joseff
County: Louth
Posts: 657

702488 I hope Meath win it anyway

Yours In Sport,
Joseff (supporting the royals)

Well sure you should be happy enough with the result. What right has any supporter (loose use of the term) to come on to apitch and give his/her opinion to a referee?

omaghredhand (Tyrone) - Posts: 3656 - 13/07/2010 19:55:34    707816

Louth Gael
County: Louth
Posts: 482

7510 Once again i will say they are not thugs or louts they are proud Louth fans.

If they are, then it says an awful lot about Louth GAA support. Here is what I would feel is a fair summation of the after-match scens.

1. At least six grown men layed hands on the referee, all in a threating manner. All went out onto that pitch to inflict serious physical harm on the ref.

2. Colm Judge, the Louth forward who had been sent off, also attempted to strike the referee and had to be warned away by fellow players and a Louth fan.

3. Mark Ward was struck during the trophy presentation, an image of the striking is all over the internet.

4. Sean Boylan was also struck in a corporate box by an irate Louth fan.

5. A shower of bottles and other items mis-used as weapons, were thrown from the Davin Stand, which eventually left a steward needing medical attention.

These are not the actions of proud fans. They can only be described as thuggish. I have never witnessed any such scenes at Meath club matches and if it goes on in Louth, then perhaps we can understand a bit better why these fans did what they did. To dismiss them like you have is foolish and wrong, and if the shoe was on the other foot, no doubt you would be singing from a different hymn sheet.

I would also like to add that I have heard many stories since Sunday of Louth fans misbehaving, to put it politely, outside the grounds. I was unfortunate enough myself to come across one such incident and that more than anything else, left the worst taste. I think too many Louth supporters showed up the county after the game yesterday to put it down to just "one or two". There is a serious problem in Louth GAA (and your own admission Louth Gael would lead us all to further believe this), and the Louth County Board plus the GAA themselves need to act. First off would criminal charges brought on those clearly in the wrong on Sunday, and secondly disciplinary action on Louth supporters. Banning them from future games in Croke Park is a possible solution. I should probably say that I don't tar all Louth people with the one brush.

Loyal2TheRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 4522 - 13/07/2010 19:59:24    707820

Those guys on the pitch were bullies, plain and simple. they charged on there with anger inside them and without any regard for the consequences of their actions. We've all been fired up at a match at some time or other but we don't vault onto the pitch to have a go (do we?)

The only reasonable reaction is to hand them over to the Gárds and ban them for life from every GAA ground. This must never become acceptable behaviour. Don't try and defend the indefensible.

caughtredhanded (Tyrone) - Posts: 602 - 13/07/2010 20:01:56    707825

13/07/2010 18:02:51
Louth Gael
County: Louth
Posts: 482

707625 If that came to louth i can assure you these men would gladly face him on the street but that is nothing to do with the issue, which essentially is a storm in a teacup compared to what cause the fans to react as they did.

Confident talk. Maybe you could lend them your keyboard and they could use that to protect themselves.

Loyal2TheRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 4522 - 13/07/2010 20:03:09    707827

omaghredhand
County: Tyrone
Posts: 2004

707722 What club are you from greengrass, is this your first time hearing of an incident like this, what exactly was so disgusting, the ref getting a push. That shouldn't happen obviously but in the circumstances in which it did i cannot condemn those fans, if anything they brought it too the countries attention with out doing anybody any damage, this rubbish about attacks and assualts, please people just watch the video in the context of what had just happened and remember how high emotions were at that minute when the whistle was blown. This small incident with fans made the injustice put on us the front page news of every paper in the country.

I agree with Omaghredhand, do you seriously believe this rubbish?

Two wrongs don't make a right. Nobody ever explain the meaning of that to you? Please don't try and deflect away from this by hinting that the fans were justified in their actions.

