Cunningham cries foul

April 20, 2015

Cork players celebrate after the final whistle against Dublin in the NHL Division 1 semi-final at Nowlan Park.
©INPHO/Cathal Noonan.

Ger Cunningham was adamant that Dublin should have had a free just before Seamus Harnedy's late, late winner for Cork.

While stopping short of criticising referee James Owens, the Dublin boss insisted that Mark Schutte should have been awarded a free.

"It was a definite free," the former Cork goalkeeper said.

"I've got to be careful because with the new rules, you can't say much because there's obviously a danger of repercussions if you do. I better say nothing."

Cunningham also questioned the manner in which the new advantage rule - which allows referees to call back the play if the player who is fouled hasn't made a gain - is applied.

"This advantage rule, obviously it was the first time really we had a chance to look at it today. A player doesn't know that he has advantage if the referee is behind him with his hand up, and that kind of stuff.

"So again, there were a couple of opportunities certainly … unless you stop now or just drop the ball down and get the advantage, but you don't know that you have the free."

Conceding that Dublin's 15 wides had proven to be very costly, the manager dismissed the notion that his players might be mentally damaged after throwing away an 11-point lead.

"How many times have we seen a situation where people lose big leads? The wind today was a factor, they had momentum with a couple of points here and there, the (Paudie O'Sullivan) goal was probably the turning point of the game.

"It brought them right back into the game, we came back and got a point but a couple of things at the end, maybe our decision-making wasn't the best. I'd have no worries about that."


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