The Leinster Council aren't expecting anything near a capacity attendance for next month's Dublin-Meath football quarter-final. Although the match will be the first meeting of the old rivals for three years, the provincial body is quite happy to stage it as part of the double bill with Carlow-Wexford.
"I will be amazed if we go over 55,000 for both games," said Leinster Council secretary Michael Delaney. "Remember, Wexford and Meath were in the league finals at Croke Park and both were outnumbered by their opponents' supporters. Both were also disappointed on the day, so it's not as if they came away on a high."
In 2002, the counties staged the first fixture at the redeveloped Croke Park and attracted over 65,000, but at the time Meath were Leinster champions. Although Dublin ultimately relieved their rivals of the title, both teams have spent the years since in a slump. Delaney's low-key projections also extend to the hurling, and he admits that the provincial semi-finals double bill will struggle to generate excitement, given the widespread assumptions about Kilkenny's likely dominance and notwithstanding that Wexford staged one of the great shocks of last season at the same stage 12 months ago.
"It will be a hard sell and we're basing an estimate of between 30,000 and 35,000 to a certain degree on Wexford bringing a crowd (for their match with Laois or Dublin). Offaly are down in the dumps at the moment, but may pick up after getting out of Division Two."
Meanwhile, ahead of next Sunday's Munster hurling semi-final between defending champions Waterford and All-Ireland winners Cork, Waterford manager Justin McCarthy will be hoping that time heals his two major injury concerns, Ken McGrath and Paul Flynn. "If I was picking the team now," he said, "the two boys wouldn't be on it.
"There'll be a few days of therapy and medical treatment, but I won't test them until Sunday morning to give them every chance of coming through. The team will be named on Thursday night, but we'll probably have to leave vacancies."
McGrath broke his collarbone on the first day of the NHL against Kilkenny, and, although the break has healed, he has no match practice behind him. Three years ago, when Waterford defeated the same opponents, McGrath was also coming back from injury, but McCarthy didn't start him. Instead, the player came on as a replacement and hit the winner.
Flynn has strained a hamstring, which is "slowly responding", according to his manager. Better news is that Tony Browne will be fit.
The Munster Council have released details of Saturday's hurling replay between Limerick and Tipperary at the Gaelic Grounds. The match starts at 6.30pm and won't be all-ticket. Cash will be taken on the stiles and admission charges have been dropped by €5 to €20 for stand seats (first come, first served) and €10 for the terraces.
Finally, Beijing beat Hong Kong in a thrilling men's All-China Gaelic games football final this weekend to deny the holders a unique double three-in-a-row. Hong Kong men's and women's teams have each won the title for the past two years in China and were strong favourites to do so again this year. The women, current Asian champions, retained their crown against a multinational Beijing side that included players from 10 different nations. But in the men's final, Hong Kong fell at the last hurdle to a determined Beijing side by 2-2 to 0-3.
Several hundred spectators attended the games, held in Beijing's Chaoyang Stadium. "It was amazing to see, full of rough and tumble but so much skill too," said Wang Dufeng, who is a member of the local branch of the Communist Party. "I think it's a much better game to watch than soccer or rugby. I can see why it's getting so popular in Asia."
