Meath to face wicklow in christy ring cup plus sideline bans on the cards
Newly-appointed Meath hurling manager Martin Ennis will face a tough first round Christy Ring Cup tie next May after Meath were paired with Wicklow at Saturday afternoon’s draw at the Central Council meeting at Croke Park.
Ennis will have some experience on the sideline in ther form of Trim clubman and former Meath manager John Andrews who has been appointed as a selector along with Kevin Dowd.
Meath will have home advantage against Wicklow - with the game likely to played in Trim - and a win will get the Royal County directly into the quarter-final while the loser will play-off to get back into the competition.
Christy Ring Cup first round (first team with home advantage)
Meath v Wicklow
Derry v Mayo
London v Kildare
Kerry v Down
Nicky Rackard Cup (first team with home advantage)
Monaghan v Longford
Donegal v Tyrone
Fingal v Roscommon
Armagh v Louth
Lory Meagher Cup
Sligo
Fermanagh
Warwickshire
Leitrim
Lancashire
On a one year pilot basis it has been agreed that Lancashire will play in the Meagher Cup. The round robin fixtures for this competition will be confirmed with the publication of the 2015 fixtures master plan.
OTHER BUSINESS
After last Saturday’s Central Council meeting, the GAA confirmed some changes to match regulations for the 2015 season.
DISCIPLINE
CCCC now has the authority to withdraw sideline privileges from team officials who make derogatory comments in relation to a match official before a game or in interviews subsequent to a game.
Previously, suspensions were the only penalty that could be proposed in these instances.
PANELS
Central Council will bring a motion to Congress next February which will seek to require that a playing panel of 26 players be registered for all senior inter-county championship games by 9.00am on the Thursday before a game.
With the exception of a replacement for a goalkeeper or sub-goalkeeper, no changes can be made to the registered list.
The penalty for including a player not included on the registered list will be forfeiture of game.
Teams will also be required to submit their starting team to the referee and to committee-in-charge at least 20 minutes before throw-in.
The penalty for starting a player not on that list will also be loss of game.
HAWKEYE
Congress will also be asked to make Hawkeye a permanent feature in Croke Park while its installation in Thurles and in the re-developed stadiums in Casement Park and Páirc Uí Chaoimh is also to be prioritised.
CALENDAR YEAR - 2016
It was also confirmed that the Workgroup which was established to review the implementation of the ‘Calendar Year’ from 2016 will submit its proposals to January’s Central Council meeting.