Munster chiefs eager to avoid pitch invasion after Walsh injury
July 11, 2013
Paul Ryan of Dublin with Stephen Walsh of Limerick during the Division 1B decider at Semple Stadium. INPHO
Provincial chiefs have opted against drafting in extra security for the eagerly-awaited Gaelic Grounds showdown, despite the eye injury Stephen Walsh sustained when fans invaded the pitch after Limerick's semi-final victory over Tipperary.
"There won't be any more of a security presence than usual," Munster PRO Ed Donnelly said in the Irish Examiner.
"For all games, though, we would ask supporters not to encroach onto the playing area and that same appeal will be made on Sunday. I know that Croke Park have had a great record in stopping pitch encroachments, but they have far more manpower available and we don't have the manpower or the set-up in any field in Munster to actively prevent incursions."
Speaking to the same newspaper, Walsh revealed how the eye injury had threatened his participation in what will be Limerick's biggest game since the 2007 All-Ireland final.
"We were on the field for about three-quarters of an hour afterwards but in the midst of it all a supporter ended up sticking his finger in my eye!" the defender recalled.
"I didn't notice it at the time but there was a photo in the paper that week, on the Thursday, and you can clearly see someone with their finger in my eye. I got an ulcer in my eye because of it.
"I wear contacts, put them in afterwards and that deprived the eye of oxygen, which caused an ulcer on the scratch. I didn't think anything of it till the Monday, woke up and the eye was sore. I tried to put in the contacts but no, wasn't having any of it.
"I put off doing anything about it but by Wednesday it was unbearable and I was sent to CUH (Cork University Hospital). They told me no contact lenses for four to six weeks and I was thinking, 'Jesus, this is the last thing I need'.
"I went to my own ophthalmic consultant in Cork and at that stage it was starting to heal up, but I actually had to play two championship games with the club with one eye. It was a nightmare.
"I was two weeks without the lenses but eventually I was able to use them. I'm fine now again, thank God, but it was a funny one looking back on it, how people can get carried away in the heat of the moment." Tweet
