The GAA's decision to hold the replay of the All-Ireland football final on a Saturday was severely criticised yesterday by former Galway All-Ireland hero and GAA author Jack Mahon at the Central Council's reception for Galway and Kerry at the Citywest Hotel in Saggart.
Mahon, the long-standing Galway County Board PRO and centre back on Galway's successful 1956 football team, did not mince his words. "There is no way an All-Ireland final should not be played on a Sunday," he said. "The All-Ireland final is the biggest sporting event of the land and to give it secondary importance to any Australian visit for a Compromise Rules fixture is very wrong and demeaning to our game."
The International Rules series had already been fixed for headquarters on Sunday week and the Kerry-Galway replay is scheduled 24 hours earlier in what will be the first senior All-Ireland final to be played on a Saturday.
"It's a decision that belittles our game and should not be tolerated in any circumstance," added Mahon. And he appealed to the GAA to redress the situation and give the All-Ireland final its rightful day. But a swap of dates at this stage was not anticipated by any of the top officials at yesterday's lunch.
No curtain-raiser is expected for Saturday week, with the game starting at 3.30 p.m.. Wexford referee Brian White, who has 12 years' experience of senior games, will be in charge of the replay.
White refereed the Ulster championship games between Derry and Cavan and Armagh and Tyrone this year and was in charge of the 1997 Kerry-Mayo final.
GAA president Sean McCague said: "I am sorry for Brian (McEniff) for he cannot now field his best possible team in the International series. He will be short of at least six players from Kerry and Galway that he would have been depending on."
McCague pointed out a marked improvement in discipline on the pitch this year. "Nobody was red-carded in either Ulster or Munster and in 40 championship games only 11 players were dismissed," he said.
Galway manager John O'Mahony is not all that pushed about the unique refixed date. "It's something that we must try and get our heads around. It's one of those things coming in the GAA."
Talking about the drawn match and Kerry's seven-point lead, O'Mahony said:
"Teams dominating for a spell and then being dominated is a growing trend in Gaelic football. Other examples this year were Kerry v Cork and Kildare v Dublin."
He added that "the real game started after half-time". Both teams, he feels, will be aiming at improving levels of consistency over 70 minutes for the next day.
O'Mahony insisted that the Galway players replaced on Sunday would be in the reckoning for starting places again. "Anyway, it dosn't matter how you start, it's the way you finish," he said.
"I don't think either side was upset that no more than some 30 seconds injury-time was played," O'Mahony added. "Replays can be so different."
"A winning point for Galway or Kerry would have been a desperate injustice. Neither side deserved to lose," said president McCague. He promised that a significant amount of the likely £1.8 million gate realised for the replay would be donated to the teams' holiday fund. McCague said: "For sportsmanship, discipline and skills, Sunday's match was the best I have witnessed since the first decider I saw in 1960."
Galway's super-sub on the day, Kevin Walsh said: "I felt when John (O'Mahony) asked me to go into the match to replace Joe Bergin after about 19 minutes that we were facing a difficult uphill battle. Kerry at that stage seemed to be putting the points over at will. Winning that first ball from Donal Daly was a huge boost for me.
"On reflection, I thought we should have won by two points, but I don't blame our players who missed those late chances. Our legs were like jelly at that stage."
