CAVAN ARE THROUGH to next weekend’s Dr McKenna Cup semi-finals and don’t have to kick a ball in tomorrow night’s final round of group games.
That’s because the Breffni County have been handed a walkover by University of Ulster Jordanstown.
An official statement today by the third-level outfit cited exams, injuries and players involved with their counties as reasons for the player unavailability that has prompted Jordanstown to hand a walkover to Cavan.
“A combination of senior players involved in examinations on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning along with a number of injuries and a significant number of players involved with their counties has forced us to concede the game.
“This decision has not been taken lightly and UUJ have explored all avenues to avoid having to take this course of action.”
The decision means Cavan, who have won their two games so far, will go forward to next Sunday’s semi-final tie as the winner of Group C against the best runner-up from the three groups.
Jordanstown have insisted that they are committed to appearing in the competition in 2015. The involvement of third-level sides in the Dr McKenna Cup has been a thorny issue in recent seasons with Queen’s University withdrawing last year.
“We want to put on record that we do not wish to disrespect our opponents on Wednesday night namely Cavan or indeed the Mc Kenna Cup competition itself”, the statement read.
“We look forward to participating in the Mc Kenna Cup fully again in 2015. UUJ GAA wish to thank Ulster GAA for their ongoing help and co operation.”
The final round of group games in the Power NI Dr McKenna Cup take place tomorrow.
