Limerick’s big game in clash with Munster

ONE of Ireland’s top Ulster Bank League club bouts will go ahead in Limerick tomorrow night (7.30pm), irrespective of the huge televised RaboDirect Pro12 clash between double champions Leinster and Munster.

The Division 1A joust between arch-rivals Garryowen and Young Munster was originally scheduled for Saturday but changed to the Friday on the basis of a clash with Leinster’s proposed fixture with Munster on the following day.

The provinces, conscious of the upcoming Heineken Cup games, agreed to bring the game forward a day, and Irish amateur clubs had to subsequently make different arrangements.

Garryowen, with agreement from Young Munster, changed the fixture to a Friday night and would really have expected a crowd of about 3,000.

In Division 1B, Bruff similarly arranged their local derby with UL Bohemian for a same time.

Since then, Bruff and UL Bohs have agreed to push the starting time forward to 6.30pm to allow fans watch the Pro 12 match.

Garryowen club president Eoghan Prendergast pointed out that an option had been given to Young Munster to switch the game back to Saturday but accepted it wasn’t possible because players had already made arrangements for the Saturday and Sunday.

“We thought about changing the time of kick off but we also had to take into consideration the fact that most of the players are holding down jobs and really needed a time frame of a couple of hours between finishing work and kick off.

“Perhaps we will lose out financially but we could get weary on this and we really have to get on with it, play this match and see what happens.

“One way or another, there will be a huge amount of interest in the game and it’s very important for both sides to win it.

“As always, we believe it will be a hugely positive and entertaining game between two very good teams.”