Croke Park pitch on target

DESPITE A 10-hour delay caused by protesting local residents on Monday night, by this afternoon Croke Park will be back to normal with the pitch expected to be in mint condition come the All-Ireland football quarter-finals on Sunday and Monday.

Stadium policy prohibits GAA teams from training on the surface until the All-Ireland semi-finals; however, a group of young players will be used as guinea pigs on the new turf.

“We have (Dublin corner back) Paddy Andrews and a few others who work for us here to do testing procedures,” stadium director Peter McKenna said yesterday. “Things like ball bounce and foot traction. There is nothing like the human interaction to get the feel for a surface.

“We are over the hard part at this stage but there is still a huge amount of work still to do. We are about halfway through the process. We have laid up to the front of the stage. There is about an hour’s work left dismantling it so by this time tomorrow (2.30pm) we will be touching up on the surface. It will then have a chance to rest.

“Regarding the playability, that will be for others to assess but we are very pleased with the team’s achievement.”

McKenna, who spent 40 hours in the stadium from Monday morning to Tuesday night ensuring everything ran smoothly, paid particular tribute to head groundsman Robert Ellis and consultant Richard Hayden.

The Bank Holiday Monday tie between Dublin and Kerry has “all but” been guaranteed as a sell-out. Really it is just a matter of distributing the tickets correctly. Between 50,000 and 60,000 are expected in Croke Park on Sunday for the Cork v Donegal and Tyrone v Kildare quarter-finals.