Lads does anyone know what the rulebook says in relation to an abandoned game due to indiscipline from one team?

In the St. Marys and Kilbride match last night, St. Marys were winning by 6 or 7 points with less than 10 minutes left and kilbride were down to 14 men.

The ref abandoned the match citing Kilbride's persistent indiscipline. I have never heard of a game being called off for this reason??

So will the game most likely have to be replayed or can the points be awarded to St. Mary's?

clubm (Meath) - Posts: 87 - 27/03/2011 10:32:38    896901

No wonder Kilbride lost their disipline, after beating both an understrenght Curraha and Dunsany team they thought for sure they were going to win the Junior A this year, and then all of a sudden they're losing a game by 5 or 6 points to a Junior B team in the league!!

tonytookamotor (Meath) - Posts: 139 - 27/03/2011 11:15:22    896914

its no winder it was called of im a marys man and the abuse that came from the players and mentors was unreal..its no wonder we have no up coming referees.. i think the points shud be awarded to the winning team as u cnt fault them

whites (Kildare) - Posts: 3 - 27/03/2011 14:23:45    896974

And the referee that refered the game is new to refereing(and if I am correct this was his first div 4 match to referee) and I have seen him a few times now and he is a fabulous ref and I hope that he and many other young men like him dont get turned away from refereing because of fools on the pitch and on the sideline who dont know the rules and who wouldn't even referee a game if you paid them. Its a disgrace and Kilbride should be heavily diciplined for this.

12Royal (Meath) - Posts: 987 - 27/03/2011 18:48:13    897168

If anyone was at the match and knows their football, they will know that the match should not have been abandoned, that is the main issue.

Not a dirty stroke in the match, one man sent off for 2 soft yellows, less than 2-3 other yellow cards. Lads, if you think that Meath football has come to this where a ref decides to take his ball and go home just because bit of chatter ( which goes on in every single game, every one ) then we may all just give up. It's a passionate game and it's supposed to be very passionate in our county.

I have played an awful lot of games now ( too many probably ) and I can tell you that there have been some wild affairs - on the pitch , off the pitch and this one was one of the mildest matches you will ever see. There was no melee, no fights, no bad tackles, no elbows, no shmozzles, no one put a hand on the ref, no supporters abused the ref, no mentors abused the ref ( althought Marys manager was understandably very annoyed ), it's just hard to fathom.

Maybe he will be a good ref but in my view a young, very young ref ( not even 20 ) should work his way up and get some more experience before abandoning his first AFL match.

Anyway, must be said that St. Marys were playing well and winning at the time and fair dues to them, but Kilbride were coming back in to it despite a phantom penalty and a cruel sending off and it was by no means a foregone conclusion. Yes it was harsh on Marys but Kilbride wanted to play on and it was also harsh on supporters etc of both teams.

matrixroyal (Meath) - Posts: 96 - 27/03/2011 20:20:12    897257

maxtrixroyal I think you're slighly biased, obviously you're from Kilbride yourself. I wasn't at the game but nothing can excuse abusing a referee, of course everybody is passionate about their football, but when that boils over to abusing the ref it's not on. I feel sorry for referees these days, it's the most thankless job ever, I really don't know why anybody would want to become a referee. He obviously didn't call the match off cause it was dirty, Kilbride were losing and obviously took it out on the him. Points should go the St.Marys and Kilbride should be disiplined.

tonytookamotor (Meath) - Posts: 139 - 27/03/2011 20:34:29    897277

Matrixroyal,

Certainly a very soft penaly but the red card was deserved. The player was on a yellow and made a silly cynical foul and rightly deserved a second yellow. He didnt do himself any favors throughout the match biting at the referee constantly.

Surely the county board will have to award the points to st mary's, 6 points up with 8 mins left and man man extra. They did nothing wrong and shouldnt be punished for a team chasing the game getting it abandoned. The only losers in all this would be st marys after coming up from div 5 last year and will probably be fighting all the way to stay up in div 4, taking points from a team which almost certainly would have see out the game.

I dont see the county board have any option but to award st marys the points

clubm (Meath) - Posts: 87 - 27/03/2011 21:20:59    897361

Tony - Fair enough, you were not at the match but you are making some assumptions there that are no true, the ref wasn't abused or anything like it. If you make a few controversial decisions you are going to get some backchat and that happens in every single game and actually at the time that the ref called it off, both teams were trying to win the game and trying to play football. Nobody wanted it called off and there was no need.

