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Meath v Cavan

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Replying To Jinxie: "I think you'll find that there is precedent for games being moved. Most counties with have an alternative pitch put forward, like roscommon used kiltoom, Jonathan use iniskeen and so on. And in the past games have been moved outside the county, like roscommon moving their home game to longford. This is no b league football where we shove it in midweek when championship is over, a bit of proper planning is all that's being asked for. That pitch has been frozen all week, yet nothing is done until 90 mins before throw in. Total amatuerism at it's best ." Plenty of precedent for games being switched within the county - provided the county has an alternative pitch that will hold the crowd forecast to attend. Do Cavan have a suitable alternative venue? Would we? Also precedent for a county voluntary moving a game out of the county of their own pitch is unavailable. But to force a county to play a home match at an away venue because of severe and obviously unavoidable weather conditions is not normal. Cavan would object to it, and they would be right to do so. I would hope that if the situation was reversed, meath would absolutely refuse to allow that to happen. You would think a game had never been postponed in meath before with the whinging going on. Yes the late postponement was wrong, but that's it. anfearbeag (Meath) - Posts: 1134 - 11/02/2018 09:46:57 2075652 Link
Replying To blueman1903: "I was one of the misfortuned and for you to say can cavan not organize anything, I didn't know that level of rain was coming and couldn't control it, breffni Park didn't know or couldn't control it, so you being livid is quite distasteful." Home advantage should be taken off Cavan if the county board can't get their pitch in order they should be punished. You can be guaranteed that game would have went ahead in navan the best surface in the country Northsidegaels (Meath) - Posts: 227 - 11/02/2018 09:53:00 2075653 Link
Replying To anfearbeag: "Plenty of precedent for games being switched within the county - provided the county has an alternative pitch that will hold the crowd forecast to attend. Do Cavan have a suitable alternative venue? Would we? Also precedent for a county voluntary moving a game out of the county of their own pitch is unavailable. But to force a county to play a home match at an away venue because of severe and obviously unavoidable weather conditions is not normal. Cavan would object to it, and they would be right to do so. I would hope that if the situation was reversed, meath would absolutely refuse to allow that to happen. You would think a game had never been postponed in meath before with the whinging going on. Yes the late postponement was wrong, but that's it." That wouldn't happen as meath have a pitch fit for purpose so should be rewarded for that Northsidegaels (Meath) - Posts: 227 - 11/02/2018 09:54:25 2075655 Link
Replying To anfearbeag: "Plenty of precedent for games being switched within the county - provided the county has an alternative pitch that will hold the crowd forecast to attend. Do Cavan have a suitable alternative venue? Would we? Also precedent for a county voluntary moving a game out of the county of their own pitch is unavailable. But to force a county to play a home match at an away venue because of severe and obviously unavoidable weather conditions is not normal. Cavan would object to it, and they would be right to do so. I would hope that if the situation was reversed, meath would absolutely refuse to allow that to happen. You would think a game had never been postponed in meath before with the whinging going on. Yes the late postponement was wrong, but that's it." So rather than be pro active and look for an alternative venue when it was obvious from an early stage that the game was unlikely to be played, your suggestion is to sit or your hands and do nothing and allow fixtures to back up even further, just because it's not the way it's done in the gaa? Counties should have an alternative ground put forward, and if that is deemed unsuitable, then home advantage is forfeited. It's happened Louth in the past and Armagh before they redeveloped the athletic grounds. Jinxie (Meath) - Posts: 6158 - 11/02/2018 09:55:18 2075656 Link
Well the powers that be should bring in some sort of ruling on it....this is pretty much a yearly occurance in the league.....at least one game a year postponed due to a waterlogged pitch so counties should have a back up plan....space for games is at a premium these days...even more so now with the club v county debate getting such attention.....so if ya don't have a 2nd county ground it gets moved to the nearest available one...by rule.....and it's just tough luck if it happens to be your home fixture but this way everyone is in the same boat.....bar the dubs obviously cause they play their home games in our national stadium southmeathgael (Meath) - Posts: 709 - 11/02/2018 09:59:27 2075659 Link
We lost home advantage in an u21 semi final a couple of years back over lights, which was our own problem, but we didn't have the luxury of saying we aree keeping home advantage and playing it on Saturday or Sunday, that wasn't our choice, and this situation is no different. Jinxie (Meath) - Posts: 6158 - 11/02/2018 10:02:52 2075662 Link
I think everyone can agree that the late postponement of the game last night only 90 minutes before throw-in is nothing short of disgrace. We are Irish, we understand wet weather and it's not Co. Cavans or Breffni Parks fault. However travelling supporters and Im only talking within Meath (in this instance) in terms of distance particularly east and south east Meath like - Bettystown/Laytown, Stamullen, Ashbourne, Ratoath, Dunboyne, and Enfield just for example would have left before this news filtered through. Also, it's not as if the news reached all media outlets straight away. So 90 minutes is just not good enough. I think people have a right to be angered by the short notice. Why wasn't this call made at 12pm at the earliest to avoid all this inconvenience? There would be little argument from anyone if this was the case. It's all spilt milk at this stage so hopefully the game is rescheduled for next week and this fixture gets fulfilled Royalio11 (Meath) - Posts: 750 - 11/02/2018 10:06:11 2075665 Link
