BY HARRY WALSH
SHORTLY before 2pm this afternoon, the official word started to filter through. The 2015 Comórtas Peile 2015 Senior and Junior finals had been cancelled.
It was devastating news for everyone involved with CLG Ard an Rátha but, in truth, it was the only sensible decision given the horrible weather conditions.
Naomh Conaill ladies had just come up short in their Junior Comórtas Peile final against Maigh Cuilinn – the defending ladies champions (3-10 to 1-08), a game match referee Declan Callaghan blew up six minutes early.
By that stage, puddles were starting to appear on the surface of Pearse Memorial Park as six hours of non stop rain took its toll.
The players from Na Dunaibh and Oileán Arainn had already gone through their pre-match warm-up routines ahead of the Junior final, scheduled for 2pm, when they were dispatched back to their respective dressing rooms.
With both that final and the eagerly awaited Senior clash between Naomh Conaill at Kilcar (4pm) due to be televised live on TG4, club officials worked frantically to get the pitch playable but it was to be a futile exercise.
More than three inches of rain fell overnight and, added to gale force winds blowing across the pitch, the decision was made to cancel to two finals.
It’s the first time in 45 years that the finals have not been played. It was heart-breaking for Stephen McCahill, Mary McHugh, James McHugh, Frank McGee and all others involved in staging the event.
To their credit, the club put on a great show over the weekend as they welcomed 17 teams from outside the county to Ardara and the general consensus is that they’ll all be back!
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