Loyal2TheRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 4522 - 13/07/2010 20:11:00    707840

I can't believe that there is anyone, on any basis who would condone what happened. its disgusting. whether nobody threw a punch at the referee is not the point, its that 10 or so lads ran on to the pitch and verbally and physically abused a man who made an honest mistake. Someone who, without, we could not have our games. Someone who is entitled to our respect, for going out and doing this. He made the biggest mistake of his career, but an honest mistake nonetheless. Condoning thuggery like this is pathetic

abhainn (Galway) - Posts: 1000 - 13/07/2010 20:16:57    707846

Loyal2TheRoyal
County: Meath
Posts: 3582

707820 Louth Gael
County: Louth
Posts: 482

7510 Once again i will say they are not thugs or louts they are proud Louth fans.

If they are, then it says an awful lot about Louth GAA support. Here is what I would feel is a fair summation of the after-match scens.

1. At least six grown men layed hands on the referee, all in a threating manner. All went out onto that pitch to inflict serious physical harm on the ref.

2. Colm Judge, the Louth forward who had been sent off, also attempted to strike the referee and had to be warned away by fellow players and a Louth fan.

3. Mark Ward was struck during the trophy presentation, an image of the striking is all over the internet.

4. Sean Boylan was also struck in a corporate box by an irate Louth fan.

5. A shower of bottles and other items mis-used as weapons, were thrown from the Davin Stand, which eventually left a steward needing medical attention.

These are not the actions of proud fans. They can only be described as thuggish. I have never witnessed any such scenes at Meath club matches and if it goes on in Louth, then perhaps we can understand a bit better why these fans did what they did. To dismiss them like you have is foolish and wrong, and if the shoe was on the other foot, no doubt you would be singing from a different hymn sheet.

I would also like to add that I have heard many stories since Sunday of Louth fans misbehaving, to put it politely, outside the grounds. I was unfortunate enough myself to come across one such incident and that more than anything else, left the worst taste. I think too many Louth supporters showed up the county after the game yesterday to put it down to just "one or two". There is a serious problem in Louth GAA (and your own admission Louth Gael would lead us all to further believe this), and the Louth County Board plus the GAA themselves need to act. First off would criminal charges brought on those clearly in the wrong on Sunday, and secondly disciplinary action on Louth supporters. Banning them from future games in Croke Park is a possible solution. I should probably say that I don't tar all Louth people with the one brush.

Well loyal i've being informed that Meath fans were involved in serious disorder in the drumcondra area sunday night.....Loyal you are a drama queen.....

tomaoo7 (Dublin) - Posts: 5896 - 13/07/2010 20:17:00    707847

Those players went up and took that trophy knowing full well what happened - thats worse than anything that the Louth fans did.

Keeping the foot firmly down on the throat of the smaller counties once again.

sponger (Wicklow) - Posts: 2952 - 13/07/2010 20:17:58    707850

Exactly, well said abhainn

doublehop (Kildare) - Posts: 4172 - 13/07/2010 20:20:13    707857

abhainn
County: Galway
Posts: 115

707846
I can't believe that there is anyone, on any basis who would condone what happened. its disgusting. whether nobody threw a punch at the referee is not the point, its that 10 or so lads ran on to the pitch and verbally and physically abused a man who made an honest mistake. Someone who, without, we could not have our games. Someone who is entitled to our respect, for going out and doing this. He made the biggest mistake of his career, but an honest mistake nonetheless. Condoning thuggery like this is pathetic

Agree 100%. I might be guilty of throwing a few verbals at a ref from the stand in the heat of the moment and I would hold my hands up to that, but I would NEVER (in the heat of any moment) even consider running on to a pitch in a threatening manner to abuse (physically or verbally) a ref. Its just not acceptable or justifiable in ANY situation

benjyyy (Donegal) - Posts: 1432 - 13/07/2010 20:23:32    707862

tomaoo7
County: Dublin
Posts: 5339

Well loyal i've being informed that Meath fans were involved in serious disorder in the drumcondra area sunday night.....Loyal you are a drama queen.....

