Birr's hopes of retaining their Leinster club hurling title on Sunday have been dealt a major blow with the news that Brian Whelahan has been ruled out with a knee injury. Whelahan's father and Birr manager Padjoe admitted that the 'Millennium Man' has failed in his bid to recover from the injury he sustained in the provincial quarter-final win over Ballyboden St. Enda's. "Brian has a second grade tear at the back of his knee, and he has no chance of making the game against Ballyhale," Padjoe said. "He isn't in plaster or doesn't have to use crutches, but it will be some time before he can train again. "Brian will be a huge loss to us. His experience alone is fabulous and he was having a great game against Ballyboden until he got injured." Whelahan has expressed surprise at the fact that the Kilkenny champions will have home advantage for the final. "Nowlan Park is a great pitch, and if you can't play hurling well there, you won't be able to do it anywhere else. But still, Ballyhale had home advantage in the first round against Rathdowney-Errill and their semi-final against Raharney also would have been in Nowlan Park but for the fact that they agreed to travel to Mullingar. "It would surely make more sense to fix the Leinster final for a neutral venue like Portlaoise or Carlow." However, Leinster Council secretary Michael Delaney has pointed out that a system of home and away venues for the provincial club competitions has been in place for the past two years. Tweet

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