Tickets are in short supply in Kerry - and not just the ones which will secure admission to Saturday's All-Ireland replay. When the tickets for the weekend's trains to Dublin went on sale in Killarney on Tuesday crowds had to be turned away disappointed.
One supporter who arrived 10 minutes before the Iarnrod Eireann offices in the town opened found the queue stretching out of the station and beyond the Great Southern Hotel. Within a couple of hours the only suitable train available from Killarney to Dublin was tomorrow morning's. All Friday evening and Saturday morning departures had been snapped up.
Many Kerry supporters will now make their way to Mallow on Saturday in an attempt to pick up one of the Cork-Dublin trains. Otherwise it's a long road journey - either the ordeal of a six-hour bus journey or a car trip. "Don't worry, we'll get there somehow," was the phlegmatic response of Kerry PRO Willie O'Connor.
In Galway the mood is more upbeat with people generally happy with the supply of special match trains. In addition, the road from the west is both shorter and of better quality than the route from Kerry. Furthermore, ticket arrangements have eased after a difficult start and the county board will be able to distribute more tickets than they were for the drawn match.
The debate about whether Tuam or Galway will first receive the homecoming has been shelved until it becomes clear which team is actually in a position to bring home the Sam Maguire. But the Saturday fixture has had one major spin-off. Because of the free day on Sunday and the absence of the traditional All-Ireland lunch, both teams will be in a position to make the journey home far earlier than is usually the case.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/irishtimes/YVIRIOZQ35EWRPZXR27KGMO6YU.png)