I come back every time to good old Marty: " it's a free out surely." Instead the ref gives a free in to Kerry. There were at least 2 points got by Kerry courtesy of the ref. The Dubs will eat Kerry in the final but they will deserve to be eaten.

PoolSturgeon (Galway) - Posts: 1905 - 30/08/2014 21:49:16    1644965

Feel sorry for Mayo. That wasn't a very honourable way for Kerry to win that game.

_________________________

Eh, Why ?


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For all the reasons Joe Brolly eloguently explained after Sean Cavanagh pulled down the Monaghan player in last year's Ulster Championship

Giovanni (Laois) - Posts: 303 - 30/08/2014 21:52:24    1644969

I once got into serious discussion with a grade 1 ref from Kerry once and asked why refs seem to never consult their umpires before awarding a penalty as I felt my own county were hard done for penalties in Munster Finals in both 2004 and 2009. I was amazed to find that they actually can consult their umpires and even as the panel in RTE 2 agreed it appeared that Cafferkey made clear contact with the ball and that if anybody was fouling in this incident it was the Kerry man, so the second penalty was certainly highly debatable. Amazingly the referee concerned told me he was then the only grade one referee in the Kingdom and was in holidays for the 2009 final so we had to endure Rory Hickey of Clare who was then a relatively inexperienced young ref.

Oldtourman (Limerick) - Posts: 4342 - 30/08/2014 21:55:41    1644973

realdub
County: Dublin
Posts: 3960

1644958
Yes Kerry got a couple of softies at the end of the 1st period of ET (as far as I remember) and their were a couple the other way over the course of the game. But the bigger picture says Mayo couldn't handle Donaghy and that was the difference.

The sideline had a lot to answer for not putting someone else on Donaghy........its true we didn't get to grips with him at all but we should have, and should have made decisions on the sideline a bit quicker instead of just leaving it and hoping it would stop:P

Cranky360 (Mayo) - Posts: 834 - 30/08/2014 21:56:12    1644974

cluichethar
County: Mayo
Posts: 7

1644936 Everyone talking about the pace of the game There's 7 officials on the field not 1 When Kerry is involved they get the decisions Just like the choice the GAA made to play the game in Limerick a smaller field than Croke Park more suited to Kerry's clutching and grabbing Neutralizing Mayo's speed Everyone knows what teams the GAA wanted in the final and Mayo wasn't 1 of them

feel sorry for mayo,some bad decisions went against ,but I cant agree with the above

superbluedub (Dublin) - Posts: 2837 - 30/08/2014 21:57:00    1644976

If i was a Mayo fan i would feel very hard done by, not only the 2 frees in extra time that Kerry score points from were not frees but there was a couple in normal time also which resulted in scores for Kerry too, when Donaghy was clearly holding his man with left hand handing him off stopping him from trying to get to the flight of the ball all game, for me alot of the time it should have been a free out yet time and again Kerry got the free i was totally baffled by this.
Enright should have been sent off but wasn't and O'Shea replaces him and has a great game.
Kerry's second penalty for me was a bad call, i taught the Mayo defender slide in and played the ball which he was perfectly in his right to do.Kerry got most of the big decisions.
Now to say to the Mayo supporters to get over it is not right they have a right to be annoyed, if all these same calls went Donegal's way tomorrow and knocked the mighty Dubs out there would be uproar.

Pukefootball (Monaghan) - Posts: 377 - 30/08/2014 21:57:36    1644977

Ref had a thankless task in that game, the players were out of control, the sidelines were out of control, and the fans who ran onto the pitch were out of control.

It was like the wild west.

sponger (Wicklow) - Posts: 2897 - 30/08/2014 21:58:46    1644978

Don't want to blame ref. you deserve nothing if you can't win your own kickout. Enright should have got a black card ( and also a red) . Walsh should have seen a black. By letting them go the ref let the game get out of hand because players knew he wouldn't give a card. Then you end up with constant melees and off the ball stuff. If ref got hassle going off the pitch he brought it on himself by letting the game get out of hand. I ref matches and if you let stuff go you have to keep letting it go you only have yourself to blame

tirawleybaron (Mayo) - Posts: 1133 - 31/08/2014 08:11:10    1644988

Former Poster

The Mayo players gave enormous commitment, as did the Kerry players. Both sides deserve better than supporters saying that the game was decided by the ref.

I'm merely stating that blaming the ref for the defeat is childish from a supporters point of view. The best team won the game.

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13718 - 31/08/2014 08:35:15    1644995

Kerry were better in extra time and best of luck to them. I hope they win in out. However, I dont get this thing where people dismiss the raft of scores kerry got off the ref because they were ever so slightly better. The better team doesnt always win a game and being the best team and winning the game are two different things.

Best of luck to kerry in the final.

