Moate CS ladies still not giving up on All-Ireland final dream 

The Moate Community School ladies football panel and management are still not giving up on their hopes of playing this year's All-Ireland Schools Senior 'A' final.

The Moate side defeated Loreto College, Cavan in their All-Ireland semi-final on March 11, setting up a final showdown against Munster champions Loreto SS, Clonmel.

Towards the end of March, however, the Ladies Gaelic Football Association (LGFA) announced that the post-primary schools competitions have been cancelled for 2020 due to the Covid-19 outbreak.

The Moate CS management team (Fidelma Quinn, Niall Daly, Michelle Delaney and Patrice Smyth) wrote to the LGFA, urging them to reconsider their decision and to seek a date for the All-Ireland final later in the year.

Moate CS captain Róisín Ennis and vice-captain Emma Kelly also wrote to the LGFA, making a heartfelt plea for their All-Ireland final to be played.

"We understand that these are unprecedented times and that the LGFA is looking out for the safety of its members. This is admirable and appreciated but we strongly believe that this match does not have to be cancelled. We are pleading with you to reconsider your decision and bring the cancellation of this fixture back to a postponement," wrote Róisín and Emma.

The Moate CS management team contended that, while other competitions were also cancelled as part of the LGFA decision, these were not at a national final stage. In addition, they pointed out that sixth year pupils will never get another chance of playing in an All-Ireland schools final.  

"There are 60 minutes of football to be played. There have been eight months of dedication, training and dreams to get to the final 60 minutes," they stated, insisting that a solution can still be found.

In a reply to correspondence from the Moate CS management, LGFA president Marie Hickey said they discussed "the very well made points" raised by Moate CS at a management meeting and gave the issue "great consideration".

"We decided that the previous decision cannot be changed at this time of uncertainty. However, when our games get up and running, we will revisit the situation and make a further assessment at that time," said Ms Hickey, in response to Moate CS. 

"I know that you are all understandably very eager to get games played. Making these decisions is never easy and we have many factors to take into consideration," she continued, adding that the LGFA "will consider all options when we get back on the pitches, hopefully sooner rather than later".

Although the Moate CS camp took some encouragement from this response, the fact that the Leaving Certificate has been put back until the end of July/beginning of August is a complicating factor. 

The St Joseph's Rochfortbridge footballers (managed by former Westmeath boss Luke Dempsey) are in a similar boat to the MCS ladies, having qualified for their first Leinster Schools SF 'A' final. Their opponents are holders Naas CBS but, at this juncture, it's unclear if the final will ever be played.