'We have to accept it and deal with it' - McCarthy

The manager of the Meath minor football team, John McCarthy, says that while many in the GAA are disappointed with Croke Park's decision to postpone minor and u-20 championships for the foreseeable future he fully accepts the move.

"We have no issue in terms of abiding by government guidelines, or the GAA's, we will do as directed, they are what they are and that's fine. The GAA and ourselves we just have to accept that and deal with it because there are more important things going on, it's not an issue at all," he said.

McCarthy's Meath side raised eyebrows in the way they impressively pushed aside the challenge of Dublin in the Leinser MFC at Pairc Tailteann last Saturday, winning by 1-15 to 0-7.

However yesterday Croke Park announced that all minor and u-20 inter-county games will be postponed "until further notice."

While fully accepting the decision McCarthy added that he would like to see some indication as to when the games can be rescheduled, if only to clarify the situation for the young players.

"If I was to look for anything it would be just some sort of clarity if and when it's possible to give direction to a re-scheduling of the championship games so that it's not an indefinite postponement, even if that means a concellation.

"Some direction is needed, even if the next game is deferred until after a certain date so that there is no holding pattern, no ongoing uncertainty because that would be unfair on the young lads.

"It's not that I want the game played, I just want the players to have their head space freed up to get on with their school work or whatever else is going on in their lives and not having to be thinking: 'When is this match taking place?' That it's not happening until after such a date, whether that's in December or sometime next year."

Selector Joey Farrelly added that the postponement was a great disappointment to all concerned but the attitude of the players in the first lockdown provided hope that this latest challenge would be successfully overcome.

"During the first lockdown the players showed great commitment and dedication to Meath football with one goal in mind - the first round of the championship," he said.

"At the time there was great uncertainty whether the minor championship would go ahead or not but the lads decided they were going to be ready regardless. That included working on their own individual programmes, zoom meetings and TikTok challenges. They lads worked really hard and had plenty of craic along the way.

"It was great for the players and management to get back training over the last five weeks in a safe/controlled environment. Lads meeting up with their mates training hard, having the craic with one goal in mind - that game against Dublin. With everything going on in the world at the moment I can't imagine a better way to escape all the negativity," added the Walterstown man.

"Nevertheless rules are rules and restrictions have to be followed to protect everyone. At the end of the day there are more important things we have to consider other than football."