Cork club hope Congress will accept replays for All-Ireland semi-finals

East Cork club St Ita’s are hoping the “fairest way” will win out at Congress on Saturday week when they propose that replays apply to All-Ireland senior hurling and football semi-finals level at the end of normal time.

Backed by Cork, the motion stems from the 2018 All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Limerick when their player, then county captain Seamus Harnedy, Daniel Kearney, and Darragh Fitzgibbon played in extra-time despite carrying obvious injuries.

As of now, the facility of replays after normal time extends only to provincial and All-Ireland senior finals.

As Cork and Limerick face off again in their Division 1, Group A clash in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday, St Ita’s chairman Liam Sloane believes that a replay would be the most appropriate action to take in deciding such a vital game.

“I think it would be fair because lads have after putting so much effort into it that they have to go out again on the field is hard on them,” he said. “A second go is the fairest way for everyone involved.”

Sloane admits the 2018 semi-final defeat to Limerick had shaped their thinking. “Lads were out on their feet, they weren’t even capable of playing but they were on the field. We thought that was totally unfair.

“We obviously have Seamie on the Cork team and we had a meeting, discussed it and we said we would put the motion in. Seamie comes back to us after he is finished with Cork and that year he was a beaten-up man.

“We are a very small club and he is seriously important to us and we want him right for our championship. He came back destroyed. It’s a pity because Cork were seriously close to winning it that year, six points up with a few minutes to but that’s the way it goes.”

This year’s All-Ireland SHC semi-finals take place on July 25 and 26, the Munster champions scheduled to play on the Sunday, with replays in the case of drawn matches after extra-time marked in for the following weekend, August 1 or 2. The All-Ireland final has an August 16 date.

Sloane added: “They’d (the GAA) would get more money out of it so I am amazed they don’t go for it. We’ll see how it pans out but I’d be expecting a lot of people would support it.”

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