Concerts at Croke aren’t pitch perfect for Kilkenny
CIARAN KILKENNY says the hill 16 end of the Croke Park pitch was like an “all-weather surface” for last sunday’s Leinster final. Dublin boss Jim Gavin questioned the wisdom of staging concerts at GAA headquarters when the Championship is in full swing and claimed that players from both sides lost their footing in that part of the ground during the win over Kildare. That section of the pitch was ripped up for the Coldplay concert the previous weekend before being replaced, only to be torn up once again with U2 performing there on saturday night. Concerts are routinely held at Croke Park every summer but there appear to have been more issues arising from the quality of the pitch this time than in previous years. Kilkenny said: “I noticed it straight away – that whole section of the field was nearly like an all-weather kind of a surface. “I could definitely see that there was a different kind of a bounce in that area – that particular section was completely different to the rest of the field.” Ultimately, Dublin made light of the pitch issues to streak to a record seventh successive Leinster title, with under-21 star Con o’callaghan (inset) hitting 0-12. Kilkenny continued: “Con comes from great stock. his brother plays hurling for Dublin. his Dad played for Dublin and Westmeath. “he’s a great level-headed young man. he’s eager, he’s driven. And he’s willing to work really hard as well. “That just shows that character of the young man. he doesn’t need much advice from me now. he just has a great head about him.” At the other end of the spectrum, Bernard Brogan, 33, hit 0-5 – just one point from play less than o’callaghan – having come off the bench in the first half. Kilkenny added: “he’s always been very driven and he was brilliant there the last day and he’s flying. “he’s like a young lad out there playing.”