Meath could not have planned this better if they had tried.
After a week of tumultuous talks in which concerns were raised over the well-being of their players, the O'Byrne Cup final between Meath and Westmeath was postponed today due to the insurmountable weather conditions.
Yet, today's respite is only going to intensify Meath's problems in the weeks the follow.
Both counties’ footballers will now be playing for the next six weekends in a row. That was due to be Meath’s only rest weekend between Jan 1 and March 11. (Meanwhile Meath’s hurlers played twice in five days and then had 3.5 weeks off.) This fixtures replanning is a joke pic.twitter.com/oV1ExPOyTM
— Gavan Reilly (@gavreilly) January 21, 2018
While those responsible for scheduling these pre-season fixtures will have plenty to answer for when a retrospective look at these series of games is carried out, for now, you may as well take some joy from the absolutely biblical state O'Moore Park in Portlaoise is in.
Leinster GAA secretary Michael Reynolds was keen to be doubly sure that it was absolutely unplayable.
With Noah himself incapable of mastering such a soggy terrain, both Meath and Westmeath will enjoy this Sunday off, before embarking upon a difficult league campaign.
