Kearns fumes over Louth's withdrawal from O'Byrne Cup

Offaly manager Liam Kearns has claimed the integrity of the O'Byrne Cup is "shot" as he hit out at Louth and Kildare withdrawing from fixtures this week.

The Faithful County fulfilled their fixtures as they reached a semi-final with the Wee County this Sunday in Dowdallshill.

But two counties pulled out of fixtures with their fate already secure from the group stage, including Mickey Harte’s side.

Kildare, meanwhile, said they were unable to field a side in their game with Westmeath.

Kearns should have been on a high after an 0-11 to 0-08 win over Dublin.

However he said he was considering withdrawing from semi-final, citing Louth’s rest period during a hectic schedule for his side.

He claimed his side had picked up two or three injuries in last night’s fixture.

Speaking to Clubber, the streaming supplier of the competition, he said: "To be honest with you, I wouldn’t mind dropping out of the competition at this stage

"We’ve had two hard games in four days. It will be a third game in eight days and our opponents have been sitting at home for the whole week.

"They withdrew from a competition here, they didn’t fulfil their last fixture. That’s the integrity of the competition shot as far as I’m concerned. If you enter a competition, you should have to fulfil your fixtures.

"They’re going to have a week of rest and we have had a very hard game here against Dublin and four days later we’re supposed to play them, and I believe it’s on in Louth as well. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a game too much for us."

Kearns has queried the calendar in the early season with every panel in the country affected by the Sigerson Cup and the league schedule set to be largely week on week.

He added: "They’re shoehorning games into January. The bottom line