Portaferry boss says Thurles ‘not neutral’

Portaferry manager Sean Young says Thurles is "absolutely not" a neutral venue for their All-Ireland club SHC semi-final against Kilmallock next month — but insists it won’t matter much to his players.

Young is more concerned about supporters following the call by the GAA’s Central Competitions Control Committee to stage the game in Semple Stadium. It will mean a 636km round trip for the Down and Ulster winners.

“It’s a Munster venue against the Munster champions,” said Young. “It’s not what we wanted but they are the cards we have been dealt. There was correspondence between the clubs and we were consulted on our view and we thought Portlaoise would have been a bit closer to a halfway house. We won’t be making a big deal out of this. Logistically, it doesn’t matter to us travelling an extra bit further to Thurles. Had it been in Dublin, we would have travelled down the Saturday morning but anywhere further and we were planning an overnight stop.”