GAA to move goalposts - for hurling semi-finals

The pitch at Croke Park will be lengthened ahead of the All-Ireland hurling semi-finals. The tightness of the pitch for Sunday's quarterfinals drew criticism from a number of quarters, including victorious Galway manager Mattie Murphy.

The structural developments in the stadium forced the GAA to shorten the length of the pitch.

But GAA president Sean McCague said yesterday: "It is at present nine yards shorter than before the work commenced, but it will be lengthened ahead of the hurling semi-finals and we would hope that it will actually be longer than has been the case in previous years."

The scrappiness and bunched nature of the Galway-Tipperary game was attributed to the notable tightness of the boundaries. Galway's forwards, in particular, thrive on open plains and were perhaps hindered by the dimensions, a fact acknowledged by Tipperary manager Nickey English afterwards. So unhappy was Murphy with the conditions that he expressed the wish that the game had been played in Tipperary's home venue, Thurles.

At present, the pitch in Croke Park is 138 metres in length but the authorities are confident that they will be able to extend that by 10 metres or more before the semi-finals next month. The width of the pitch has actually increased and once redevelopment has been completed at Croke Park, the dimensions will be larger than ever before.

A number of players were also unhappy with the length of the grass on Sunday, which was felt to have slowed the ball a little.

"When it was cut on Friday morning, we were conscious of the prolonged dry spell and worried that the usual cut might make the ball run extremely fast," said GAA director general Liam Mulvihill.

"The blade used was slightly higher with that in mind and it would seem that the growth over the next day gave it that slightly longer look."

Meanwhile, the seating capacity in Croke Park continues to climb on a weekly basis. Before next Sunday's Leinster football final, a further 4,000 seats will be made available to the public.

It is estimated that the capacity will be around 46,000 for the All-Ireland semi-finals, with the premium level at the Canal End fully operational as well as some seats on the upper tier. The capacity will be similar to last year ahead of September's All-Ireland finals.