Quarter Finals Venues - CRAP decision
Talking Balls
Jaze, Armagh and Galway are going buck mad at the controversial news that they are unlikely to get playing their All Ireland Quarter Finals at Croker next weekend. Both Peter McDonnell and Liam Sammon have blasted the CCCC for their decision to remove the right of Provincial winners to play at Headquarters.
And, to add insult to injury, the Tribesmen and the Orchard Raiders are pure hopping at the thought that the Dubs will have the place all to themselves for their own qualifiers. CCC have confirmed that this weekend’s qualifiers are being played at Croker because next week’s matches aren’t - if that makes any sense.
The reason’s simple: Cork are likely to have a double header because of the ‘unique’ contribution they make to the GAA.
Meanwhile the sound of cash-registers a-ringing and credit card PINs a pinging was enough to send the great unwashed of Armagh and Galway to the sticks while the diehard Dubs pack Croker to the rafters to watch their fifty five minutes or so of Championship action before heading back to the Pub to finish their pints.
CCCC Chief Druid Jimmy Dunne confirmed: “That is exactly the situation. Some of the teams wouldn’t have played there before.”
Said Galway’s Liam Sammon: We want our game there and obviously Armagh feel the same. Why should the two of us be punished because of a tight fixture programme?”
Armagh boss Peter McDonnell added: “We would be deeply unhappy with being denied the opportunity to play our quarter-final in Croke Park. Playing in Croke Park symbolises achievement for players, especially at this time of year.”
Following the farcical goings-on around the fixing of the Crusty Ring Finale, no-one better than the GAA for shooting themselves in the foot, no wonder they stumble from one crisis to another.
Meanwhile iconic former Goalkeeper Benny Tierney is understood to have interrupted his jolly excursion to his GAA summer camp in Marbella to mobilise support for CRAP - the Croker Rights for Armagh People and is willing to chain himself to anything that will have him in protest. . .