Galway’s Final FBD League Group game with GMIT will now be played on Friday Night at Loughgeorge throwing in at 7.30pm. Galway are already through to the league final with two wins from two games. NUI Galway’s group game with IT Sligo has also been switched from Sunday to tomorrow evening at the Connacht Centre of Excellence and will throw in at 7pm. The two remaining group games are on Sunday at 2pm as Roscommon host Mayo in Kiltoom and Sligo play Leitrim in Tourlestrane.
Meanwhile, Connacht Council secretary John Prenty has called for third-level teams to be pulled from the province’s FBD league. In a report in yesterday’s Examiner, Prenty says that the time had come to remove colleges from the January competition. GMIT endured a 5-24 to 0-1 trouncing at the hands of Sligo last Sunday, this 38-point defeat representing the college’s second successive thumping in the competition — Val Daly’s students fell to Leitrim by 5-20 to 2-10 the weekend before last. The Connacht Council secretary also was adamant that the competition would still be of value to counties even if NUIG, GMIT and IT Sligo were excluded.
“One or two colleges have won the FBD league, but I think their race is run,” he remarked.
“I have written in my report for our annual convention, which will be published next week, that the time has come to take the colleges out of these competitions. It is a council decision and I have written that we should take that step.”
The Connacht secretary continued: “Before we brought the colleges in, we noticed that counties were organising challenges with them early in the year. Colleges were also brought in to help with their preparation ahead of Sigerson. The Sigerson is starting next week. It has gone too close to Sigerson.”
He is adamant that the competition would still be of value to counties even if NUIG, GMIT and IT Sligo were excluded.
“If we don’t have an FBD league, what you’ll have is the counties going around looking for challenges in the month of January so you have to provide the counties with a platform.”
