Waterford and Cork chiefs happy with venue switch
Understandably, Waterford were the happier given that they won the toss for choice of home venue, with the game now going ahead at Walsh Park at the same time (2.30pm).
It emerged that Cork had tried unsuccessfully on Tuesday to persuade Waterford to concede home venue, as County Board Chairman Mick Dolan explained. “We did ask them if they would come up to Cork because they ‘owed’ us a match. But it did not work out.”
Alluding to the fact that the scheduled second round League game which Cork were unable to fulfil had been fixed for Pairc Uí Chaoimh, he accepted that it made more sense to toss for a home game.
The initial move came from the Waterford County Board, through chairman Pat Flynn.
He said: “I rang Cork on Tuesday and asked if they would agree to a toss and they came back to me this morning. We contacted Croke Park and they accepted. We got one bit of luck by winning the toss. I hope we don’t use up all our luck,’’ he commented.
The actual toss was carried out in the presence of two Croke Park employees from the respective counties.
Flynn revealed that he had tried to convince the CCCC to allow a toss before it was decided that the counties would have to play off.
The answer he received was that they had to “do it by rule” and that there would have to be a game.
“I told them there was no need for a match, that it was meaningless. A simple toss could decide who finished second and who finished third.
“It would have made no sense to play the game in Limerick. There would be no one who would travel from Waterford and the teams would be playing in an empty stadium. Whatever hope you have of any sort of attendance, you will now in Walsh Park.
“We are just happy that we are in the League quarter-final on Sunday week. At this stage, most teams are on a par, although the other teams probably have a lot more done that we have.’’
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