Offaly withdraw from O'Byrne Cup semi-final with Louth

Offaly have confirmed they are withdrawing from Sunday's O'Byrne Cup semi-final against Louth, citing player welfare concerns.

Liam Kearns' side progressed to the semi-final after a three-point away win over an experimental Dublin side in Parnell Park on Wednesday night, after which the Offaly manager warned that he "wouldn't mind dropping out of the competition" and that the integrity of the tournament had been damaged by Louth offering a walkover to Wexford.

This afternoon, Offaly confirmed that they would not be fulfilling their semi-final fixture, meaning Louth will now progress directly to the final against Longford.

"Offaly GAA have reluctantly informed Leinster GAA this morning that we are unable to fulfil our proposed O'Byrne Cup semi-final fixture v Louth on Sunday," the county said in a statement, released early this afternoon.

"Offaly GAA have a large number of players playing Sigerson Cup next week, and we also have a number of injured and sick players. Following consultation with team management, players, and county board, we agreed that we could not field a team without asking a large number of players to play their third game in eight days in current conditions. Medical and player welfare advice was very much against that happening.

"Offaly GAA, our team management and players remain fully committed to all competitions we enter and have really enjoyed the O'Byrne Cup challenge over the past week. However, we cannot field a team this weekend without putting some of our players at risk of injury."

The announcement is the latest blow to the competition, which has now seen of four of its six scheduled fixtures cancelled this week.

Louth and Kildare offered walkovers to Wexford and Westmeath respectively. The