FOR three minutes on Saturday evening, Down hurling boss Ronan Sheehan had eyes only for the Joe McDonagh final before Kerry popped up with a late, late score against Meath to deny the Ardsmen.
Kerry advanced to the McDonagh final on the goal difference where they will face Westmeath on Saturday while Sheehan turns his attentions to tonight’s All-Ireland U20B quarter-final joust with Armagh in the Athletic Grounds (7.15pm).
After losing to Antrim in Ballycran at the start of the month, Down’s U20s drop down to the All-Ireland ‘B’ series.
“I’d be a big advocate of the tiered competition at U20 level along the lines of the Joe McDonagh,” said Sheehan.
“Probably hurling people are more realistic as to their place in the world than football people. I accept everyone wants to play in the ‘A’ competition but I’d rather play in a competition where my players are competitive and learning rather than being beaten by 40 points and being embarrassed at the end of it.
“Hopefully we can get over Armagh and the young lads can look forward to an All-Ireland semi-final.”
Donegal and Derry’s U20 hurlers will also face off in the Richie McElligott Cup quarters at Owenbeg tonight (7.30pm).
On the Down seniors’ near-miss in the Joe McDonagh, Sheehan said: “For three minutes on Saturday night we were in the final. Meath had to beat Kerry by five points to put us through and Kerry got a point in the seventh minute of injury-time… We had 54 points scored, as did Kerry, so it came down to goals scored and they scored three and we scored two so they went through to an All-Ireland final on goals scored.”
Meanwhile, GPA Head of Operations and Finance Ciaran Barr has accused “some commentators” of trying to drive a wedge between the club and inter-county game and says one can’t survive without the other.
Speaking at last night’s Gaelic Players’ AGM, the former Antrim hurler was miffed at how the expenditure on inter-county teams was viewed as a negative.
“When I see the significant revenue generated by the inter-county games, I am surprised by the focus often on the ‘unsustainability’ of inter-county costs.
“I find it difficult to square the two. Could we all be more efficient and effective with our investments and expenditure? Undoubtedly.
“Are costs associated with inter-county games ‘unsustainable’? That’s a far more nuanced question to answer so let’s look at the revenue generated in 2019 v 2020.
“In 2019, with a thriving inter-county game, the GAA generated record revenues, 83 cent in every euro of which was invested back into schools, clubs, counties and provinces. In 2020 revenues generated by the inter-county game fell off a cliff due to Covid-19…”
Barr added: “The money spent on the inter-county game is not a cost; it’s an investment; an investment that all units of the GAA benefit from…”
