TIPPERARY COUNTY BOARD secretary Tim Floyd suspects that Hawk-Eye won’t be fast-tracked in time for next Sunday’s Allianz Hurling League Division 1 final replay at Semple Stadium.
The score detection technology will be in place for the Munster SHC quarter-final between Tipperary and Cork in Thurles on 22 May but Floyd indicated that it’s unlikely to make an appearance for the Clare-Waterford rematch.
A Semple Stadium source indicated that Croke Park top brass may be planning an official launch of Hawk-Eye at the venue, which would suggest that the Cork-Tipp clash remains the most likely date for a debut.
Floyd said: “When they didn’t have it last Sunday, I’d imagine that it won’t go this Sunday and they’ll wait until the championship.
If they were happy, they could go ahead with it but I don’t know. There’s no point in me saying because Croke Park will make the call.”
There were suggestions a Tony Kelly effort in the second half that was waved wide was, in fact, a point for Clare.
Hawk-Eye would have cleared up a situation like that almost immediately but Floyd, and other patrons seated in the New Stand, had a clear view of Kelly’s effort and insisted that it was wide.
Nevertheless, Hawk-Eye would remove any element of doubt but while the system is fully operational behind the scenes, Floyd can’t envisage a situation where it’s “rushed” through for the League final replay.
He explained: “It is operating behind the scenes but not fully functional yet and they haven’t really gone public with it. They’re still testing.
“I couldn’t see them rushing with it next Sunday.”
And Floyd explained that a big screen similar to those in use at Croke Park to indicate the trajectory of the ball as it travels towards goal will not be used in Thurles.
He said: “It will be ‘tá’ or ‘níl’ – no big screen unless they bring one in for some big matches.
“For the moment, they’re just going to use something small to indicate whether it was a score or not.”
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