Westmeath hurling board chairman Billy Foley has queried plans to invite Antrim to take part in next year's Leinster hurling championship, while they themselves will be excluded. The Lake County's defeat to Carlow in last Sunday's excellent Christy Ring Cup final means that unless the system is changed, they will be precluded from participating in their own provincial championship next year. "With the greatest of respect to Antrim, what have they achieved in the last number of years that Westmeath haven't? Yet it looks as if they will be invited into the Leinster championship while ourselves, Carlow or Laois will be excluded. We have no argument with Antrim who, like ourselves, are doing their best to promote hurling, but we intend to fight our own corner here because we have to," the Brownstown clubman fumed. Westmeath remain furious over the removal of the Christy Ring Cup final from Croke Park on a big match day, and after the final, Foley accused GAA president Nickey Brennan of not doing enough for 'aspiring' hurling counties. "The president of the GAA was here today and he is a Kilkennyman, but I have to say that the Kerryman who was there before him (Sean Kelly), seemed to do a lot more for the aspiring counties, not the weaker counties as they are regularly called. "In that game out there today, there was high-quality hurling and those players deserved to be in Croke Park and they didn't deserve to be treated they way they were last week." Tweet

Most Read Stories