Home Sport GAA Potential fixture dilemma for Laois duo following Cavan postponement

Potential fixture dilemma for Laois duo following Cavan postponement

The Laois senior footballers Division 2 Round 3 clash against Cavan was postponed on Sunday as Storm Ciara left the MW Hire O’Moore Park pitch unplayable.

The CCC will decide later today when that game is going to be played but speculation is that it will take place this weekend.

And that will pose a problem for two of Laois’s players who have played in the draw with Roscommon and win over Armagh thus far – O’Dempsey’s Mark Barry and Courtwood’s Sean O’Flynn.

Eddie Kinsella’s Laois U-20s are due to play Westmeath on Saturday in MW Hire O’Moore Park at 2pm in a Leinster quarter final.

So if that Cavan game is rescheduled for either Saturday or Sunday – the pair may be forced to choose which team they will play for or else play two games in less than 24 hours.

This is the second time that a scenario like this has happened to Barry and O’Flynn.

Last year, the GAA introduced a rule which stated that any U-20 player who played in the senior championship, could not represent the U-20s in that competition until the seniors were eliminated.

Sean O’Flynn played for Laois in the Leinster quarter final over Westmeath while Mark Barry came on for ten minutes against Derry in the All-Ireland Round 2 Qualifier win over the Ulstermen.

That meant that both were unavailable for the Laois U-20s wins over Kildare and Westmeath. When Laois were knocked out by Cork, Barry and O’Flynn returned to the U-20 panel for the semi final win against Meath and eventual Leinster final defeat to Dublin.

Results from the games that took place over the weekend have left Laois in fourth place in Division 2.

Armagh defeated Kildare 0-16 to 0-10 and are now top of the table while Roscommon and Westmeath, with wins over Clare and Fermanagh respectively, have also moved above the O’Moore county.

But Laois can return to the top of the table with a win but similarly, a loss will leave them in fifth place and just a point off the relegation zone.

The stakes for Laois in Division 2 are incredibly high this year as, if they are relegated to Division 3, they will be forced to play in the Tier 2 All-Ireland unless they reach the Leinster final.

Mark Barry kicked seven points in the win over Armagh the last day so Mike Quirke will not want to lose him or Sean O’Flynn who has been remarkably consistent at wing back.

But U-20 manager Eddie Kinsella will also not want to play Westmeath in a straight knock-out competition without two of his best players.

So if the Cavan game is refixed for this weekend – the Laois pair may well find themselves with a big and unfair decision to make.

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