Premier aim to Páirc local enthusiasm at a venue that's been good to them

IT’S a year ago this weekend that Clare went to SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh and scored a victory that was more comfortable than the two-point margin suggested.

- By Pat Nolan

At that stage, the Cork hurlers had lost as many Championship games as they had won at the ground since its reopening in 2017. They had just a 56 per cent win rate there in the League.

From the outset, there was a struggle to make it feel like home. The pitch was a constant issue. A League double-header there in 2018 proved a disastrous call, with the surface smothered in sand and cutting up badly.

After a similar episode for the hurlers' League game against Wexford the following year, subsequent home ties were moved to Páirc Uí Rinn.

The financial millstone that the new ground brought also had implications for Cork's flagship teams. The hurlers' home game with Clare in the 2022 Munster Championship was played in Thurles because revenue from Ed Sheeran gigs was deemed more important. They lost.

Granted, there were good spells as Cork won all six League games there across 2022 and ‘23, but the only home Championship outing that they had in between was a heavy defeat to Limerick.

When Limerick returned to the ground last year, however, something clicked. It was the first time that it had hosted a sellout for the Cork hurlers. They were trailing and on the way out of the Championship until a late rally swung a pulsating game in their favour, sparking a pitch invasion. The euphoria helped to carry Cork all the way to the All-Ireland final and though they lost narrowly, the crowds have stayed with them.

Each home League game this year broke 20,000. The final win over Tipperary was another sellout.