Leinster hurling final may have Saturday setting with provincial rotation mooted

NEXT year’s Leinster hurling final may be played on a Saturday evening to avoid a clash with the Munster final.

However, it will only happen if Munster agree to staging their decider on a Saturday in 2020. The Leinster and Munster provincial councils have been examining ways of avoiding a repeat of the unfortunate clash which occurred this year when the Cork v Clare and Galway v Kilkenny games went ahead on the same day.

The 10-game round-robin format to decide the finalists and a tighter overall schedule makes it necessary to play both provincial finals on the same weekend.

Having them on the same afternoon results in a serious promotional loss to hurling – hence the attempt to separate them next year.

Leinster are understood to be amenable to switching their final to Saturday but only on a rotational basis with Munster.

Meanwhile, Leinster have given the five counties – Carlow, Dublin, Galway, Kilkenny and Wexford – competing in next year’s championship until Monday to decide on how they want to run off the round-robin games.

They have been asked to decide between having one free weekend for all counties or staggering the programme so that only one game is played on some weekends.

The programmes in both Leinster and Munster have been extended by a week to avoid a repeat of the controversial situation which arose this year when Tipperary, Waterford, Offaly and Wexford were forced to play four games in 21 days.

It left them at a disadvantage compared with rivals who enjoyed a break along the way. None of the four qualified for the finals. Next year’s round-robin series in both provinces will run from May 12 to June 16.

In football, Wexford, Tullamore, Portlaoise and Nowlan Park will be the only venues considered for a Leinster quarter-final involving Dublin if it’s decided to retain the recent policy of playing the All-Ireland champions’ opening game away from Croke Park.

That leaves Wexford and Offaly with the possibility of having a home venue against Dublin, something no county has enjoyed in the Leinster Championship since Longford hosted them in Pearse Park in 2006.

The draw for the 2019 provincial championships will take place next Thursday night.