DURROW FOOTBALL MANAGER Shane Curran has defended his decision not to attend the Offaly B senior final, saying that the game “should not have gone ahead,” due to Covid-19 concerns affecting his club.
Curran’s charges defeated Gracefield in Sunday’s decider by 2-13 to 2-5 at O’Connor Park following a turbulent few days for the club.
Curran and Durrow coach Owen Mooney withdrew their involvement from the game over worries about a close contact in the squad who did not have the result of their test for Covid-19 before the final took place.
The pair announced their decisions on Twitter and outlined their concerns for public safety, while Offaly GAA also published a statement insisting that they had followed all relevant guidelines in relation to Covid-19.
Speaking to The42 about the events which led to this, Curran explained that a member of the Durrow GAA club tested positive for Covid-19 last week on Thursday.
A player in the senior football squad was quickly identified as a close contact and subsequently tested negative for the virus on Saturday evening.
1 Without a doubt the most difficult tweet I’ve ever had to publish.
— Shane Curran (@shanetcurran) October 3, 2020
Have taken a decision to step away from County F 2moro in light of blatant disregard 2 public health of players of the @DurrowGAA & @Gracefield_GAA by @Offaly_GAA .
We’re either serious or not
About Cv-19
However, Curran adds that a second player informed management that he was also a close contact on Saturday afternoon. Given that the result of his test would not be known before the final, the club requested that the game be postponed.
“He trained with us twice,” says Curran about the second close contact, “was involved in meetings and in the absence of clarity of that test, and we wouldn’t have clarity on that test until possibly today, we had to assue worst case scenario, that this player was positive.
“We spoke as a management [team] and as a club to the chairman who went through the proper procedures. He informed the Offaly Covid-19 officer who in turn informed the Offaly CCC. The club sent an email outlining their issues and concerns, and informed the county board that they would not be participating in the game on Sunday.
“We were all happy with that particular outcome. However, the CCC didn’t reply to the email until 9.30 or 10 o’clock that evening which left us in a huge vacuum because we couldn’t confirm to our players, whether or not this game was going ahead.
To the best of my knowledge, the county board refused that particular request for permission to cancel the game.”
In Offaly GAA’s statement, they say that they were informed of the positive case in Durrow which resuled in one senior panel member being identified as a close contact. This player received a negative result and must therefore restrict his movements for 14 days in accordance with HSE guidelines.
Please read statement in relation to @DurrowGAA and the Offaly Senior B Football Final, which takes place today at 1.00pm.
— Official Offaly GAA (@Offaly_GAA) October 4, 2020
(Click on the pic for full statement) pic.twitter.com/0s7KEGcjcf
When asked for his response to Offaly’s account of the situation, Curran replied:
“They were aware by email that there was a second player [who was a close contact] no later than 2.30pm on Saturday. When they released that statement, they were aware of a second player having to test.”
Curran says that the second player who was deemed to be a close contact did not attend the final, and that the result of his test is still not known.
Expanding on his decision not to attend the game, Curran emphasised the importance of protecting his players and says that this is his most important job as a manager.
He feels it would be his responsibility if more Covid-19 cases were to arise in the surrounding areas of Durrow or Gracefield as a result of this matter.
That game should not have gone ahead yesterday and that’s the facts of it,” says Curran.
“We felt very strongly about that, we communicated that through the correct channels. For those channels to avoid making the hard decision of cancelling the game, that’s totally and utterly their decision.
“If that second case comes back as a positive case, you can’t say ‘well this is what we’re dealing with now.’ You have to deal with it in the now and say ‘we knew this.’
So, if there’s an outbreak in Durrow this week, or an outbreak in Gracefield, who’s going to be responsible? I felt, as a manager, that the responsibility would come back on me and the finger would be pointed at us.
“If you know something is untoward, deal with it.”
According to Curran, the club had initially taken the decision not to field a team for the final in the interests of health and safety, but that the players wanted to play.
The squad made that decision at a players’ meeting on the morning of the game.
Presentation of the Senior B Cup to @DurrowGAA joint captains Kevin McDermott and Oisin Cusack by County Board Chairman Michael Duignan and Philip O'Brien from @Tullamore_Court, sponsors pic.twitter.com/QQKOLcH0S4
— Official Offaly GAA (@Offaly_GAA) October 4, 2020
Curran respected their wishes to contest the decider and did not try to convince them against playing. Ultimately, he believes they were in a difficult position and that they should not have had to make this call.
The players felt they were ready for the match, they were well prepared and they wanted to go play the game. I’m very proud of them, we take our hat off to them. They showed great courage as they did all year. A brilliant group of lads and they got the result that we felt they would get.
“We had no knowledge of that [players'] meeting but we had knowledge that the players and club were meeting to go and play the game as per the schedule and itinerary in terms of preparation for the match.
“What did change was that we wouldn’t be there. We said we can’t in all consciousness turn up anywhere as part of their arrangements.”
Offaly GAA declined to comment when contacted by The42
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