Dublin consider Croke Park date

GAA:THE LEINSTER Council are likely to consider a request from the Dublin county board to switch their provincial hurling championship opener against Offaly on May 29th from Parnell Park to Croke Park in order to accommodate the considerably increased demand for tickets.

Dublin’s win over Kilkenny in the Allianz Hurling League in Croke Park on Sunday was watched by a crowd of 42,030 – almost three times more than the 14,200 that attended last year’s hurling final in Thurles.

The curtain-raiser of the All-Ireland under-21 football final between Galway and Cavan contributed as much as one third of that crowd, although still the Dublin support was impressive, particularly in the Hill 16 end.

Dublin have home advantage for the Offaly game on May 29th, but with the capacity only around 10,000 at Parnell Park, county chairman Andy Kettle confirmed that moves had been initiated to see whether the Leinster Council – and indeed Offaly – would be agreeable to moving the game to Croke Park.

If this is agreed then it’s likely to become a double bill with another quarter-final scheduled for the same day: the meeting of Wexford and either Antrim or Laois, although as things stand either Laois or Wexford are due to have home advantage.

Kilkenny meanwhile are in the other half of the draw, and face the winners of the Wexford/Laois/Antrim game in the Leinster semi-final, on June 11th.

Manager Brian Cody’s most pressing concern ahead of that game is getting his full squad of players back up to match fitness, namely Tommy Walsh, Richie Power, Michael Fennelly, Aidan Fogarty, and of course last year’s cruciate victims Henry Shefflin and John Tennyson – all of whom missed Sunday’s 12-point defeat to Dublin.

But in the meantime word is expected later this week on what action the GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) will take firstly on forward Eoin Larkin, who was sent off after 25 minutes for a strike on Dublin’s Conor McCormack – and secondly on defender John Dalton, who also struck McCormack, first with his hurl, then with his foot, following his shot into the Kilkenny goal just moments after Waterford referee Michael Wadding had called for half-time.

Larkin is likely to get the automatic four-week ban, which won’t see him miss any championship action. But with the CCCC free to rule on the Dalton incident given the referee made no booking at the time, he could be facing an eight-week ban – the penalty for a category three offence (striking with force, kicking, etc). If that’s the case Dalton will only be available if Kilkenny make the Leinster final.

Another first-half incident where Kilkenny’s Richie Hogan also appeared to raise an arm on Dublin defender Joey Boland could also be viewed by the CCCC: again no action was taken at the time.

Boland, meanwhile, should be back in time for Dublin’s championship opener against Offaly having sustained shoulder ligament damage, rather than a broken collarbone, in the clash that saw him substituted in the second half.