Cork v Clare All Ireland SHC Final Sunday 8th September 3.30pm

[shark]

ok, in fairness Antrim hammered Derry in the ulster final, but they only beat Down by 3 points in the semi final

Wexford must have seen this as an easily winnable game and set up their training for the final.

Wexford scraped past Westmeath in Leinster. Fact is, Leinster wasn't all that strong this year.

[johnneycool]

ok, in fairness Antrim hammered Derry in the ulster final, but they only beat Down by 3 points in the semi final

Wexford must have seen this as an easily winnable game and set up their training for the final.

Wexford scraped past Westmeath in Leinster. Fact is, Leinster wasn't all that strong this year.

They also beat Kilkenny with a fortuitous goal right at the death, but its hard to see a bad team win in Leinster, so not taking away from Antrims win.

For some unknown reason the Wexfords, Dublin, Offalys etc hold less fear for northern counties than the likes of a Cork, Kilkenny or even Tipp.

[Asal Mor]

I'm really starting to like this Kevin Ryan fella that's in charge of Antrim. It was good to hear his honesty about their half-a$sed preparations before the semi-final win. And now he's saying they should boycott the final after the GAA set it for Thurles, "we had a 1 in 50 chance of winning, but that's gone now".

[Canalman]

I'm really starting to like this Kevin Ryan fella that's in charge of Antrim. It was good to hear his honesty about their half-a$sed preparations before the semi-final win. And now he's saying they should boycott the final after the GAA set it for Thurles, "we had a 1 in 50 chance of winning, but that's gone now".

Afaik the final was always going to be played in Thurles (except if Tipp got to final). What is his  problem with this?
Regardless of where it is played Clare will win imo in a canter ( as they would have v Wexford )

[deiseach]

Afaik the final was always going to be played in Thurles (except if Tipp got to final). What is his  problem with this?
Regardless of where it is played Clare will win imo in a canter ( as they would have v Wexford )

They played the Under-21 final in Thurles in 2010 even though Tipperary were involved. The irony is that they wouldn't play a Munster final between Waterford and Tipperary in Thurles even though we would probably be agreeable to it in order to avoid travelling to Cork. Funny how Thurles is not "recognised as our second stadium and as a hurling stadium" when it comes to Frank Murphy filling his boots.

[Asal Mor]

Afaik the final was always going to be played in Thurles (except if Tipp got to final). What is his  problem with this?
Regardless of where it is played Clare will win imo in a canter ( as they would have v Wexford )

Ah it's probably fair enough to play it in Thurles if that was the plan all along, but it's a very rare thing for Antrim to get to a final and they are such long shots, it just seems a bit cruel to give Clare what is effectively, a home game. Antrim's chances  of avoiding annihilation would be better at an Ulster venue.

[deiseach]

This logic of 'it's always going to be played in Thurles' clearly assumes Antrim are not going to be in it. Is it so unreasonable to ask for a bit of flexibility now that they are?

[Canalman]

Afaik the final was always going to be played in Thurles (except if Tipp got to final). What is his  problem with this?
Regardless of where it is played Clare will win imo in a canter ( as they would have v Wexford )

They played the Under-21 final in Thurles in 2010 even though Tipperary were involved. The irony is that they wouldn't play a Munster final between Waterford and Tipperary in Thurles even though we would probably be agreeable to it in order to avoid travelling to Cork. Funny how Thurles is not "recognised as our second stadium and as a hurling stadium" when it comes to Frank Murphy filling his boots.

Once again afaik know Thurles was fixed for all finals but the 1st year of the arrangement Tipp got to the final. Griping ensued (obviously) and rule then tweaked to allow for change of venue ONLY if Tipperary were in final.

Antrim have plenty of valid reasons to gripe but I don't think this is one of them. They knew the venue at the beginning of their campaign. Didn't bother them when winning the AISF.

[johnneycool]

This logic of 'it's always going to be played in Thurles' clearly assumes Antrim are not going to be in it. Is it so unreasonable to ask for a bit of flexibility now that they are?

Barring Dublin and now Antrim the majority of finals in the U-21's have been between counties bordering Tipp or near as damn it, so I suppose it was a reasonably logical decision.

Damn those pesky U-21 hurlers from Antrim surprising their very own county board and Croke Park.

[deiseach]

Once again afaik know Thurles was fixed for all finals but the 1st year of the arrangement Tipp got to the final. Griping ensued (obviously) and rule then tweaked to allow for change of venue ONLY if Tipperary were in final.

Antrim have plenty of valid reasons to gripe but I don't think this is one of them. They knew the venue at the beginning of their campaign. Didn't bother them when winning the AISF.

So if Antrim had complained beforehand, they'd have been listened to?

[Canalman]

Once again afaik know Thurles was fixed for all finals but the 1st year of the arrangement Tipp got to the final. Griping ensued (obviously) and rule then tweaked to allow for change of venue ONLY if Tipperary were in final.

Antrim have plenty of valid reasons to gripe but I don't think this is one of them. They knew the venue at the beginning of their campaign. Didn't bother them when winning the AISF.

So if Antrim had complained beforehand, they'd have been listened to?

Nope.

[deiseach]

Once again afaik know Thurles was fixed for all finals but the 1st year of the arrangement Tipp got to the final. Griping ensued (obviously) and rule then tweaked to allow for change of venue ONLY if Tipperary were in final.

Antrim have plenty of valid reasons to gripe but I don't think this is one of them. They knew the venue at the beginning of their campaign. Didn't bother them when winning the AISF.

So if Antrim had complained beforehand, they'd have been listened to?

Nope.

So the match would have been staged in Thurles whether they had objected beforehand or not, yet you have no sympathy for them because they didn't object beforehand. How very Kafkaesque!

[Canalman]

Point I'm trying to make is the final was fixed for Thurles (except if Tipp were in it) before competition was started and every team entering it knew that. I have no sympathy specifically  for the gripe that the final is being played in Thurles as everyone knew it would be.
Antrim knew the final  would be in Thurles before they played the semi final.
Antrim have beaten the Leinster champions and are in the final on merit. There are plenty of other counties that would love to be in the final.

Won't be saying any more as I don't want to derail the thread any further.

[Onion Bag]

Looking a couple of lower tier Hogan stand tickets lads, PM me

Thanks

[heffo]

Point I'm trying to make is the final was fixed for Thurles (except if Tipp were in it) before competition was started and every team entering it knew that. I have no sympathy specifically  for the gripe that the final is being played in Thurles as everyone knew it would be.
Antrim knew the final  would be in Thurles before they played the semi final.
Antrim have beaten the Leinster champions and are in the final on merit. There are plenty of other counties that would love to be in the final.

Agreed. It was fixed for Thurles this year, last year & next year. End of story.