Replying To southmeathgael: "Well the powers that be should bring in some sort of ruling on it....this is pretty much a yearly occurance in the league.....at least one game a year postponed due to a waterlogged pitch so counties should have a back up plan....space for games is at a premium these days...even more so now with the club v county debate getting such attention.....so if ya don't have a 2nd county ground it gets moved to the nearest available one...by rule.....and it's just tough luck if it happens to be your home fixture but this way everyone is in the same boat.....bar the dubs obviously cause they play their home games in our national stadium" Dead right. And this was brought up before and proposed by a few counties, but never followed through. A second ground should be named in all counties, and if the gaa decide that that ground is not fit for the given fixture, then the game goes outside the county. The notion that counties have the right to hold the fixture calender up because they "own" the fixture Is farcical. Home advantage is dependent on you being able to host the fixture, if you are not, then it moves. Simple as that. Jinxie (Meath) - Posts: 6158 - 11/02/2018 10:09:51 2075667 Link
Replying To southmeathgael: "Well the powers that be should bring in some sort of ruling on it....this is pretty much a yearly occurance in the league.....at least one game a year postponed due to a waterlogged pitch so counties should have a back up plan....space for games is at a premium these days...even more so now with the club v county debate getting such attention.....so if ya don't have a 2nd county ground it gets moved to the nearest available one...by rule.....and it's just tough luck if it happens to be your home fixture but this way everyone is in the same boat.....bar the dubs obviously cause they play their home games in our national stadium" I don't necessarily disagree with you. But there is no such rule right now. Also if the GAA want to do this, they better be prepared to put serious money into developing club pitches to bring them up to the standard required to hold county matches. Health and safety won't allow people to stand on the banks in Navan - do you think they are going to let any club grounds hold 3-4 thousand people? It also does not do you much good if your second county pitch also gets heavy rain. Maybe another rule that there must be a minimum distance between the county grounds and the second county pitch, to minimize the risk of both grounds being unplayable. Or many people could just stop getting their knickers in a twist about a postponed football match, and just accept the fact that in a country with our climate, these things will sometimes happen. anfearbeag (Meath) - Posts: 1134 - 11/02/2018 10:10:54 2075669 Link
Well it's disappointing but not unusual to have a game postponed this time of the year and when such a late call is made it sort of makes it worse. However if there is not a suitable second venue in Cavan then so be it. Home advantage should not be taken away so let's just hope common sense applies with the Re-fixture. Personally I think the suggestion that it is fixed for next weekend is a good idea. From a Meath point of view we seem to be on a bit of a roll so I would like to see the game take place ASAP. I think postponing the OBC final to after the league makes sense in the circumstances as it would mean a competitive game before the championship and that might be useful. ROYALOPTIMIST (Meath) - Posts: 178 - 11/02/2018 10:24:32 2075673 Link
Replying To anfearbeag: "I don't necessarily disagree with you. But there is no such rule right now. Also if the GAA want to do this, they better be prepared to put serious money into developing club pitches to bring them up to the standard required to hold county matches. Health and safety won't allow people to stand on the banks in Navan - do you think they are going to let any club grounds hold 3-4 thousand people? It also does not do you much good if your second county pitch also gets heavy rain. Maybe another rule that there must be a minimum distance between the county grounds and the second county pitch, to minimize the risk of both grounds being unplayable. Or many people could just stop getting their knickers in a twist about a postponed football match, and just accept the fact that in a country with our climate, these things will sometimes happen." But isn't that the point, we know the climate won't change or can't be helped, so why not focus on the other things that can be helped. Either start the fixture calender later, or implement rules around alternative grounds or options. Jinxie (Meath) - Posts: 6158 - 11/02/2018 10:31:48 2075678 Link
Replying To anfearbeag: "Are there suitable spectator facilities to hold a couple of thousand people?" I'm not sure .. But probably not lad given there would be a massive turnout hawkeye1 (Dublin) - Posts: 13 - 11/02/2018 10:36:15 2075679 Link
Replying To Jinxie: "But isn't that the point, we know the climate won't change or can't be helped, so why not focus on the other things that can be helped. Either start the fixture calender later, or implement rules around alternative grounds or options." Again I don't disagree with you jinxie. But that is not going to help things this weekend. In order to implement rules, the rules have to be in place. And they are not. As I said earlier, if the gaa bring in a rule about needing a second county venue, they better be prepared to pay for it. Because if I am a club member, there is no way I am going to agree to spend club money bringing the pitch up to inter county standard, on the off chance that once every few years a county match might need to be played there. And if I am on the county board, there is no way I would spend county money on a club ground, especially if like in meath, the county ground needs serious work. Incidentally, anyone remember the last time a match ( not necessarily county) fixed for Páirc Tailteann had to be postponed due to being unplayable. It should not be difficult / it was this year!! anfearbeag (Meath) - Posts: 1134 - 11/02/2018 10:48:39 2075681 Link
