Munster council did not have enough stewards for Limerick-Waterford game

The Munster Council of the GAA have admitted they erred in not having enough stewards on site for last night's Munster Minor Hurling Championship final replay between Limerick and Waterford in Thurles.

A bigger than expected attendance saw the match delayed by 10 minutes at Semple Stadium, and there were chaotic scenes beforehand as hundreds of supporters chose to walk across the pitch from the New Stand to take up their vantage spots in the old Kinane Stand.

The disruption occurred even though the 10,000-capacity New Stand had more than enough room to accommodate the attendance present.

The parade of fans trooping across the pitch disrupted the teams' warm-up routines and some were still walking towards the old Stand when the national anthem was being played.

Limerick won the game on a 1-20 to 4-8 scoreline to complete a memorable senior-minor double for the Treaty county, however the disruption before the game has proven to be a major talking point.

In a statement released today, the provincial body said: "The Munster Council expected and planned for an attendance of between 5,000 to 6,000 at last night's Munster Minor Hurling final replay.

"The attendance on the night was 6,532, as confirmed by the Stadium stile counter system. The Council is satisfied that this accurate of the numbers in attendance.

"As with all fixtures of this nature, the only side of the ground that was opened was the New Stand. This stand has a capacity of 10,000, which was more than adequate to cater for the numbers that attended.

"As a large number of people came to the ground with 15 minutes to go to throw-in, we took the decision to postpone the throw-in for 10 minutes in order to allow everyone safe entry to the ground.

"We are satisfied that this was the correct decision and are satisfied that queues had dissipated at 7.35pm. This was actively monitored by Council officials.

"Regarding the fans who walked across the pitch from the New Stand to the Kinane Stand, we regret any inconvenience caused to the participating teams in their preparations for the game and we will be reviewing the matter with Semple Stadium.

"We regret that a minority of fans took the decision to leave the New Stand, which had ample room to accommodate all patrons.

"The Council acknowledges that there was inadequate stewarding to the front of the stand to cope adequately with this patron behaviour and it is a matter that we will review."