Louth to contest O'Byrne Cup final as Offaly withdraw from competition

The Louth Footballers have been handed a place in O'Byrne Cup Final for the first time since 2017 following the withdrawal of Offaly from the competition.

The two sides had been due to clash this Sunday in Dowdallshill, however news broke this afternoon that the Faithful County were no longer going to take part, instead awarding the Wee County a walkover.

The competition has come under scrutiny following a series of withdrawals this season. Louth decided to award Wexford a walkover last Wednesday night, having already secured their place in the knockout stages.

This seemingly gave other counties an opportunity to follow suit, with Kildare deciding not to fulfill their obligation to play Westmeath and Carlow and Laois coming to the decision not to replay their match that had been earlier called off due to an unplayable pitch.

According to the statement released earlier today, the county had hoped to re-fix the semi-final for later in the week, but while the Leinster Council were on board with the changes, Louth were not. 

“Offaly GAA have reluctantly informed Leinster GAA this morning that we will be unable to fulfil our proposed O'Byrne Cup semi-final fixture v Louth on Sunday"  read their statement. 

"Offaly County Board requested a deferral of the game to Friday 20th January or Saturday 21st January, which would have required a new date for the final. Leinster GAA were willing to explore the idea, however, Louth GAA could not facilitate our request. 

“Offaly GAA have a large number of players playing Sigerson Cup next week, and we also have a number of injured and sick players.

"Following consultation between team management, players and the County Board we agreed that we could not field a team without asking a large number of players to play their third match in eight days in current conditions. Medical and player welfare advice was very much against that happening.

“Offaly GAA, our team management and players are fully committed to all competitions we enter and have really enjoyed the O'Byrne Cup challenge over the past week. However, we cannot field a team this weekend without putting some of our players at risk of injury.”

This all means Louth will now face off against Longford in the O'Byrne Cup Final, a clash that is currently fixed for next Friday January 20th at 8PM. The venue is yet to be announced, with O'Moore Park in Portlaoise mooted as a possibility.