Clubm - I don't blame St. Mary's for feeling hard done by you are wrong to say that Kilbride got the game abandoned, couldn't be further from the truth.

matrixroyal (Meath) - Posts: 96 - 28/03/2011 08:34:33    897439

It's apparent from some of the posters here that slating the ref is the tool of choice, in order to deflect from the shortcomings of their own club. If you were to ask any ref in south Meath which team they would rather not ref, Kilbride would come top of the list. It's nothing personal towards the club or its supporters, but mainly down to the level of abuse directed towards to ref during the game. When I heard about this, I was not at all surprised to hear Kilbride were involved.

I also spoke to a neutral that was at the game, who confirmed the ref was right, and that certain things were said in a manner that should constitute significant bans.

Many teams say refs are against them before the ball is thrown in, and Kilbride seem to want to make this a reality, for them anyway……

CarryOnHurling (Meath) - Posts: 169 - 28/03/2011 12:00:13    897617

matrix,

Come on you were at the game of course there was abuse thrown at the ref, from the very first minute right up until he called the game.

I realise kilbride wanted the game to be finished but at the end of the day kilbride's actions resulted in the game being abandoned and st mary's should not be punished for that

clubm (Meath) - Posts: 87 - 28/03/2011 12:38:44    897656

blah bla bla

matrixroyal (Meath) - Posts: 96 - 28/03/2011 12:50:14    897674

I'm not saying the ref did not get a bit of backchat and maybe technically he shoudl get none at all but if you follow the same logic that he applied there would be no match finished in the county.

Anyone who was not at the match can apply the obvious logic but you would have to see it to believe it. In the history books it would go down as probably the cleanest matche ever played between the 2 clubs.

The same ref abandoned a challenge match 2 weeks ago and had to be begged to come back and continue the match. Kilbride have not had a match abondoned in living memory ( unless you are old ! ) and there is no big history there of any big bans or the like.

matrixroyal (Meath) - Posts: 96 - 28/03/2011 12:52:28    897677

I was at my own club's game yesterday. Talking to another lad and we both agreed that GAA refereeing is a completely thankless job. I wouldn't go near it.

Matrixroyal,
You say above that there was some back chat to the referee. Have you had a word with any of those responsible to ensure it won't happen again, or have all your energies been spent coming on here and blaming the referee?

Greenfield (Meath) - Posts: 524 - 28/03/2011 14:19:08    897753

Referee abused in Meath, my oh my ! .

BallsMcQ (USA) - Posts: 941 - 28/03/2011 14:47:43    897782

Referees cannot take it on themselves every time they dont like what they hear to abandon games or none would be finished. The referee showed a petulance that is not good for our game.Players always disagree with referees in every code. Noone mentioned the fact that it was a late challenge on a Kilbride player that led to the abandonment. The ref was asked to consult his umpires in a non aggressive manner. He then threw his toys out of his pram and said he had enough and abandoned the game. The challenge was awkward but I dont think it was malicious.

trainsplanes (Meath) - Posts: 7 - 28/03/2011 15:34:23    897834

You can try and spin it anyway you want.
The referee in question has a reputation for being firm but fair, and I have personally attended a few of his games. I have found him to be knowledgeable on the rules of the game, and good at reading the game/play (something which many don't even recognise as a skill in a referee).

I can tell right now, you and your band of brothers will continue to attack this referee until the case is heard at the CCC, where Kilbride and some of the people responsible will be suspended. You will be outraged that this ref did this to your team/club. It will be appealed where some if not all will get either reduced suspensions or get off entirely. You will then claim that the club was shown as not being at fault, and that it was the ref that got it wrong on the day.

CarryOnHurling (Meath) - Posts: 169 - 28/03/2011 16:25:04    897890

trainsplanes,

A kilbride mentor was sending out the message to his players after 15 mins that if any of them talked back to the referee again they would be substituted...15 mins into the game!! Thats how early the complaining and abuse was goin on was going on.

It was not a late challange that got the match abandoned. The ref had said 5 mins previous that any more complaining from kilbride and he would abandon the game. The players kept complaining and he called the game. Now neither team wanted the game abandoned but Kilbride cannot say they were not warned!!

clubm (Meath) - Posts: 87 - 28/03/2011 16:55:45    897924

Matrixroyal

the referee was being abused right from the start. i was at the game and heard it first hand. the referee was right in his decision.

joefitz (Meath) - Posts: 7 - 28/03/2011 17:56:39    897988

matrixroyal ,you must never have heard about the 1965 senior final in Navan when Martin Quinn sat on the ball and the game was abandoned and was awarded to Skryne in the boardroom.

jake1 (Meath) - Posts: 268 - 28/03/2011 18:03:53    897996

I was playin this match i am a marys man.. It was a disgrace from kilbride i alls heard kilbride people sayin wen we see u out we wil get u.. They should be band from GAA for that kind of behaviour..Its not welcome in our sports..

ckmd (Meath) - Posts: 7 - 28/03/2011 18:51:26    898047