IT SEEMS THAT HawkEye won’t be making an appearance in Thurles this year.
It had been expected that the score detection technology would be introduced at Semple Stadium for the Munster hurling final and All-Ireland quarter-finals but a leading Tipperary official has indicated that it’s on the back burner for now.
It appears that HawkEye won’t swoop into the Field of Legends until 2016 and will be on a very much scaled-down version when it finally arrives.
Premier County board secretary Tim Floyd told Tipp FM last night that HawkEye is “unlikely” to appear at Semple Stadium before the end of the year.
“It’s looking unlikely it will. It has been under review and I think it’s not going to be on the scale they were originally talking about, with the huge screen that shows ‘hit’ or ‘miss’, as we saw in last year’s All-Ireland final.”
“It looks like a scaled down version will be installed but won’t show the actual movement of the ball, as it does in Croke Park.
Tipp were denied an All-Ireland senior hurling crown last year by a HawkEye call when it was confirmed that John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer’s late free went narrowly wide in the drawn clash with Kilkenny at GAA HQ.
Meanwhile, Floyd is also confident that the Semple Stadium sod can stand up to the rigours of five games over the course of two games next weekend.
A football and hurling triple-header is pencilled in for Saturday, ahead of Sunday’s Munster minor and senior hurling finals.
Floyd added: “The surface in Semple Stadium has vastly improved since the League. There’s a very good cut of grass on it and a very solid surface.
“The forecast is good to Friday night and rain won’t make a major difference as it’s so hard underfoot.”
Tipperary continue preparations for Sunday’s Munster senior decider with a training session behind closed doors at Semple Stadium this evening.
Tipp will train again on Friday evening at Dr. Morris Park and this session will be open to the public.
“With all the matches in the Stadium (at the weekend), the seniors are not training there on Friday night. They’ll be in Dr. Morris Park,” Floyd added.
