Possibility of provincial final replays must return, says Munster PRO Lynch
The Shc Time By 2022 Opportunity: Brendan Between Moran/sportsfile Munster Was Limerick Missed Clare Extra And Decided Final Pic:
The possibility of provincial final replays has to return to harness the full value of Gaelic games, especially hurling, says Munster GAA PRO and its former treasurer Dermot “Weeshie” Lynch.
A Central Council-sponsored motion to allow for provincial finals level after extra-time to go to a second date will be debated at Congress next February. If successful, it will apply from 2026.
Lynch believes the proposal to move away from there having to be a winner on the day is a step in the right direction. In his current and previous Munster GAA role, the former Kerry treasurer has recognised the appeal of a replay. He cites the example of the epic Limerick-Clare provincial SHC final of 2022 in Thurles, which was decided after extra-time, at a time when he was Munster GAA treasurer.
“The idea of a provincial final replay is a golden opportunity to pass up on,” says the Annascaul man, “A sell-out Munster final finishing in a draw, the game going to extra-time and people gasping at the spectacle in front of them and it had to be finished on the day.
“Wouldn’t you just love to come back the following Sunday and let them go at it again? The following day to the Wednesday, people would be talking about the game that was and from Thursday they would be previewing the next game.
“When you have a game that is in bloom, it doesn’t make sense to nip it in the bud. We’re talking about the best game in the world and that’s coming from a Kerryman whose county wouldn’t traditionally be a hurling county.
“But when I speak to the likes of Frank Murphy, the lads in Clare, Limerick, Tipperary and Waterford they live, breathe and sleep hurling. I just don’t think we have been giving it the exposure it deserves.
“The 45,000 to 50,000 people who attended the first day, not all of them might be able to get to a second game the following weekend. On the odd occasion there is a replay, there is a chance for more people to take in such immense occasions.”
While a replay could only be considered a bonus, Lynch says the gate receipts from a second day out can’t be dismissed.
“We don’t keep the €1.5 million. We don’t keep it in a bank or give ourselves big salaries. We distribute that down along the line for each of the individual counties to reinvest in facilities like centres of excellence and 4G pitches or to ground level.
“We see how difficult it is to get sponsors at the minute, although the GAA was very successful last week with local Government grants. But when you have an opportunity like a replay that people are genuinely interested in, why pass up on the chance to entertain and thrill while driving more investment into our games? I ask this question – when was the last time you ever had a bad Munster senior hurling final?”
After their last three senior football finals have gone to extra-time and the most recent two were decided by penalty shoot-outs, Ulster GAA were keen to see the facility of replays restored. It’s been 16 years since the last Ulster SFC final replay when Armagh overcame Fermanagh.
The last provincial football final replay was the 2016 Connacht SFC clash between Galway and Roscommon. The previous Munster SFC final replay was a year earlier when Kerry needed a second day to dismiss Cork, while the last of the province’s SHC replays was the 2010 Waterford-Cork meeting.
Twenty years have passed since Leinster’s last SFC replay (Westmeath v Laois) and six years ago Galway drew with Kilkenny in their hurling showdown before the Tribesmen prevailed in Semple Stadium.