TheMaster (Mayo) - Posts: 16187 - 31/08/2014 08:42:04    1644997

County: 
Posts: 67

1644988

Don't want to blame ref. you deserve nothing if you can't win your own kickout. Enright should have got a black card ( and also a red) . Walsh should have seen a black. By letting them go the ref let the game get out of hand because players knew he wouldn't give a card. Then you end up with constant melees and off the ball stuff. If ref got hassle going off the pitch he brought it on himself by letting the game get out of hand. I ref matches and if you let stuff go you have to keep letting it go you only have yourself to blame

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So you're not blaming the ref for the defeat but you think it is okay to try and attack the ref on the pitch of you disagree with his decisions?

MesAmis (Dublin) - Posts: 13718 - 31/08/2014 08:43:05    1644998

Lads, we in the GAA have to give serious consideration to the environment the referees operate in. We had a situation on Thursday night where a referee who made a correct decision (IT DOES NOT MATTER IF IT WAS HARSH) was completely undermined one a number of GAA committees who as usual made their decisions based on public opinion. I have yet to hear the reason for the decision from the CHC themselves, only Chinese whispers on forums like these. The blame for yesterdays ref performance is absolutely at the door of the CHC. HARSH DOES NOT MEAN WRONG.

If you want referees who make hard calls, they need to be backed 100% by the authorities. The only way a refs decision should be overturned is (1) He didn't apply the rules correctly (2) mistaken identity. Neither happened and the decision to overturn the Keegan red card led to a referee yesterday who was afraid to make the big decisions, eg. the decision not to red card Shane Enright and not to black card peter Crowley. He let everything from the second half onwards, but I absolutely absolve Cormac Reilly, who is usually very good, of any blame. He is a product of the poisonous environment currently in the GAA for referees. They are going to be humiliated if they make correct decisions because people (most of whom who don't know the rules)will react, think the decisions was are harsh, and the various committees will not back the refs, so they will take the easy way out. Again, don't blame them.

Mayo fans giving out about the refs not making key decisions is laughable, considering it was your decision to get try and get Lee Keegan off that led to this. I SAY AGAIN, if you want refs making tough decisions, you need to backed 100%, and CCCC, CHC and the other bodies need to be able to tell people to get lost and stop making rulings on public opinion.

Final point, why do GAA fans think they have a right to confront the refs and why should the ref have to run off the field at the end and need a Garda escort? Why was that young man not arrested? You reap what you sow.

galwaydublin (Galway) - Posts: 226 - 31/08/2014 08:53:23    1645005

The comments here are not doing justice to the game at all. People saying that the second kerry penalty was dubious.. do you realise that a sliding tackle is against the rules?? So it does not matter if he won the ball or not as its a penalty regardless. Also aidan o shea should have been sent off in normal time for elbowing o donoghue but nobody wants to reference this. Anybody who was actually at the game could see that the ref made good and bad decisions on both sides throughout the game, this happens in every single game.

anon1234 (Kerry) - Posts: 19 - 31/08/2014 08:53:41    1645006

The Refs are making a mess of both the hurling and football Championships. They are winning games for the teams they want. The refs have won games this year for certain teams in the hurling, and that is why the games at the closing end of the championship were so one sided. This year kilkenny and Limerick was the only good game.

Yesterday hard luck to Mayo, the honesty is gone. Mayo deserve better treatment than this. I dont blame James Horan on retiring, its hard to beat the ref. The Last 4 years of refeering has been a shambles. Has Pat McEnaney anyone to answer to.

Sheedy (Galway) - Posts: 107 - 31/08/2014 09:12:22    1645015

I think what yesterday proved is that the black card is history. There were several occasions when it should have been used for quite obvious black card offences and O'Reilly didn't produce them when he should have. There was so much pulling and dragging down players that it was it was laughable at times. I would also say that Mayo would have cause to feel very miffed as most of the decisions did seem to go against them.

Ulsterman (Antrim) - Posts: 9706 - 31/08/2014 09:39:58    1645024

Whatever about the decisions by the Referee, it does not warrant some Mayo fans making a show of themselves at the end of the game.
Disgraceful scenes.
To have fans encroaching on the pitch to give Physical and Verbal abuse to both Players and Match Officials is totally Unacceptable.

People slated the Louth fans a few years back and the Cavan fans earlier this year, and now Mayo are at it.

If Dublin fans did this I would condemn them also by the way....


Also , the GAA need to address backroom staff getting involved with players of opposing teams.
It seems to be happening all too often also.

