SLAUGHTNEIL could find out the fate of their bid to have their All-Ireland club football semi-final put back a week later today.
The unprecedented success of the south Derry club has left the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) with the unique issue of dealing with one club being involved in both football and hurling semi-finals.
The Ulster Club champions in both codes saw off London champions St. Kiernan’s in the football quarter-final two weeks ago, and are due to face Leinster kings St. Vincent’s on the weekend of February 11.
However, they have a large contingent of dual players that are also set to play in the previous weekend’s All-Ireland hurling semi-final.
Having become the first Derry club ever to win the Ulster hurling title when they beat Loughgiel in November, they now face the favourites for the All-Ireland, Dublin and Leinster champions Cuala on February 4.
The Emmet’s made a request to CCCC that the football game with St. Vincent’s be pushed back a week in order to afford their dual players two weeks’ rest between the two games.
CCCC will hold a conference call with all parties this morning and they hope to have a resolution to the situation later today.
The fate of the Derry champions could lie in the hands of their opponents though, with the goodwill of St. Vincent’s with regards to moving the game understood to be crucial to the decision.
Slaughtneil have as many as 17 players that feature on both their football and hurling squads, eight of whom will more than likely start both games.
Paul McNeill, Shane McGuigan, Meehaul McGrath, Sé McGuigan and Cormac O’Doherty join county football trio Brendan Rogers, Karl McKaigue and Chrissy McKaigue, whose club commitments will see them miss the start of Derry’s National League campaign.
Oisin O’Doherty, Mark McGuigan, Gerald Bradley, Keelan Feeney, Séan Ó Caiside, Peadar Kearney, Brian Cassidy and Brian Óg Corbett are the other dual players, with a handful of them likely to play at least some part in one or other of the games.
When the Emmet’s reached the All-Ireland football semi-final in 2015, CCCC agreed to a request to change their game with Munster champions Austin Stacks.
It had been scheduled for Saturday 14 February but that clashed with the wedding of a brother of Slaughtneil players Barry and Sé McGuigan, and the game was moved to the Sunday to accommodate Mickey Moran’s side.
Ulster intermediate and junior champions, Pomeroy and Rock, are also set to discover the times, dates and venues for their All-Ireland semi-finals.
Pomeroy will face Meath side St. Colmcille’s in their intermediate semi-final, while Rock will face Glasgow’s Dunedin Connolly’s for a place in the junior decider.
Those games are will take place over the weekend of January 28-29, with exact details set to be confirmed later today.
