Tipperary v Wexford League game postponed minutes before throw-in

ALLIANZ NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISION 4

Tipperary's Division 4 National Football League game against Wexford at Wexford Park, that was due to commence at 2 pm this afternoon, was cancelled just minutes before throw-in.

Carlow referee John Hickey made the decision with the players' welfare first and foremost his main concern on a pitch surface that had suddenly become totally unplayable and possibly dangerous.

Both the Wexford and Tipperary sides had been out on the pitch 40 minutes before throw-in going through their usual routine warm-ups, etc., but an horrendous five minute torrential deluge quickly turned an already soggy pitch into a quagmire in patches and made that decision to postpone inevitable.

After an inspection at 1.45 pm a concerned-looking referee sent both sides back to their dressingrooms and a 15 minute delay was announced. However, a few minutes later the referee did a further inspection and relayed the information to the respective managers that he would not be proceeding with the clash.

No sunshine supporters here: Michael Barry (Galtee Rovers St Pecaun's) made the long journey from Bansha to support the Tipperary footballers at Wexford Park this afternoon.

Most likely the game will be re-fixed for the weekend after next, the only free weekend available in this league programme. It will mean that David Power's side will now have to play five games in five consecutive weeks, starting with Sligo in FBD Semple Stadium on Saturday evening next, part of a double bill with the Tipperary hurlers.

Speaking immediately after the postponement manager David Power said:

"It was the only decision to make once that heavy shower came down, there was lots of water there, it would have been way too dangerous to play a match on that," he said.

"People will say why wasn’t it called off this morning and to be fair to the ref it was grand up to half 12 bar the wind, but when the rain came down there was nothing we could do. Player welfare was going to be a big issue because now you have five matches in a row now," added the Kilsheelan Kilcash clubman.

He went on to add: "I’m disappointed because I think we were in a better place going into this.  So Sligo now next Saturday evening in Thurles and that’s all we can focus on. I was hoping our game here would go ahead and we could have got a result here today, you would have been ahead of Sligo and they wouldn’t have had a match in two weeks (Sligo's game was cancelled on Saturday). Now we are back down here again," he said.

There was a sense in his few brief words after today's calamity that the mood is more positive in the Tipperary camp than it was immediately after the Leitrim game.

"We played Longford in a challenge since and lot of lads did very well. We are trying to give lads a chance. We are going through a transitional period so we are going with lads that were showing form. The likes of Jack Kennedy back which was great. Another week for him makes it even better. To be honest it looked today like the strongest team we've had this year so it's a pity it didn't go ahead," added the Tipp boss.

The team announced prior to kick-off showed once change from the team selected on Friday night. Killenaule's Jimmy Feehan was coming in to replace Jack Harney (Moyle Rovers) who was unable to field due to sickness.

"To be fair to all of us there wasn’t a blame game (after Leitirm). We had a very good chat, very honest. There was things the players and management weren’t doing. Confidence is an issue. We need to win a game and we won’t hide that. We’ll just have to wait until next Saturday. That will be a big game. Sligo had a massive win against Carlow and Carlow and Waterford played last night. Carlow had a couple of key players back. Even the likes of Dublin are struggling when they are missing a few keys lads. We have the likes of Jack Kennedy back so that’s a good thing. Hopefully we can get a good performance next weekend," concluded David Power.

Tipperary manager David Power on the rain-soaked Wexford Park prior to today's game being postponed just at throw-in time by referee John Hickey (Carlow).

The Tipperary team due to start was as follows:

TIPPERARY: Michael O'Reilly (Clonmel Commercials), Shane O'Connell (Golden Kilfeacle), Willie Eviston (Loughmore Castleiney), Jimmy Feehan (Killenaule), Kevin Fahey (Clonmel Commercials), Sean O'Connell (Loughmore Castleiney), Robbie Kiely (Ballyroe, Cork), Paudie Feehan (Killenaule), Mark Russell (Aherlow Gaels), Bill Maher (Kilsheelan Kilcash), Jack Kennedy (Clonmel Commercials), Teddy Doyle (Ballina), Mikey O'Shea (Mullinahone), Conor Sweeney (capt., Ballyporeen), Sean O'Connor (Clonmel Commercials).

WEXFORD: Darragh Brooks, Liam O'Connor, Eoin Porter, Martin O'Connor (capt.), Dylan Furlong, Naomhan Rossiter, Conor Carty, Niall Hughes, Dean O'Toole, Paraic Hughes, Tom Byrne, Kevin O'Grady, John Tubritt, Eoghan Nolan, Mark Rossiter.