The AIB Connacht club football semi-final between Leitrim champions Aughavas and Galway's champions or nominees has been refixed for Sunday week, November 12th at Carrick-on-Shannon. Galway have also been fined £2,000 "for failing to meet the fixtures deadlines as set out by the (Connacht) Council".
The refixture and fine come as a result of a three-hour deliberation by last night's special meeting of the Connacht Council in Knock. The council met in a last-ditch attempt to unravel the difficult fixtures problem. The tie in question was originally arranged for Tuam Stadium on Sunday next, but Galway would not have been in a position to produce champions until Sunday evening at the earliest - the county final between Corofin and Killanin had been fixed for the same time and venue as the Connacht club game.
Late last evening the Connacht Council issued a statement, which said, in part: "Following consultation with the Aughavas club the Connacht GAA council has agreed to refix the AIB Connacht club football semi-final, Aughavas v Galway champions/nominees for Sunday, November 12th at 2 p.m. at Carrick-on-Shannon, with extra-time if necessary."
The Galway county board has agreed that in the event of their county final ending in a draw they will nominate a team to play on November 12th. The Connacht Council has also agreed that the next meeting of Galway and Leitrim in the club football championship will be played at a Leitrim venue.
Galway's fixtures snarl-up had its genesis when the All-Ireland final between Kerry and Galway was drawn and had to be replayed on October 7th. The following weekend the county board felt obligated to support the International Rules series with the release of a quota of players.
Galway football board chairman Pat Egan insists that the body acted in good faith in trying to deal with the pressures of staging their county semi-finals within a restricted period. The schedule was again disrupted when one of the county semi-finals was drawn, and Egan was hoping that Leitrim champions Aughavas would agree to a postponement of the Connacht club game.
Instead Aughavas had insisted that they would be travelling to Tuam for the Connacht club match on Sunday and expected to see Galway opposition in place to play them. The Galway board had already fixed their county final between Corofin and Killanin for the same venue and time.
Options such as playing the county final tomorrow, with the winners, should there be any at that stage, to play Aughavas on Sunday had not found favour in Galway, and the Galway authorities felt it would not be fair to nominate a side to represent the county in the provincial club match. The Galway board were ready to forego home advantage for their county champions, but this did not sway Aughavas.
