Castlehaven-Dingle Munster final set for neutral venue
Dingle's Darragh O'Sullivan and Mikey Geaney celebrate after Sunday's win in Thurles. Will the Kerry men be returning to Semple Stadium for the final?
Sunday week’s Munster club senior football final between Castlehaven and Dingle is expected to be played at a neutral venue. A decision on the location for the decider may not be known until Wednesday but it appears there will be no coin toss for home advantage. TUS Gaelic Grounds and FBD Semple Stadium have been suggested as possible venues for the game, which has a 2pm throw-in.
Getting to both stadiums would be lengthy journeys for the harbour clubs. Castlehaven to TUS Gaelic Grounds is almost a six-hour return journey while the round trip to Thurles is approximately five. For Dingle, the total travel time to Limerick’s Ennis Road is about four and a half hours while going back to Semple Stadium is around six.
This past weekend, Dingle stayed overnight in Limerick to break up the trip for Sunday’s semi-final win over Clonmel Commercials and may choose to do so again if the game is arranged for Thurles.
Meanwhile, Fermanagh’s hopes of playing Sam Maguire Cup football have been dealt a blow with the news that three players will be unavailable due to work and travel commitments in 2024.
Seán Quigley and Conall and Ryan Jones have confirmed they won’t be part of the Fermanagh panel next season. A statement from the Fermanagh County Board confirmed Kieran Donnelly had been informed by the players of their “unavoidable” plans.
It added: “Fermanagh GAA thank them for their services over the years and hope to see them back in the green jersey at some point in the years ahead.” Roslea man Quigley, 31, has been the county’s leading forward for several years while Ryan Jones has been a mainstay in the Erne County’s midfield.
After earning promotion from Division 3 earlier this year, Fermanagh begin their 2024 season in Division 2 where a top four position should secure a place in the last 16 of the Sam Maguire Cup.
Elsewhere, GAA stadium and commercial director Peter McKenna has said the association will happily talk to Matchroom about potentially hosting a trilogy fight between Katie Taylor and Chantelle Cameron next year.
McKenna told RTÉ promoter Barry Hearn had not been in touch with the GAA in the wake of Saturday’s sold out fight in the 3Arena, which Taylor won having lost the first clash earlier this year.
However, security costs are expected to be a sticking point. Speaking in February, McKenna explained they should not fall on the GAA.
“The real issue here is about security costs that which we felt the promoter should carry and having gone through this with statutory services and our own team, we looked at the risk analysis on the event and we felt that the amount of security that you’d need would be at the top level and that is not inexpensive.”
