Michael Duignan expects up to 20,000 Faithful fans as Offaly GAA send additional U20 All-Ireland hurling final tickets to clubs

Offaly GAA chairman Michael Duignan says additional tickets for the county's All-Ireland U20 hurling championship final with Tipperary have been sent to their clubs and that he is hopeful they will bring almost 20,000 supporters to Saturday's game at Nowlan Park.

Demand is huge in the Faithful County for what will be Offaly's second U20 final in a row, having been runners-up to Cork last year, but the 27,000-capacity venue was selected as it and the trophy are named after former GAA president James Nolan, who died 100 years ago this year.

Some Offaly fans were outraged after tickets sold out quickly on Ticketmaster Tuesday morning, which was exacerbated at the news that Tipperary GAA had taken a different approach and offered their 5,000 allocation for sale through their clubs.

However, returns from Tipp mean Offaly are now in a position to make extra tickets available. RTÉ Sport understands that clubs have received 25 tickets each and any that are not taken up by their members will go back on general sale.

"We're very hopeful at this stage that any Offaly person who wants to be at the match Saturday will be at the match," Duignan told RTÉ's Eamon Horan.

"It has been a manic couple of days. We always expected that. It's a great complaint to have, we're in an All-Ireland final with unprecedented interest. We're hoping to bring somewhere around 20,000 Offaly people to the match.

"There was a bit of over-buying, tickets have come back from Tipperary.

"We have been in contact with the clubs this afternoon to see if they needed a few and we're very hopeful at this stage that everyone will be facilitated."

"In case there are any GAA members that still haven't been looked after, get in touch with your clubs."

Duignan said he didn't