Not ideal says Garrity as Leitrim's TG4 LGFA All-Ireland SFC clash with Dublin refixed for Sunday

Leitrim Ladies will be heading to Dublin for a second time this weekend, this time on Sunday, to take on the Leinster champions after Saturday's TG4 All-Ireland LGFA Senior Championship game was postponed due to an unplayable surface at the famed Parnell Park venue.

Leitrim manager Jonny Garrity described the situation as not ideal but was delighted to see the game refixed for the Clann Mhuire venue in The Naul, County Dublin on Sunday, a 4 pm throw-in after both teams had prolonged discussions over when the game would be played with previous commitments for both teams complicating matters.

Speaking to the Observer after the game, Jonny Garrity said “It's not ideal and making the journey down twice in two days isn't ideal but to be fair to the Dublin County Board, the Dublin management and the LGFA, everybody was trying their best to come in with a solution-based approach.

“There was never going to be a perfect answer because, obviously, had the match been in the spare weekend, that would have ensured that we were the only team in Ireland playing three games in three weeks and potentially four. So that was an eventuality that we were keen to avoid, to be honest, whether we were on a relegation pathway or a quarter-final.”

It means that Leitrim will have to travel up to Dublin twice in the one weekend, a situation that their manager admits is not ideal: “Playing tomorrow after coming down today and not getting the match and travelling again, that's not ideal either. We have to regroup now as a squad and double-check with availability and all the logistics that go around that.”

RESCHEDULED DATE FOR LEITRIM V DUBLIN LGFA CLASH CONFIRMED

While fully understanding that the weather played havoc with a lot of games, Jonny would have liked earlier notice that the game was off: “Earlier notice would have been really, really useful because even with earlier notice, we might not have had to make the full journey.”

There was a proposal to play the game in Abbotstown on a 4G pitch but both teams were against that idea: “There was an alternative pitch proposed for four o'clock today but the problem with that for both teams was that it was a 4G pitch and neither team was prepared to play on a 4G pitch. That might actually end up being the case tomorrow, depending on pitch availability. 

"I think the aim is to get a grass pitch, obviously, but there'll be a 4G backup. But knowing that in advance will allow the girls to prepare properly and that way the match will happen. “

For Garrity, the task is to get his team in the right frame of mind to take on the Dubs on Sunday: “We place a huge onus on our mental strength, so this is going to test it and we'll have to make sure that we're mentally prepared as well as everything else and we will be and we'll be ready to go when the time comes.”