No coin toss for Dingle-Barrs Munster final

Brian Hayes of St Finbarr's signs autographs after the semi-final win. Pic: ©INPHO/Natasha Barton

Dingle and St Finbarrs’s Munster senior club football final is expected to be played at a neutral venue on Sunday week.

A decision on the location is set be made by Tuesday but a toss of a coin for home advantage has already been ruled out.

TUS Gaelic Grounds would appear the best option, although Limerick GAA don’t have fond memories of the last provincial senior club final there 23 months ago when Castlehaven beat Dingle on penalties during a storm.

The damage done to the pitch that day contributed to Limerick hurlers’s three Division 1A games the following spring being moved away from the Ennis Road venue. It did not become available again until the Munster SHC Round 2 game against Tipperary at the end of April.

Mallow hosted last year’s Dr Crokes-Loughmore-Castleiney final as it did the Kerins O’Rahillys-Newcastle West decider in 2022. The year before, another Cork-Kerry final between St Finbarrs and Austin Stacks was staged in FBD Semple Stadium but Thurles is over three hours away from Dingle and is unlikely to be an option.

The likes of Mallow and Rathkeale’s Mick Neville Park could in the shake-up to stage the intermediate and junior finals that also involve Cork and Kerry clubs on Saturday week.

Meanwhile, Kerry footballers’s opening away game against Donegal in Division 1 on February 1 will be played in Ballyshannon’s Fr Tierney Park as MacCumhaill Park is undergoing pitch reconstruction.

The Ballybofey venue staged The Kingdom’s previous trip to Donegal in 2023 when the home side landed a surprise win in Round 1 in what was their only victory as they were eventually relegated.

Ballybofey is one of a number of inter-county grounds currently out of commission. Carlow’s Netwatch Dr Cullen Park is unavailable at present as the dressing rooms are being renovated, while Newry’s Páirc Esler is also closed for the time being.

Elsewhere, Scotstown are expected to have Ryan O’Toole back for Sunday’s refixed Ulster club semi-final as the man was deemed to have served his one-match suspension in the abandoned game against Newbridge in Omagh on Sunday.

According to the rulebook, the Monaghan man has paid the price for his sending off against Naomh Conaill in the game which referee Joe McQuillan refused to recommence at half-time for healthy and safety reasons on a sodden O’Neills Healy Park pitch.

The Monaghan and Derry champions renew acquaintances in Box-It Athletic Grounds at 4pm this Sunday.