Hurling's boom time reflected by crowds

With six very attractive matches still to be played - not counting possible draws - attendances at the All-Ireland hurling championship matches this year are confidently expected to top the 500,000 mark before the competition ends.

If that figure is reached, and the signs are that this will be the case, it will represent an increase of more than 100,000 on last year. Already some 279,000 have attended this year's hurling matches.

The attendance of 55,492 at the Leinster final between

Wexford-Kilkenny last Sunday-week is the top figure so far and is a record for the tie. It was an increase of 21,127 on the 1996 final between Wexford and Offaly.

The total attendance at the Munster championship matches this year was 146,935. This compares with the figure of 170,415 on the previous year, but that is put into perspective by the fact that Tipperary and

Limerick needed a replay to decide the Munster final in '96.

A similar situation exists in football. There have been four draws in the Leinster championship so far, two between Meath and Kildare and draws also between Offaly and Westmeath and Wexford and

Westmeath. In Munster the first round match between Tipperary and

Limerick also went to a replay.

In Ulster, the first-round ties between Tyrone and Down, Derry and

Monaghan and Fermanagh and Cavan all needed replays, thus adding to the overall attendance figures.

The attendance at the second match between Meath and Kildare last

Sunday attracted a paying attendance of 54,290 and the second replay is expected to top that figure. The Leinster Council expects a crowd in the region of 60,000.

Meanwhile, after an impressive 312 to 1-10 victory over Cork in the quarter-final of the National League last Saturday, Kilkenny are expected to field a much-altered team for their All-Ireland hurling quarterfinal against Galway at Thurles on Sunday. The Kilkenny manager Nicky Brennan was very pleased with the improved performance against Cork. "That was much better than our match against Wexford in the Leinster final. The players are determined to put that match behind them and are glad of another opportunity to advance to the

All-Ireland semi-final," he said.

His fellow selector Richie Power was also impressed. "There is a lot of enthusiasm left in this team and, although we were disappointed with the performance against Wexford, we are completely committed to putting the record straight against Galway," he said.

Galway's plans are severely disrupted by injury. Two central figures in attack, Joe Rabbitte and Eugene Cloonan, are definitely out of contention for places. Cloonan has a broken finger while Rabbitte is still suffering from a balance problem and headaches following the match against Roscommon after which he spent some time in hospital.

Galway will also be without inspirational mid-fielder Michael

Coleman, who has been out of action for some time, while others on the injured list and unlikely to be available for selection are Ollie

Fahy, Gregory Kennedy, Ollie Canning, Liam Burke, and Michael

Spellman. Galway will delay selection until late in the week.

Tipperary have also been hit with a problem with the sending-off of

Declan Ryan in a club match at the weekend. He will miss the other

All-Ireland quarter-final against Down at Clones, but is unlikely to get more than the minimum suspension.

Down are expected to field the team which surprisingly beat Antrim in the Ulster final.