Football

Tweet The Fence

* While 'Peter from Fermanagh' never misses Off the Fence, he has never felt the urge to contact us about any issue. That situation changed after his visit to Brewster Park for Fermanagh's McKenna Cup game against St Mary's.

As the teams and the supporters struggled to see through the thick blanket of fog, 'Peter' described the playing conditions as "nothing short of disgraceful". He went on: "in fact, it was bordering on dangerous. Visibility was virtually zero for the spectators and we had to get information on every score in the first half via the Tannoy (the announcer was getting his information from two men with walkie talkies behind the goals). "It actually became laughable. It was ridiculous but laughter soon turned to anger when people realised that the fog wasn't show any signs of clearing and the £9 admission fee was going to be a complete waste of money. "The majority of the fans complained but it fell on deaf ears. While i understand that the Ulster Council needed to fulfil its fixtures, it would have been prudent to reduce the admission price for Fermanagh's last game against Monaghan. This would have acted as a goodwill gesture for the calamity against St Mary's. "While i understand that there needs to be consistency, some common sense should be applied when extenuating circumstances arise, particularly in difficult economic times such as these."

The Ulster Council and common sense? Are we talking about the same Ulster Council which each year runs a competition that includes a rule which it cannot or will not enforce?

* I CAN almost hear 'Jim from North Belfast' saying: 'Yes, that would be the one.' 'Jim' has called on the Ulster Council to resolve the impasse surrounding the colleges and counties before the problem rears its head again next year. "Let call a spade a spade here. The Ulster Council's stance on the county versus colleges row in the McKenna Cup is nothing short of a disgrace. "They have a rule, yet, somehow, inexplicably they don't have the power to enforce it! "Well, if this is the case, they should either change the existing rule or stand up to the county managers and penalise those counties who blatantly ignore the rules. "It's a farce. The lack of integrity and transparency is only matched by the Ulster Council's weakness on the matter. Joe Kernan's intervention now looks as if it was either a cosmetic exercise or a poorly executed PR stunt. "Before another fiasco next year, the Ulster Council must make a proper determination and sort this issue out. The existing laissez-faire attitude of 'it will be alright on the night' is not working.

The issue isn't going away. Maybe as an alternative the Ulster Council could get Joe Kernan to hook up with Richard Haass."

Kernan and Haass were always looking at a beaten docket. No. If the Ulster Council wants to solve this dispute then I think there's only one man for the job. It's time to call Mr Mitchell. George that is, not Frank.

* FINALLY, amid all this controversy and negativity, we'll conclude with a contributor who simply wanted to extol the pleasures of his favourite sport. Having spent the evening on the edge of his sofa, 'Marty Mac' wrote this ode to the green baize. "Such real life drama on the television tonight. Warrior against warrior. Nerve against nerve. Broken dreams and soul searching; fought out on the playing surface of truth. Aye, it's good to have a wee deciding frame on the snooker now and again."

Whatever gets you through the night, Marty.

EARLIER this week, we posed this question to our followers on the Twitter (@irishnewssport): What's wrong with the GAA's idea of an Ulster senior hurling team in the 2016 Championship? The tweet prompted the following debate between former Down hurler Graham Clarke and Kieran Farmer, a reader from Enniskillen.

Graham Clarke @gclarke074 An Ulster team, why not? nothing to lose if run properly

Kieran Farmer @farmer_kieran Biggest part of that statement is: 'if run properly'.

Weaker counties need to be allowed a fair say in selection.

@gclarke074 impossible to please everybody but to be fair would mean possibly a non-Ulster manager and several trials?

@farmer_kieran

Use nicky Rackard and Christy Ring to pick players #onlyanidea

@farmer_kieran

however it's decided it will end up being a logistical nightmare