Derry Dolly Mixtures Lose to Tipp
Talking Balls
Interesting times in Derry with hurling manager Brian McGilligan due to appear in front of a County Board ‘court’ now that the U-21 hurlers have been knocked out of the Championship. McGilligan and former Minor football manager Niall Conway have displeased the Derry Co Board with their unflattering comments about the levels of support they received this year.
McGilligan of course has enjoyed unprecedented success with his U-21 squad, beating Ulster’s self proclaimed hurling superpower Antrim in consecutive years and performing creditably in All Ireland semi-finals against Dublin and Tipp. Should the County have been proud of these achievements? Yes. Did they do everything they could to get behind the lads in their unlikely quest for All Ireland glory? Definitely not. Here’s the case against.
The Derry hurlers and camogs were scheduled to play in a double header last Saturday in Mullingar. The camogs, whose state of penury is legendary, managed to bring the girls down the night before meaning they didn’t have to travel for four or more hours the morning of the game. The hurlers? They weren’t given the option to travel the night before. Nor were they given any gear - tracksuits, wet gear, not even a t shirt ahead of their All Ireland semi final.
According to McGilligan because the players had swapped shirts in the previous game the management had to compile a set of shirts from four other strips for the match. The strip used didn’t have the now complusory number on its shirt front. Was anyone from the county board there to take note? If they were they would also have noticed the ragamuffin Dolly Mixture appearance of the players on the field warming up. There were club and college tracksuits and rain jackets galore but not a Derry jacket or top in sight. Is this the way the Derry Board want their representatives togged out for the county’s only All Ireland championship semi final this year.
The Tipp players obviously realised that the Derry shirts were a gather up as to a man they refused to swap shirts after the game saying they were told they weren’t allowed to. If anyone from the GPA us reading maybe they could give the Derry hurlers a shout - they might have an interesting tale to tell.