CLARE OFFICIALS ARE confident that the county senior hurling final between Clonlara and Sixmilebridge will take place at Cusack Park in Ennis on Sunday week, 11 October.
The venue is currently undergoing a facelift but both clubs have expressed their desire to play the Banner County showpiece there.
And county board chairman Michael McDonagh told The42 this afternoon that the fixture should get the green light at a meeting this evening.
“That decision won’t be made until tonight, at a CCC meeting,” he said.
“We did a major job on the pitch last winter, the surface is top class and the players are looking to play in the Park.”
Board officials may have to look at ticketing the game, however, because of a reduced capacity and to fulfil health and safety guidelines.
When asked how many people Cusack Park could hold for the final, McDonagh replied: “That’s a big one – we have to look at that.
“We have to get it looked at by an engineer in the coming days.
“I’d be confident that we’ll be able to host the match but we might have to ticket it.”
The Clonlara-Sixmilebridge clash is sure to draw a huge crowd to Cusack Park, with a host of county stars in opposition.
John Conlon, Darach Honan, Domhnall O’Donovan, Nicky O’Connell and Colm Galvin were Clonlara’s representatives on the Clare hurling panel this year, with Seadna Morey and Shane Golden representing Sixmilebridge.
Adding further intrigue to the mix is the fact that Clonlara are managed by Sixmilebridge stalwart and former Clare star Sean Stack.
This is a great opportunity to try something different and not have the usual opposition of the old school diehards who dont want change.
The idea of an open knockout championship sounds great I think and would give teams a shot of a dream run. If I’m from Kildare or Fermanagh, I would be much more motivated for championship as you go from 7 games (minimum) to an All Ireland final to 4 games..
@Lad: until those old school diehards stop getting voted onto county/provincial boards, provincial championships are here to stay.
@Lad: Would that not bring us back to why the qualifier system was introduced. 16 teams would only get 1 game. I’d be in favour of a champions league style group format, ran for 2 years, and then split into 2 separate championships, retaining that format. Have a system for promotion and relegation. It’s a lot of games for players though, which may make it a hard sell.
Open draw, try it once. Can u imagine if Kerry got Dublin in killarney in football or tipp v kilkenny in thurles..in first round ties..the buzz would be unique.
@jay bernard: would they allow supporters at the match?
Look, it’s best to just forget about the league, and I’m not just saying that because we may be relegated (‘ ‘) ….
@Logan Shepherd: “May”
@Logan Shepherd: please god forget about the league
@my name: Ah .. if it was May, I’d say go ahead and finish it, but it’s nearly the end of June :-)
Always thought brollys idea of 8 groups of 4 teams with top two play knockout for A all Ireland bottom two play in b all Ireland. Everyone gets 4 games and everyone has chance for a all Ireland. Entails for far more excitement
Yeah, what most of us have wanted for years… provincial championship in football is a joke, Ulster aside. You can’t keep the current provincial set up based on one province alone