Mulligan Eamonn,

If it was Monaghan and Derry were playing it would of been all over the front pages today... And we wouldnt stop hearing about it untill the end of the summer.

Omen (Monaghan) - Posts: 205 - 25/01/2010 18:42:22    542202

lyoto and jinxie - striking is a red card offence. Anyone who threw a punch should have been sent off. If that means an abandoned match so be it.

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4649 - 25/01/2010 18:53:55    542215

Players really should have had a bit of cop on, i know from the Loais point of view they probably wanted to make a point after last years debacle but in fairness its just an O Byrne cup quarter final!
I reckon the ref could have cut it out aswell if he stepped in earlier. Gonna damage both Kildare and Laois' prospects in the National League this.
To all the Meath and Dublin people, there will be an aftermath for this. Its already in all the papers, top story in the sports news bulletins on the radio and an investigation by the Leinster council.

Andy (Laois) - Posts: 371 - 25/01/2010 19:03:27    542226

Who was fighting in the game? The way some posters are writing its the referee who is to blame, as he did not deal with an earlier situation!!! Again who was fighting? Its the same old story, fellas start saying ..apart from that 3 minute brawl the game was good.... or.. the referee let it go early on and then ... all hell broke out...or... why were these __ players only sent off, sure others did more and nothing happened to them.

I am fed up of this every year in the GAA. Managers and players coming out with the same garbage. And don't anyone say, or think, ah you are from Carlow what do you know about it, or, you really don't have a right to an opinion here on this issue due to the poor football ye play in Carlow!!!

The players and the managers are responsible for what happened. Players are playing because they are the best in their county. They have a responsibility to the game and should be mature enough to step back a bit when an incident starts. But, no, these players refuse to show self discipline and step back.

They obviously believe that its a sign of a lack of responsibility and cameraderie with their fellow players, and that they let their team mates down if they do not get involved if a melee starts. That is as i see it. And no, i was not at the game, but i have talked with a few who were there.

What should now happen? Well, it seems that 'an investigation' is under way. What will happen? I think the players should recieve the suspension that they deserve.

One poster from Meath suggests that if players are fighting with their fists that they are 'letting off steam'! Good one, never heard that one before!!!! So is it ok for this to go unpunished and those who kick only, to be sent off ? The GAA has been disgraceful in the past in how it has dealt with such situations and as we start a new decade it will set the tone for the whole year. Personally i hope that it was a one off and will not happen again, but knowing what the GAA has done in the past i am not sure that we will not have a repeat.

carlowman (Carlow) - Posts: 1875 - 25/01/2010 19:25:09    542253

i cant spell.

Down follower (Down) - Posts: 193 - 25/01/2010 19:39:42    542269

Brolly,
Exactly. Your right. Theres no way them lads should have went to that Monaghan v Derry game last year to watch good clean Ulster football, I think it left them too soft!

Jinxie (Meath) - Posts: 6347 - 25/01/2010 19:41:27    542273

Over reaction as usual, it didn't seem that bad from the reports out there, no one gone to hospital, no riots.............just a slow news day

Cranky360 (Mayo) - Posts: 834 - 25/01/2010 19:55:10    542287

Massive RTE coverage of some GAA handbag duels, but theyre very quiet when a rugby player gets his eyes gouged out. Typical RTE bias.

Redfoot (Cork) - Posts: 388 - 25/01/2010 19:59:21    542292

ninjasmyth County: Louth Ref, should have abandoned the match with 24 players involved. and both teams should be thrown out of the competition and other early competitions for this year. Any sideline players or management involved? To be honest its an absolute disgrace, with young kids and fans of football there watching and learning. I hope they all get considerable bans. Its only the O'Byrne cup for God sake. This really disappoints me. After the Tadhg Kennelly incident in last years final and his book, it partly justified a means-to-an-end in the game, to get an advantage. Young players will be influenced by this, so I do hope the powers that be, send out a strong signal. Maybe they should introduce all home games in Kildare and Laois to have no supporters allowed this year. That would hurt them where it really hurts the most at this time. Sendings off are not enought _________ ninjasmyth, For God sake man would you get real. Squid

squidword (Louth) - Posts: 2897 - 25/01/2010 20:16:30    542308

WELL DONE SYL !!!!!

yellabelly (Wexford) - Posts: 1062 - 25/01/2010 20:34:15    542324

A query - is five players being sent off all at the same time unprecedented in intercounty football at any level?

