THE FATE OF three Galway senior hurling clubs remains up in the air following an appeals mess which saw the final round of relegation deciders postponed this weekend.
2010 All-Ireland champions Clarinbridge, Carnmore and Liam Mellows must wait for the county’s Competitions Control Committee (CCC) to meet this week and decide if one club will be relegated to intermediate status next season.
Although eight of the ten scheduled games in this year’s play-off have already been completed, the Galway Hurling Board issued an 11th-hour statement that an appeal by the Liam Mellows club was upheld and that there would be no relegation.
The controversy was then complicated on Saturday afternoon when a senior county board official told Galway Bay FM that the CCC had not accepted the recommendation, and that the matter was due to be discussed this week.
The Galway Hurling Board’s statement read: ”Following receipt of an appeal from the Liam Mellows Club relating to the regulations governing the playing of the Senior relegation competition, the Galway Hearings Committee have reviewed the documentation. It is their recommendation that no club be relegated to Intermediate in 2012.
“Galway CCC have considered the recommendation and accepted the findings. CCC will formally correspond with the Clubs on Monday.”
Clarinbridge and Liam Mellows were due to play on Sunday while Carnmore travelled to Ardrahan, who are already safe from the threat of relegation. Carnmore have 24 years of consecutive seasons in the senior grade, Clarinbridge have 18 consecutive years while Liam Mellows have been at senior status for nine seasons since 2003.