Anyway, back to the ref - yes he made some strange decisions alright.
Not the 1st time Mayo were done over by a Meath man.. ;o)

Fionn (Dublin) - Posts: 3738 - 31/08/2014 09:45:34    1645028

The one thing that you can never say - unless it was the last kick of the ball, you never know what the impact of a referee is on a game. Had Kerry gone down to 14 players who said they still wouln't have won - Mayo should have last weekend. So why am I annoyed about the standard of refereeing yesterday? because every kid in the country watching the game will now wonder if they should also be pulling and dragging, punching, hitting guys after the ball is kicked, shouldering lads in the chest or side, pushing lads in the back, kicking as ball when players are going down over then to pick them up and pulling guys to the ground as yesterday it seemed as if these were no long frees. All of this talk about a manly game is BS. Also any one who says that it was impossible to referee as both teams were at it don't understand the nature of refereeing. Referees set the tone of how they want the game to run from the start - it was clear that the ref yesterday was not going to referee the game within the rules and anything goes.

Here is something to consider - the free kick that Mayo go on the 13M line (in front of goal) was blocked by a player on the edge of the square - you have to be 13M away from the ball before its kicked. Why did the referee allow the players to stand on the edge of the box for a 13M free - if the player who blocked the ball was in the small square at the time - could someone tell me what the resulting penalty would be?
Referees are ignoring the obvious - why, do they not know the rules. I will defend a referee getting the odd decision wrong but not ignoring the rule book.

zinny (Wexford) - Posts: 1805 - 31/08/2014 10:13:14    1645034

The referee yesterday did not have a good game in my opinion.Should a referee be noticed/ Shold a referee implement the rules? Last wek David Coldrick was lauded for implementing the rules and the Mayo man was sent off. Yes he got off on a technicality.

But yesterday - the referee let serious stuff go unpunished.

The black card is now a thing of history. Yesterday it was ignored by the referee. How will the players of Donegal and Dublin respond today?
Its all very well to say that it was a great game yesterday when the crucial decisions were given as frees in front of the goal for minimal bodily contact and incredible hits and pulling and dragging was left go out the field.

Its not good enough. Too much talk and not enough action in ensuring the games are played in accordance with the rules. The authorities should hang their heads and not laud the 'quality' of the game yesterday.

Referees have a responsibility to ensure the game is played within the rules. It was 'let go' by the referee yesterday. Not good enough.

carlowman (Carlow) - Posts: 1821 - 31/08/2014 10:37:55    1645051

What didn't sit well with me, and it happens ALL the time with GAA refs, is that when a team is losing by 2 or 3 points the ref will give the losing team a couple of handy frees to "make a game of it". This was the first thought that came to my mind when he gave Kerry those two bogus frees in first half ET yesterday. Mayo were 2 points up which is a useful lead in ET. My suspicion at the time was he was trying to level the game up for the second half of ET to make it a grandstand finish.

It's the same reason, if a team is losing by one point, a ref will always give them one last chance to get an equalizer, even if time is well up. Whereas if the match is level he'll blow the final whistle straight away.

In my opinion, rather than just refereeing the match in front of them GAA refs too often try to manipulate the scoreline - not necessarily to favour one team over another, rather to make it a close game for the spectator.......which is absolutely NOT their job.

ballydalane (Kilkenny) - Posts: 1246 - 31/08/2014 10:48:40    1645054

Referees do make errors, a fact of life. It is also the toughest job in Gaelic games,except maybe being a goalkeeper, who has no backup teammate, hawkeye or other official to help after a ball slips by him or her.I have been around a while and attest that in a match a referee will make enough calls to bewilder and irk both teams sets of supporters. Whether it be by the refs mistakes, inconsistency of calls or alas as reasoned by the one sided narrow-mindedness of some supporters. The referee did not lose the game for Mayo yesterday, Kerry beat Mayo. There were bad calls & no calls against both sides. There is much talk about Kerry getting all the breaks, I am bewildered by such a remark? In the first half Kerry forced a Mayo back into a legal loss of the ball which resulted in a Kerry player to have possession with only the Mayo 'keeper to beat. But the ref awarded a free out for Mayo on what seemed a fair hit. Soon afterwards the Mayo keeper appeared to pick the ball off the ground outside his protected small box, that is a penalty, correct? Yes Enright deserved a black card, likewise a Mayo player for a similar foul in the second half. This silly argument can go on forever. Seldom will a referees decision decide the overall outcome of a match. Unfortunately it has happened where a refs call will change the course of events, i.e. Tyrone being called for a ball pickup against the Dubs, I think that was the '95 final? Please excuse using a 'Dub' game as a reference, it was the first and obvious incident that came to mind :)The better team won yesterday, face up to that!!! Mayo are still a very good team. The are valiant in defeat and I hope for their players & supporters alike, they come back next year and try again. Mayo is a strong legitimate footballing county, Sam should stop in there for at least year sometime soon.

lostintime (USA) - Posts: 533 - 31/08/2014 11:11:10    1645067