Leinster chiefs don’t expect full house

LEINSTER COUNCIL officials are not expecting the ‘full house’ signs at Croke Park on Sunday even though Dublin will be one of four counties represented on an attractive double bill.

Meath and Laois will kick off the day’s events at 2pm before Pat Gilroy’s Dubs face Wexford. Both are quarter-finals and the winners from each will pair off in one of the Leinster semi-finals at the end of the month.

Though the Dublin footballers are the GAA’s biggest draw, they have failed to attract a capacity audience at HQ for the three championship openers they have played on Jones’ Road since beginning their summer at Longford’s Pearse Park in 2006. A whopping 78,002 people took in their draw with Meath in 2007, only 56,496 saw them hammer Louth 12 months later while 75,250 attended witnessed their defeat of Meath last year on a day when the Dublin hurlers and Antrim opened the bill. “No, we don’t expect a full house,” said Leinster Council chairman Seamus Howlin, “but we do expect a very big crowd all the same.”

The Wexford official also expressed his satisfaction with the re-jigged TV arrangements for Sunday’s games in the capital. The Laois-Meath tie, which was supposed to be screened by RTÉ, will now be streamed live on the web to accommodate the Cork-Kerry replay.

“At times we all need to be there for one another. You set things in stone at the start of the year but you have to be flexible as well as the year goes on and things change.

“We have always had a good relationship with RTÉ and that will continue to be the case.”

The Leinster Council has also announced that the Louth-Wexford football tie has been moved from Navan to Croke Park alongside the other semi-final. It will be screened live by RTÉ on June 27 but the timing has raised some eyebrows. The Dublin/Wexford versus Meath/Laois semi-final has been afforded a 4pm throw-in and will be live on TV3 while the Louth-Westmeath game will follow at 5.50pm. The Leinster Junior final will kick off the day at 2.15pm.