Laois football finalists Stradbally and Portlaoise must plan for an early night this Sunday, the day of the county final. For Stradbally, especially, the prospect amounts to a bizarre situation given that they have not won the county title since the Delaney brothers era in 1941.
Incredibly, the winners of Sunday's final will be obliged to travel to Longford on Monday to line out against Father Manning Gaels in the Leinster club championship, within 24 hours of the county decider.
A joint request by the Laois clubs to have the Leinster game deferred a week was turned down by the Leinster Council. The Longford club had insisted the game should go ahead as was planned back in July. Manning Gaels point out that many of their players would be involved in a league tie on the following weekend.
Should Sunday's county final end in a draw, a toss of a coin will decide the county's representatives for Monday's match.
The Laois finalists were known last month, but, as Stradbally's secretary, Niall Handy, explained, the county's involvement in the All-Ireland minor final contributed to the delay in holding the club final, originally planned for September 21st.
There are several members of the All-Ireland minor championship team involved this weekend, including Garry Kavanagh of Stradbally and Eoin Bland, Tom Mulligan, Brian Fitzpatrick and Diarmuid Mullins of Portlaoise.
Meanwhile, the Munster club football championship is also experiencing some difficulty. Tomorrow night's Council meeting must rule on an appeal from Galbally to have their semi-final defeat by the University of Limerick overturned due to an objection over affiliation. The appeal has already been rejected by the Limerick County Board.
In the meantime, Tipperary champions Fethard must await the decision to learn who they will meet in Sunday's final in Limerick.
Ulster are well ahead of schedule with their semi-finals fixed for Clones on Sunday. Crossmaglen, the All-Ireland champions, take on Errigal Ciarain (3.30), while Dungiven of Derry and St Paul's of Antrim contest the first semi-final at 2.00.
Crossmaglen's Joe Kernan is hoping for a repeat of the form displayed against Burren of Down in the quarter-finals. In that game the McConville brothers, Oisin and Jim, played leading roles, Jim scoring 3-2. A good performance by Peter Canavan in the Errigal attack will be crucial for the Tyrone standard bearers. Dungiven could be without the services of Joe Brolly still nursing a hamstring injury.
Connacht have one game fixed, with Mayo champions Knockmore taking on St Brigid's of Roscommon in Kiltoom.
The Kerry and Cork county football final replays have been re-fixed for next month. East Kerry and Laune Rangers replay on Sunday week, while Beara and Castlehaven try again on November 10th.
