Crokes ‘surprised’ by postponement

THE Munster Club SFC final between Nemo Rangers and Dr Crokes will not be played until 2011, provincial chiefs confirmed last night.

The title decider was postponed for a second time on Saturday after officials deemed that sections of the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick had not thawed sufficiently and were a danger to players. The Council considered asking the clubs to toss to play the game in either Fitzgerald Stadium or Páirc Uí Chaoimh. But as the latter venue was unavailable, that proposal was binned.

Munster Council PRO Jim Forbes was disappointed with the postponement but said that organisers were left with no option. “The pitch was inspected on Saturday afternoon and it was found that portions of the field were still very, very hard. Ninety to 95% of the field was okay but that small section was too much of a concern.”

Forbes admitted the Council did not have access to industrial heaters or covers which could have made the field playable for the tie. He continued: “Naturally both clubs are disappointed with the game called off at the last minute. But given there was a doubt all week maybe it did not come as a great surprise. But it is disappointing from the Council viewpoint as well. We did everything we could, but we can’t do anything about nature.”

Forbes said Council officials will meet this week to discuss a new date for the tie but insisted that the game will not be played in 2010.

“No, it was never an option to play the final the week before Christmas. People have a life to live. We will sit down during the week and consider dates. I would think that the game wouldn’t be played until the end of January.”

There was mixed reaction from the two clubs. Dr Crokes manager Harry O’Neill was surprised at the sequence of events on a day when Munster played Ospreys at Thomond Park, which is in close proximity to the Gaelic Grounds.

“We are very disappointed. We were geared up for the final. We were aware the Gaelic Grounds was in a race against time but we were under the impression that the Munster Council would have been looking at alternative venues or possibly consider playing the game as a triple header along with the junior finals in Mallow.

“I’m not sure what more they could have done at the Gaelic Grounds. The stand there casts a large shadow over the pitch. Maybe they could have brought in straw in the same way that Munster did at Thomond Park or maybe they felt that expense was not justified.

“The other thing they could have done is toss for the venue. If we had won we would have had either Fitzgerald Stadium or Austin Stack Park available to host the game. If we had lost, and there was no venue on the Cork side, that would have been the end of it.”

But O’Neill saw at least one positive with the news. “The upside is that we can get more game time for some of the lads coming back from injury. It is over and done with now.”

Nemo Rangers secretary Alfie Herbert had no complaints: “We were ready for it but it is just unfortunate that things didn’t work out. We have no complaints. We looked at Páirc Uí Chaoimh and Páirc Uí Rínn on Friday and both were unplayable. We have been in Munster 18 times, and I think there have been only two postponements. We can’t do anything about it.”