Meath gifted points as Cork issue walkover

Meath have doubled their National Camogie League Div 2 tally without having to puck a ball with confirmation that Cork have handed them a walkover ahead of Sunday’s scheduled clash.
Having defeated Westmeath in their opening game in Bray last weekend John Davis’s side were expected to face a tough test against the Rebelettes next Sunday, but a dispute over the regrading of nine players to the intermediate side has led to Cork failing to fulfil their first fixture and handing over the points to Meath for this Sunday’s game.
The Camogie Association is standing by its procedures surrounding the regrading of players as the row involving a number of Cork players rumbles on.
Nine players who won All-Ireland senior medals with Cork last September without playing in the championship (Sarah Fahy, Niamh Ní Chaoimh, Amy Lee, Katelyn Hickey, Leah Weste, Sarah Buckley, Finola Neville, Lauren Callinan and Rebecca Walsh) had their applications to be regraded as intermediate players rejected because they typed their names in the relevant forms, rather than signing them with a pen.
They claim that their applications were submitted in the exact same way last year, when they got the green light.
But despite quotes emanating from the Cork Co Board committing to pursuing the matter, and reports suggesting that the players could be pursuing legal avenues, association president Catherine Neary insists that nothing has changed.
“We are where we are” said Neary at yesterday’s function at Croke Park to announce details of the AIB All-Ireland club camogie finals, which will take place at headquarters on March 6.
“The rules were applied as we explained in the statement last week and that’s where it sits at the moment. We’ve gone with the rules.
“It’s unfortunate that the rules can lead to this type of situation, but the rules are there and are designed so that everybody understands what the processes were.
“I can’t comment on the previous year because I wasn’t part of that so I don’t know what did or didn’t happen, or how things were applied.
“I can only talk about at the moment and at the moment that’s the rule that’s being applied equally across everybody and all counties, so we haven’t treated anybody any differently.
“That’s the important thing. That’s why the rules are there, to make sure everybody is treated the same.”