Replying To ROYALOPTIMIST: "Well it's disappointing but not unusual to have a game postponed this time of the year and when such a late call is made it sort of makes it worse. However if there is not a suitable second venue in Cavan then so be it. Home advantage should not be taken away so let's just hope common sense applies with the Re-fixture. Personally I think the suggestion that it is fixed for next weekend is a good idea. From a Meath point of view we seem to be on a bit of a roll so I would like to see the game take place ASAP. I think postponing the OBC final to after the league makes sense in the circumstances as it would mean a competitive game before the championship and that might be useful." it can't be played in April . play Cavan Saturday night and play Meaths second team Sunday meath1977 (Meath) - Posts: 459 - 11/02/2018 11:00:27 2075688 Link
Replying To hawkeye1: "I'm not sure .. But probably not lad given there would be a massive turnout" Sorry the flu is playing havoc with my sarcasm detector so I can't judge if you are being sarcastic or not. I suspect that you are having a dig at the size of the crowd likely to turn up. Sure, it's not going to be the tens of thousands that the dubs attract, but it would still be a big wnough crowd that you couldn't just play the match on some training pitch at the back of the stand. Or in a club pitch if they did not have a stand or proper terracing at least. anfearbeag (Meath) - Posts: 1134 - 11/02/2018 11:04:52 2075690 Link
Replying To anfearbeag: "Again I don't disagree with you jinxie. But that is not going to help things this weekend. In order to implement rules, the rules have to be in place. And they are not. As I said earlier, if the gaa bring in a rule about needing a second county venue, they better be prepared to pay for it. Because if I am a club member, there is no way I am going to agree to spend club money bringing the pitch up to inter county standard, on the off chance that once every few years a county match might need to be played there. And if I am on the county board, there is no way I would spend county money on a club ground, especially if like in meath, the county ground needs serious work. Incidentally, anyone remember the last time a match ( not necessarily county) fixed for Páirc Tailteann had to be postponed due to being unplayable. It should not be difficult / it was this year!!" Yeah it's only 4 weeks ago. And I agree, rules that aren't properly in place can't be enforced. And with that, this weekend is gone. I've no problem with the refixture being in Cavan, my point is at saving the current fixture when there's time. I'd rather see games refixed on the same weekend and the games played when they are supposed to be rather than having to go down the rescheduling route at all. If you look at both of Meath games that were postponed this year so far, both were flagged early in the week as being risks, but we still trundle along blindly until it's almost throw in time, then start to scratch our heads wondering what we do next. Midweek game an option now? Jinxie (Meath) - Posts: 6158 - 11/02/2018 11:19:52 2075697 Link
Firstly it was me who said I was livid not anyone else, I was. I am not been flippant, but I was not going to visit someone's home or farmyard, (I was those effected well) I was going to watch a match, a 180km round trip to be exact. Now I travel further and longer , that's not the point, other grounds could have continued with game, the surface in breffni is the problem , for such a great stadium the pitch is terrible , if game was going to be called off it should have been done so at 2 even 3. Not at 5.30, when I and many others were already in car. They knew what was coming and yet allowed people to still go, this is unacceptable in 2018. Same with bloody Roscommon few years ago. It wasn't a freak rain storm, the rain that fell (wouldn't have postponed navan, but we have fantastic pitch) was given, so knowing that the grounds could not take it, why not call it off earlier. That is why I was livid. Also this nonsense of today? What were they thinking? It was never going to happen. I agree alternative should have been arranged. royaldunne (Meath) - Posts: 17035 - 11/02/2018 12:04:25 2075722 Link
To hell with the O'Byrne Cup now, in all fairness league takes precedence so I would imagine the Cavan game will be next week, as per usual calling games off causes headaches but spare a thought for the Kerry fans that were heading to Monaghan only to realise after 11am that the game was being called off, and it took them two inspections at Inniskeen to figure that out. Awful stuff altogether. Richieq (Meath) - Posts: 3590 - 11/02/2018 12:14:03 2075729 Link
Hopefully the Cavan match will be played next weekend. It would be in Meaths/Westmeaths best interests to play the OBC final after the league and before the championship ... I'm sure they would both take the game more seriously then and it would be better than any challenge match. Teams lose momentum with the gap between league and championship, and they both have tough away fixtures from the outset. GlasagusOr (Meath) - Posts: 1348 - 11/02/2018 12:18:43 2075730 Link
Replying To blueman1903: "I was one of the misfortuned and for you to say can cavan not organize anything, I didn't know that level of rain was coming and couldn't control it, breffni Park didn't know or couldn't control it, so you being livid is quite distasteful." there was a yellow rain warning in place for cavan, so maybe you didnt know but your county board SHOULD have known royal69er (Meath) - Posts: 96 - 11/02/2018 12:54:32 2075746 Link