I've never heard of such an incident before & wonder if anybody else had.

Apparently the ref got them all in a circle & just flashed the red card at them all simultaneously with one hand movement.

dingle1 (Clare) - Posts: 805 - 25/01/2010 21:36:05    542432

Cranky360,bang on fair play to you.No-one gone to hospital and no riots,no-one hurt.Probably nothing but pushing and pulling,as usual.No big deal,and no need for massive suspensions just because a lad backed up his mates.

lyoto.machida (Meath) - Posts: 343 - 25/01/2010 21:38:49    542438

Being somewhat of a neutral altough I live in Laois. It was far from handbag lads this was up there with the battle of Omagh,Dublin v meath.Laois v louth and the rest.How anthony Rainbow didnt get the line i'll never know.Laois number 5 and Dermot early were very lucky to stay on when the row was in full swing. How Early stayed on either i'll never know.Yet the ref just sent off the Laois number 3. Sweeneys tackle on quigley about 5 mins before the row started everything Quigley reacted with an elbow and the two started to trade blows but the ref kinda ignored it and went to throw up the ball which was amazing. Then all hell broke loose i think up to 28 players got involved. I think Kildare were very robust in the tackle but the reaction of some of the more experienced laois players didnt help a match that was on boiling point. Kildare number 4 should have went for a punch but ref seemed to side with Kildare in the big flash points but yet gave Laois softer frees throught the game. Kildare were the better team in a game that turned into a farce..I would say laois looked a little fitter in stamina terms considering they had more ball than kildare in last 20 mins despite only having 11 men.Kildare however look like they were spending more time in the gym and look very bulky. Not sure what view the Leinster council will take on this but i really think the ref didnt have one of his better days with helped lite and already dry fuse!

BigJohn.6_8 (Galway) - Posts: 704 - 26/01/2010 13:56:45    542828

chainsaw
County: Laois
Posts: 509

So because we were involved in a melee 19 years ago we should not be allowed to ever complain about violence in the game. I reckon every county has been involved in a big mellee at some stage, so we should all say nothing and just accept it. I'm all for a tough game but kicking a lad off the ball is thuggery. as ninjasmyth said it wouldn't be acceptable in newbridge on a Saturday night so why is it acceptable on the Gaelic field.

Louth Gael (Louth) - Posts: 1227 - 26/01/2010 14:36:41    542875

Jinxie,
Agree that the punishment for melees is not fully clear when the CCC, etc. gets involved which is wrong, but the punishment should be a strong timely dismissal for matches, not say a 2 month suspension which allows the players back for NFL games. Everone knows if there is 'History' between players you sort it out at the start of the year so, it doesn't affect the important games later on. Examples, Laois V Kildare 2010, Tyrone V Dublin 2006, Dublin V Meath 2008.
Squid,
I believe the only way to deal with this is to put it out of the mind of players now, and do not leave the options open for interpretation. Maybe introduce a new ref card, say Black..which means your off for your next 6 county matches. (Since noting and the black book is visably gone it could work out quite easily for referees to administer on the field of play)

ninjasmyth (Louth) - Posts: 746 - 26/01/2010 16:48:19    543099

Carlowman

What do u kno about football? Do they even play it in Carlow? I thought Carlow was in Kildare? Only jokin lad :)

Brolly (Monaghan) - Posts: 4472 - 26/01/2010 17:20:00    543160

ninjasmyth
County: Louth

Firstly i agree if your going to send off 5 for fighting in a 28 man brawl then abandon the match and punish the counties. However thats as far as i agree with you.
You suggest that ourselves and Kildare should be thrown out of not just that competition but future ones, therefore punishing us more than other counties that have been involved in mass brawls. Were is the justice there?

