all we’re doing is keeping our fingers crossed that the GAA can find a referee willing to put his life on the line.
Donegal and Pat Spillane
If Martin Sludden found himself besieged last summer, it seems that the footballers of Donegal believe they’re in a similar position this time around.
That’s if you’re to believe manager Jim McGuinness, who reckons that if Donegal football is a joke, the lads in the RTE studio can stop laughing.
The boycott of RTE by GAA managers came to an end at the weekend, and McGuinness used the renewed opportunity to voice his opinions to aim a rocket right back at the state broadcaster, and their touchy, feely, jokey pundits.
It’s a situation unique to Ireland, we reckon, and possibly even unique to the GAA, to scrutinise with analytical vigour the actions of the men who are paid by RTE to scrutinse with analytical vigour.
Let’s face it, though. Pat Spillane wouldn’t be happy if everyone was happy, would he?
