I was snailing through raceday traffic in Galway in 2019 when I recognised the garda directing me.
It was Alan Kelly, the referee who had taken charge of the Limerick-Kilkenny All-Ireland semi-final days earlier. We’d be beaten by a point in controversial circumstances having not been awarded a clear 65 late on.
I engaged in some friendly banter, slagging him about what had happened; he stuck his head in the window and we shook hands. He said he’d see me inside.
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We bumped into each other later on and had a great chat. He was sickened that he had missed it. He had received a lot of abuse and was likely aware of the consequences that he would face. His refereeing career didn’t exactly prosper after that.
I felt really sorry for him. He was devastated. He, or the umpires concerned, didn’t do it on purpose.
I have no doubt that Liam Gordon will be coming from a similar place when he looks back on the closing seconds of last Sunday’s Munster final.
Of course, Clare should have been awarded a free to take the game to extra time and I’m sure Liam has suffered for it.
I have huge respect for referees but there is a problem nationally with a shortage of them and it’s only going to get worse given what they have to endure.
When’s the last time you saw a rugby referee needing protection after a game? I’ve never seen it happen. Yet we had stewards running towards the referee at the final whistle in Limerick, an all too regular occurrence.
To be honest, I’m delighted to be able to highlight this following an incident where my own county were the beneficiaries of an error, but the events of last Sunday just underline the need for technology to be introduced to weed out these errors, for the referees’ peace of mind as much as anything.
It’s not exactly a new phenomenon. All these years later, everyone still knows the name of the ref who took charge of the 2010 Leinster football final. But Martin Sludden would be happily long forgotten if he had recourse to technology to reverse the decision that denied Louth that day.
And it’s not just a matter of wheeling out fancy gadgets, but tightening up how a team of officials operate together.
During the first half of the Munster final, for example, Diarmaid Byrnes caught the ball three times and no Clare free was given.
Surely one of the linesmen, who are all fully qualified referees themselves, should be able to signal to the referee that he’s missed something like that?
I don’t like using the term ‘VAR’ because some people are uncomfortable with the soccer connotations, but there if they’re going to trial rules, such as the one around the handpass, then surely using something like what we see in rugby and soccer to help referees get a small amount of big decisions - and it can only be the big ones - right over the course of a game is worth looking at.
Like Clare last weekend, we had ourselves to blame first and foremost for losing back in 2019. But let’s use technology to help take the refs out of the firing line.
Hard to see Galway taking the long road
The Leinster final ebbed and flowed to a much greater degree than the Munster equivalent.
Galway started fast, Kilkenny hit back, built a lead, saw it whittled away and then snatched it from behind at the death.
Where does it leave Galway now? Consistency has been their issue and for them to win an All-Ireland they now probably have to beat Tipperary, Limerick and then one of Clare, Kilkenny or Dublin. Could you see it happening? I couldn’t, based on all available evidence.
Henry Shefflin hailed the character of his players after coming back against both Dublin and Kilkenny and he’s right - but you won’t win an All-Ireland by having to draw on that repeatedly. You might get away with it once in a campaign.
After the League final, I thought Kilkenny would win nothing this year. It tells you a lot about the value of the League. I always loved playing against Kilkenny - they’re as tough as old boots, fierce honest.
Cillian Buckley epitomises their spirit. He gets very little game time these days after a brilliant career, but you could see in his interview afterwards how there wasn’t a trace of ego. Just gets on with it and makes his contribution. Pure Kilkenny.
Limerick had them beaten last year and they refused to yield. Richie Hogan, with all his honours, helped change the momentum of the game.
Have they the quality to win an All-Ireland? Well, they’re only two games away now. A semi-final between them and Clare, if they come through, has the makings of a cracker.
Dangerous Tipp ready to crank up the engine again
I’d very much go along with Jackie Tyrrell’s comments about how dangerous Tipperary are as the All-Ireland series approaches.
They’ve had three weeks off and you’d have to expect them to beat Offaly tomorrow. Offaly have improved this year and the Joe McDonagh final was a great game but the gap is just too big for them to bridge.
Tipp would then be going into a quarter-final in a good place with injuries after clearing up.
I wouldn’t mind being in the Tipp camp. It looks like they’ll be locked and loaded going to play Galway.
Dublin play Carlow and while I haven’t been hugely impressed with them, they’ve been better than I thought they’d be. They had a really good first 20 minutes against Kilkenny and should have beaten Galway to reach the Leinster final.
I expect they’ll beat Carlow and will be a big threat to Clare next weekend.
Leinster finals increasingly lost in Croke Park
Whatever about how the respective games matched up against each other, the Munster final left the Leinster final trailing in terms of an occasion.
If Clare had got the result, the scenes on the pitch would have been no different, just with a saffron and blue hue instead of green and white.
Then you have around 30,000 lost in Croke Park and a relatively soulless atmosphere despite it being a game of great excitement. If it was played anywhere else, it’s a match that would be long remembered.
Going forward, the Leinster Council needs to look at playing its hurling final at a provincial venue like Portlaoise.
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