Cork-Tipperary clash set to break 25k barrier

Cork GAA chiefs are expecting a crowd in the region of 25,000 for Saturday night’s Allianz Hurling League Division 1A clash with Tipperary at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Last year, all three of Cork’s regular home leagues broke the 20,000 barrier and the final against Tipp, which was doubled up with the Division 1B decider between Waterford and Offaly, drew a full house to the Páirc.

The trend continued for the Rebels’ home opener this year as Ben O’Connor’s side saw off Waterford before an attendance of 20,464 – coincidentally, exactly 12,000 fewer were present for Saturday’s win away to Galway, with 8,464 at Pearse Stadium in Salthill, many of them Cork fans travelling up on the bank holiday weekend.

Now, with Saturday’s clash – which has a 7.30pm throw-in and is being shown live on TG4 – a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland final, in which Tipp triumphed by 15 points after a second-half Cork collapse, interest levels are high and ticket sales have been brisk to the point that the decision has already been taken to open both terraces at the Páirc.

The game will be a top-of-the-table clash, with Cork and Tipp the only sides to sit on four points after two games, though Kilkenny have won their sole outing to date.

A quirk of the fixture-list means that the clash is Cork’s only league outing in February – the league takes a fortnight’s break after this weekend, but the fourth set of fixtures is the Rebels’ ‘bye week’, with a seven-team division meaning that each county has to sit out one round.

There are three counties who have yet to pick up a point in Division 1A. Promoted Offaly, who lost to Tipp by 17 points at the weekend, had lost to Kilkenny in their first outing while Cork’s defeat of Galway came after the Tribesmen had gone down to the All-Ireland champions in their opener.

Limerick were not involved on the opening weekend but their maiden outing on Sunday ended in defeat to a Waterford side that bounced back well from the Cork loss. The Shannonsiders host Kilkenny at TUS Gaelic Grounds on Sunday afternoon (3.45pm), while Waterford and Offaly meet at Azzurri Walsh Park at 1.45pm in what is a repeat of the aforementioned Division 1B final of 2025.