Munster Council perform venue u-turn

Next month's Munster Senior Hurling Championship final will take place at Semple Stadium in Thurles, if both Cork and Waterford make it through the semi-final stage.

That was the decision made at a meeting of the Munster Council's Competitions Control Committee in Limerick last night.

Following Cork's quarter-final victory over Tipperary last weekend, it was mooted that a possible home-and-away agreement between Cork and Waterford would kick in if both counties prevailed in their semi-finals, against Limerick and Clare respectively.

This decision, which would have seen this year's decider take place at Pairc Ui Chaoimh, was not welcomed in Waterford. Their Chairman Tom Cunningham hit out at what he felt was an arrangement made "in the background" at Munster Council level without any prior consultation with Waterford officials.

Munster Council PRO Jim Forbes pointed out that it had, in fact, been a Waterford delegate who came up with the idea a couple of weeks ago and that it would "not be possible" to have a home-and-away situation between Cork and Waterford anyway as the Deise's stadiums - Walsh Park and Fraher Field - have capacity restrictions.

He said that home-and-away agreements are only possible for Championship matches between Cork, Limerick and Tipperary due to the increased capacity levels at their respective grounds, and that any plans to fix the final for Pairc Ui Chaoimh would be as a stand-alone match.

But now, after the latest decision, three of the possible final pairings - Cork v Waterford, Limerick v Waterford and Limerick v Clare - will see the 2010 final staged at Semple Stadium, while a Cork v Clare decider is likely to take place at the Gaelic Grounds.

A statement, released by Forbes last night, read: "Following a meeting of the Competitions Control Committee of Munster Council GAA held this evening (Thursday, June 3) in Aras Mumhan, Limerick, the decision was taken to revert to the original venue of Semple Stadium, Thurles should both Waterford and Cork qualify for the Munster Senior Hurling Championship final on Sunday, July 11."

Semple Stadium has staged eight of the last twelve Munster SHC finals, including last year's 4-14 to 2-16 victory for Tipperary over Waterford.