IF YOU want to travel between Dublin and London on a holiday weekend, you have to book your flights early to avoid being ripped off.
Just ask Meath’s hurling panel, who won’t be celebrating St Patrick’s weekend with a game in London as planned – because they left it too late to sort out their tickets.
By the time they looked into the cost of the trip for their Allianz Hurling League Division 2B clash with London on March 18, prices had rocketed and the Royals had no choice but to seek a postponement.
They put their request to Croke Park and it was accepted – against the wishes of the London County Board and manager Eamonn Phelan – with the game now rescheduled for Ruislip a week on Saturday, March 3.
“It doesn’t really suit us,” Phelan told The Irish Post. “It would have been ideal to have had the weekend off because it would have given us a chance to have a look at some more players with a bit of training among ourselves.
“I tried to have it put back again myself until the beginning of April but Meath wouldn’t go for it. The county board were backing me on it but Meath went to Croke Park so there’s nothing we can do. It’s disappointing but we just have to go ahead with it now.”
Meanwhile, Phelan is reporting no fresh injury concerns ahead of London’s opener against Armagh at Ruislip on Sunday (2.30pm), but full-forward Martin Finn remains out of contention after undergoing surgery on a knee injury last month.
London were in Ireland last weekend for challenge matches against Wicklow and Dublin club Kilmacud Crokes. The Exiles suffered a 2-13 to 0-15 defeat to Wicklow on Saturday, before beating Kilmacud by 3-13 to 1-4 on Sunday.
“I couldn’t ask for any more from the lads at the moment,” said Phelan. “We’re training three or four days a week and Tom Quaid has been doing a savage them on them fitness-wise.
“We’ll know where we are in terms of the league in three weeks’ time. But the panel is constantly changing. From the team that starts this weekend, we could have seven or eight changes by the time the Christy Ring Cup starts.”
