Kerry rule out toss to decide final venue

THE Kerry County Board has ruled out a toss to decide the venue for their Allianz NFL final with Derry the weekend after next, almost certainly on Saturday, to avoid a clash with Munster’s Heineken Cup semi-final the following day.

While O’Moore Park, Portlaoise, is the favoured choice of the Central Competitions Control Committee in the event of it being a stand-alone fixture, it was confirmed yesterday that the Galway County Board have applied to have the final in Pearse Stadium.

The CCCC face the dilemma of finding venues for all four divisional finals (unless there is a hold-up in deciding the qualifiers from Division Two) and at the same time not going head-to-head with the rugby game. For that reason their decision on the starting time of the Kerry-Derry decider may influence choice of venue.

In Portlaoise they could go for on an evening fixture because of the floodlights, but with no such option in Galway, they would be looking at a 4pm or 5pm starting time.

Kerry County Board chairman Jerome Conway claimed the county hadn’t given ‘any consideration’ to the idea of a toss.

“It would not be feasible because of the long distance involved,” he said. “Galway, Tullamore or Portlaoise would suit us because these venues are about three and a half hours journey. I imagine something like that would be appropriate. I presume it will be either Portlaoise or Tullamore.”

Conway agrees with the consensus view that their game should not be played on Sunday afternoon. “The last time that happened, there was a disastrous crowd in Limerick when we played Galway”

Meanwhile, Derry manager Paddy Crozier said: “We would prefer the game to be played in Croke Park! I’m surprised that Allianz have not been pushing for there, because it’s the second most important competition in the football calendar.”

Stadium director Peter McKenna rejects an earlier opening of the ground, because the grass is “way too delicate”.

Crozier is in full agreement about the necessity to avoid clashing with the Munster game. “I suppose we’d like everybody to see the rugby, but this date (for the League final) has been set in stone in the GAA calendar since Christmas. We would prefer it to be played on Sunday, but we have no control over when it’s fixed for. We’ll just have to get on with it where ever it is. We have no preference for anything to tell you the truth.”