There's no justice; there's just us
December 30, 2010After 50 years in the wilderness, Louth returned to the Leinster final stage in 2010. The players did everything that was asked of them, overpowering neighbours Meath to lead by 1-10 to 0-12 deep into injury time. The Wee County faithful was ready to greet a famous, historic, and fully merited victory. Then, oh so cruelly, Louth fell victim to one of the most inept pieces of refereeing ever witnessed at Croke Park.
Unbelievably, the trophy was snatched away from them and there were scenes of utter chaos in Headquarters as Meath were erroneously presented with the Delaney Cup. The Reds received a raft of public sympathy in the wake of the Leinster final travesty, but pity is of little consolation to the management and players, who were robbed of a triumph they had worked so hard to achieve.
The massive injustice of Sunday July 11th 2010 will go down in GAA folklore. On one of the GAA's darkest days, Louth were robbed of victory in the Leinster SFC final by a late, late goal that never was and never should have been. Yet, somehow, inexplicably, the 'goal' was awarded. (It still beggars belief how any referee could have suspected, let alone insisted, that it was a legitimate score.)
Somehow, despite uproar in 31 counties and no shortage of embarrassment in the other one, the result was allowed to stand. Against all sense of fair play, Meath were crowned Leinster senior football champions. Even now, looking back, months later, it all seems utterly unreal, totally unbelievable.
While, obviously, the show must go on, this is a bitter, bitter pill to swallow. It's an injustice that never should have happened. And it just had to happen to Louth on their biggest day in half a century…
Within seconds of the final whistle sounding at Croke Park on Leinster final day, the ramifications of a dreadful officiating mistake began to reverberate around the stadium. Incensed, some of Louth's supporters lost the plot and stormed onto the pitch in an inexcusable manner to have a go at Tyrone referee Martin Sludden, whose poor judgement had cast him into the role of pantomime villain and ensured that his name will forever be remembered in the Wee County for all the wrong reasons.
Television replays had shown instantly what we all suspected: that it was no goal. Text messages and phone calls flooded into the stadium to inform the heartbroken Louth faithful that they had been robbed. The players didn't have to be told - they had witnessed the incident first hand and they knew in their hearts that Meath forward Joe Sheridan had inadvertently (and illegally) carried the ball across the goal-line. Clearly, it was a free out. Louth were Leinster champions. They had done it! Against all odds, in his first year at the helm, Peter Fitzpatrick had guided his beloved native county to a first senior provincial title since 1957. But wait… Wait a second…
The referee is scribbling in his notebook, even though the umpires haven't flagged. It looks like he has taken it upon himself to award a goal. The Louth players have surrounded him and are urging him to clarify the issue with his umpires, neither of whom reached for their green flag. For a brief moment, it looks like the man in the middle is prepared to be reasonable. Has he seen sense? He approaches one of the umpires and … can you believe this? ... instructs him to wave his flag because a goal is being awarded. There is no consultation. The umpire isn't even asked for his opinion on what just happened. The second umpire isn't consulted at all. The referee had made his mind up. He has taken it upon himself to award Meath a goal. A winning goal.
Then came the desperate calls for a replay. Deep down, we all knew this was never going to happen. Especially in favour of a smaller county. Croke Park and Leinster Council washed their hands of the matter, pointing out that the referee's decision is final, apparently even when the very same referee admits in his match report that he made a "terrible mistake" in awarding the match-winning goal right at the death. Had Martin Sludden's match report not effectively made a nonsense of the result? Apparently not.
The buck was passed to Meath as the powers-that-be acted powerlessly and decided that they would only grant Louth a replay if Meath, the team who had benefited from the refereeing error, were prepared to offer one. After considering the matter, the Royals decided - as was their right - that they were more concerned with keeping their own domestic club championships on schedule and announced that they would not be prepared to offer a rematch. They insisted that they felt great pity for their neighbours, but their actions suggested that there was little pity. Even though their victory had been tainted and will forever be regarded by football followers everywhere as an unjust one, Meath - for reasons of their own - did not wish to play the game again.
While it is in no way unreasonable to suggest that in the interests of fair play, Meath should have offered an olive branch, it is also worth stating that this mess was not of the Royal County's creation and the decision on what to do next should not have been left in their hands. Surely, decisive intervention should have been taken in the highest corridors to remedy such an unprecedented and blatant miscarriage of justice?
Of course, there are those who point out that bad refereeing decisions are made all the time and that many of them have had major bearings results. This is true. However, the decision made by Martin Sludden at the end of the 2010 Leinster SFC final was extraordinary in every respect. It cannot be compared to a wrongly-awarded free or yellow card in the middle of a match, or a missed square ball ten minutes from the end. It can't really be compared to anything! This was the decisive, defining moment in the game - and not just any game. It was the final act of a provincial championship. The moment that determined who won or lost.
It was NOT a goal. Never a goal.
JP Rooney's wonderful goal into the Hill 16 end had left Louth in the verge of history. The Reds hadn't contested a provincial final since 1960 and hadn't won one since the heroes of '57 reigned both province and nation. Now, they were so close. They had beaten Longford, Kildare and Westmeath to qualify for the decider and had stood toe-to-toe with much-vaunted Meath for over 70 minutes.
Punch-drunk Meath laid siege to the Louth goal, in desperation, and Graham Reilly went for an equalising point. His kick dropped short. Seamus Kenny jumped in to gather possession. He was about to fire home a certain goal when Louth captain Paddy Keenan threw himself at the Meath player's feet to make one of the most spectacular blocks in living memory. A save that should have won Louth the Leinster title…
The ball squirted up into the air. Andy McDonnell and Dessie Finnegan unluckily got in each other's way and Sheridan grabbed the leather. But the Seneschalstown man lost his footing and slid helplessly across the goal-line. The No.11 made a desperate last-ditch attempt to get his foot to the ball as he careered beneath the crossbar but only succeeded in throwing it further into the back of the net. Never a legitimate goal in a million years! But in the mind of the only man who mattered, it was.
By electing to award the goal, the referee altered the course of history. He denied justice and handed victory to the team that had actually lost. The goal should never have stood. It should have been a free out and the final whistle should have sounded with Louth one point ahead. There should have been no replay. A lot of shoulds!
The only way there could have been any form of justice at Croke Park on Sunday July 11th 2010 was if Louth had been awarded the win they rightfully deserved.
They should have gone through to an All-Ireland quarter-final as Leinster champions - not a Round Four Qualifier against Dublin. After half a century of hurt, the Delaney Cup is the Holy Grail for Louth football. The Wee County did everything in their power to work the oracle in 2010, but still hurt was their lot. While the players can hold their heads up high, the pain of this travesty will stay with them forever. It will haunt them for the rest of their careers. Can they bounce back or has their moment of glory been stolen from them, never to return?
There's no justice in sport and there's no justice in life. That's a reality we all have to deal with. Tweet
