Hi °C | Lo °C It fell to Antrim and Wicklow to bring the curtain down for the last time on the Tommy Murphy Cup today.
When the sides met in last year’s final, it was felt that the competition might benefit from an explosion in interest this year.
But that has not been the case. Instead, the opposite applies.
It’s over and out for the competition and irrespective of the outcome of today’s contest, next season will see a return to the previous format whereby sides from Division Four of the National League were automatically entered in the Championship qualifiers as opposed bebng consigned to the backwaters of the Murphy Cup.
It may have been dogged by controversy and indeed treated with contempt by some counties, yet the competition, although lacking in glamour amnd profile, did win favour with some elements within the GAA.
Former president Sean Kelly is among those who is particularly sorry to see the last rites administered to the competition.
The competition was kick-started during Kelly’s reign in 2004 but a decision to scrap it was made at Congress last April.
"It’s a pity," Kelly declared. "It’s disappointing. I am bemused why there is this rush to get rid of it. In fact the opposite should be happening. We should be trying to build it up."
Kelly has sympathy for counties in Division Four who are denied a second shot in the qualifiers but he says the Tommy Murphy Cup shouldn’t suffer because of the hurt felt by counties like Wicklow.
"They wanted to have the same opportunity to take part in the qualifiers as the other counties which is understandable.
"That didn’t mean that the Tommy Murphy Cup would have to be sacrificed. It is a question of sitting down with these counties and working out the best way forward, rather than waiting for them to put a motion to congress.
"This was a reaction to what happened last year which isn’t always the best way to do business."
Kelly’s sentiments are shared by some - but certainly not all.
Not only are many players distinctly unenthusiastic about the Tommy Murphy Cup but numerous managers, including Wicklow’s Mick O’Dwyer, have openly criticised its value and prestige.
