Croker chiefs plan time delay to avoid ‘Semplegate’ repeat

Croke Park are sticklers for All-Ireland final protocols so when they state two minutes will separate the run-out of each team onto the pitch on Sunday, they mean two minutes.

Nothing like what happened when the counties met in a Munster quarter-final in 2007 will be repeated.

Semplegate seems a lifetime ago, a perception supported somewhat by the possibility of as little as three survivors starting at the weekend — Tom Kenny, Pa Cronin and Brendan Bugler.