ST BRIGID’S MIDFIELDER Karol Mannion voiced his frustration at the venue of Sunday’s Connacht SFC club final between the Roscommon club and Corofin.
St Brigid’s are entitled to a home venue for the clash against the Galway kingpins, but with Dr Hyde Park currently undergoing renovation works and Kiltoom not being considered, the provincial final will take place in Carrick-on-Shannon venue Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada.
Kiltoom has hosted a number of inter-county games in recent years, but the Connacht Council brought in a rule in 2011 which forbade clubs to host games in provincial competitions at their own grounds.
As a result St Brigid’s opted chose to play the game in Pairc Sean Mac Diarmada. They were also due a home tie against Leitrim champions Aughawillan two weeks ago in the semi-final, but chose to play it in the Leitrim venue.
“It is slightly (frustrating) I suppose,” said Mannion. ”Without trying to sound annoyed about it when the rule was brought in, it only impacted three clubs in Connacht: ourselves, Ballina and Sean Ó Heslins in Ballinamore.
“So, at the time, yeah it felt like it was annoying because it felt like it was a rule just for us. It was annoying at the time. Since then, we’ve just got on with it.
“We played Ballina in Ballina in ‘07, it was the way it was. That was the rule. We just went down there and played them and got on with it.
“I’d like to play in Roscommon, it’s just a pity that Dr. Hyde Park is out of commission. It’s just where we are now. We’ve played in Carrick against Leitrim clubs (before).”
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