Overheard in the Snug: March 6th

Wanna snuggle?

A quiet week in inter-county Gaelic football as the National League has only one fixture. The Sigerson Cup, which is the university tournament, was decided this weekend. A big congratulations to the UCC team. They came together and beat teams from UUJ and UCD which consisted of much better known inter-county players. It was a great example of how cohesion and teamwork are more important than individual stars. Great work from the young group. My topics for the week...

Limerick Disappointing Everyone
During the summer I wrote that I had high hopes for Limerick despite their manager Mickey Ned Shanahan's decision to walk away. The team showed grit losing close games in the closing minutes to Kerry and eventual All-Ireland Champions Cork. John Galvin was a work-horse in midfield and the rest of the team seemed to feed off his energy.

Instead of battling for promotion from Division 3 as many predicted, Limerick are winless and will be lucky to avoid a drop to Division 4 with the likes of Kilkenny and London! There's a lot of blame being passed around on forums all over the web. I think the blame lies solely on the shoulders of new manager Maurice Horan. There are no injuries or retirements to blame as in Galway. Horan needs to lead the men in green or get out of the way for someone who can do the job right.

Sigerson Cup Scheduling
I like that the Sigerson Cup was decided over 3 days in a Gaelic football battle-royal. The format was built for excitement. Considering how scheduling in the GAA can breed contempt rather than tension, this event was held in great fashion. The problem was that the games were held over Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Anyone with a job could only attend the final on Saturday. The Thursday and Friday matches began during working hours despite the 3G pitch having floodlights. If the GAA is serious about promoting this tournament, they need to devise a way people can actually attend.