No supporters at the games! Why, it was not the supporters who fought. If you want to punish the counties financially then give them a fine, whats the point of having no supporters at the games? Makes no sense.

You also give the indication the fighting was silly as its only the O'Byrne cup, maybe if it had been Lenister or All Ireland championship games it would make more sense to you and be more justifiable? It was a game between neighboring rivals and as with the great majority of football players they want to win.

I was at the match and i don't think the Ref was at fault for the fight that broke out. But he was responsible for the hassle after half time. When theres a 28 man brawl you don't send off 3 from one team and two from another, it creates a sense of injustice, especially in this case as we only had one out and out forward in the second half and had to run the ball through the Kildare team, maximizing the amount of contact and tackling.

As for the fight, the ball was to be thrown in between Quigley and Sweeney, they were pushing each other too much and the ref turned around and picked two other players. Quigley, who is admittedly an angry man, looked like he hit Sweeney a dig to the ribs or a more delicate place, it was hard to see they were standing shoulder to shoulder with their backs to the stand. Quigley then went for the breaking ball from the throw up, he caught the ball and received a fair shoulder, he fell to the ground and made a pass to a Laois player who then played the ball out of defense. The ref followed the play. A Kildare player, not sure if it was Rainbow or White came in late on Quigley with a bit a kick/knee, at which point Donagher the Laois wing back started throwing punches at the Kildare player. If you cant see how this escalated from there in to the 28 man brawl then you have not been to enough GAA matches. One of the first rules of football or hurling growing up playing the game is 'one in all in', no team that has trained together and played together, in some cases for over 10 years are going to stand looking at their team mate being punched or hit while on the ground.

Lets be realistic here, while this kind of thing should be punished and players banned lets not get hysterical. Fights like this will happen, there is no getting away from it. Even in rugby, in international games with huge TV audiences and complete TV coverage, it happens. In a sport such as GAA and rugby were there is a great deal of physical contact, there will always be that edge to games. Thats why we watch them, we want fast, skill full, hard tackling games. If your too sensitive to watch a fight every now and again, and it doesn't happen as much as it used to, you should switch to soccer.

MarineBiologist (Laois) - Posts: 7 - 26/01/2010 17:59:11    543210

Ninjasmyth,would ya mind answering then should the player automatically get a long suspension just because he was involved in a melee,or on the basis of what he did in that melee?Should a player be banned for 6 matches because he swung a fella around by the jersey or wrestled him to the ground?Because this happens in every game,melee or no melee.People need to man up in my opinion,nobody was hurt.
On a side note,its very hard to pick out players in a melee to send off,especially when everyones involved.Take 1996 for example,and Colm Coyle and Liam McHale getting the line.Now we all know that Mchale sung from the fences for lads,but poor Colm was trying his best to stay away from the bad men,he even ran over to some of his team-mates pleading with them to stop...

lyoto.machida (Meath) - Posts: 343 - 26/01/2010 19:09:34    543294

anybody seen by officials throwing a punch should be sent off, its not a difficult concept. The rules are there and should be implemented regardless of how many people are sent off.

I applaud the referee for not taking the cowardly option of just sending one off from each team

As for some here calling people 'soft' or a 'mans game 'etc etc. Cop on. This type of thuggery has no place in GAA. You should talk to any player who has had his jaw broken and ate through a straw for months after a blind side punch by some 'hard man' in a melee and youll realise that this is not a case of lads being soft

Its cowardly and dangerous. If you cant control yourself on a pitch you shouldnt be playing the game, simple.

bad.monkey (USA) - Posts: 4649 - 26/01/2010 20:11:16    543371

players should be banned for games not "time" hit them with 5 or 6 game bans include champ games , why dont gaa get real with bans and not token "time" bans . was at game as a neutral , kildare were overpumped up for a so called mickey mouse game , they seemed to want to put down a marker ,,whatever the cost. laois are off the mark for a few years now , and dont look like being anywhere this season,

townblue (Offaly) - Posts: 35 - 26/01/2010 20:38:34    543419