Forbes says Munster must end ‘surreal’ Saturday night final fixtures

THE Munster Council should assume complete control of its championship fixtures schedule to ensure the glamour provincial senior hurling final is not played again on a Saturday evening.

That was the clear message last night from outgoing PRO Jim Forbes, a former Cork county board chairman, as he reflected upon last summer’s staging of the Cork-Waterford replay at Semple Stadium on July 17.

The attendance for Waterford’s extra-time victory was 22,673, down over 13,000 from the figure of 35,962 registered for the drawn game the previous Sunday. A request from Munster Council to play the game on the Sunday was turned down, with Croke Park arguing that such a fixture would not have made sense from a promotional perspective.