Roche: Leinster Council failure to act created O'Byrne Cup fixture issue

The dear old O'Byrne Cup has taken a pasting this week and been branded the sick man of the pre-season competition circuit.

On the evidence of 2023, it may have gone well past sick and into the critical category and it could soon be comatose altogether.

Many of its combatants are also dogged by sickness this winter. Carlow pulled out of their re-fixed dead rubber clash with Laois yesterday, citing "sickness, injuries and Sigerson", the unholy Trinity which has wreaked such havoc with the schedule.

Louth weren't enthused by the prospect of travelling down to Wexford on a Wednesday night for an immaterial fixture. After initially enquiring as to whether it would be possible to move the game to somewhere less... far away, they conceded the fixture.

With two wins from two, they were bound for the semis in any event.

Kildare, meanwhile, offered a walkover to Westmeath, Glenn Ryan confirming that they were unable to field. Sigerson commitments were instanced in the press as the primary reason.

With the legitimacy of the competition having already taken a battering, things took a turn for the farcical by Friday, with Offaly, fresh from a first senior victory over Dubs in over 22 years, conceding their semi-final against Louth.

The possibility was well flagged by manager Liam Kearns on Wednesday, who marked their three-point away win in the capital by telling the streaming outfit Clubber.ie that he wouldn't mind pulling out of the competition altogether.

The Kerry native explained the integrity of the thing was "shot" anyway on account of Louth handing a walkover to Wexford, thereby giving themselves a midweek rest.

On Thursday, prior to Offaly's withdrawal, Leinster chairman Michael Reynolds admitted to Sean Moran in the Irish Times