The clock is ticking, Tom. Your time is almost up.

Feeling we will be hearing an awful lot more from you on here.

Loyal2TheRoyal (Meath) - Posts: 4522 - 13/07/2010 20:27:57    707869

Loyal2TheRoyal
County: Meath
Posts: 3583

707869 tomaoo7
County: Dublin
Posts: 5339

Well loyal i've being informed that Meath fans were involved in serious disorder in the drumcondra area sunday night.....Loyal you are a drama queen.....

The clock is ticking, Tom. Your time is almost up.

Feeling we will be hearing an awful lot more from you on here. ...................Loyal, do you agree then that Meath fans were involved in serious disorder in Dublin sunday night.....Your time is up? im lost i think im burning

tomaoo7 (Dublin) - Posts: 5896 - 13/07/2010 20:37:16    707882

Over passionate? Their wives are lucky ladies...

The_16th_Man (Clare) - Posts: 251 - 13/07/2010 20:38:09    707883

Although most would say it was out of order in the circumstances you can understand the passion and vitriol and at least there was no serious assault, mostly jostling to vent their feelings, the worst incident being the thrown bottle which could easily have caused some damage (assuming it was a glass one).
More pertitently it would be better if the correct decisions were made in the first place to prevent this kind of uproar, it is unacceptable really for the referee not to even consult with the umpires in such an instance surely and even worse for him to just march over and tell one of them to put the flag up when he was stood way too far away to form a proper opinion.
Surely if the umpires couldnt have given a definitive judgement from a couple of yards away there is no hope for them, it was perhaps no coincidence that no flag went up until the referee instructed it.
I do feel however the umpires are generally too old in the GAA, most of them look to be about 65, whereas in aussie rules you get mostly people in their 20s and 30s doing the job with better eyesight and reactions all round.
There were three things wrong with the goal really, the timekeeping which was about a minute over I believe, the scorer in the square and the fact the scorer carried the ball into the net so its beyond belief it could be given surely. OK the clock could be explained by the Louth players timewasting but usually in GAA you get a few seconds over at the most.

fortressruislip (UK) - Posts: 8 - 13/07/2010 20:45:12    707897

The referee did not not set out to rob Louth, he made a genuine mistake, the fans have to control their feelings. louth were robbed but they must rise above it, it's the Meath fans i feel sorry for, because deep down they know their win is tarnished.

Watchrugby (Roscommon) - Posts: 2 - 13/07/2010 21:07:08    707936

I tried to start a near identical thread to this yesterday but admin seem to have it in for me. Look i notice a lot of posters in here go on like their holier than the pope with their conservative ****, truth is real hand on your heart supporters can understand the anger these boys felt, no way was it right that the ref got a bit of a push but he was hardly smacked about the place either. They were not thugs either, you can tell by looking at them they were just ordinary bucks that let the passion get to them. I wouldn't pass any heed of half the holy joes in here, my guess is in real life there just puiny little keyboard warrior or else old fashioned school principals. Supporters who really feel the passion are the real ones, we have a few ejits in Mayo that do my head in too, the ones who tell ya to dry up when you are encouraging the team on, prim and proper GAA fans do my head in, they don't even really care about the team, it's more to with a standing in their community than genuine passion for their county team.

51longago (Mayo) - Posts: 2981 - 13/07/2010 21:08:43    707939

Louth gael
I have been reading your posts over the last day or so and was wondering given
your opinions on the matter were you one of the clowns who interfered with the referee.
You cannot defend the indefensible, graham geragthy interfered with a ref in aclub match
some years ago and was suspend for six months. I have played and watched plenty of games
over the years and can safely say i never saw crap like louth carried on with on sunday. I see
a wicklow man sympathising with you but sure dont they put referees in the boots of cars

atta (Meath) - Posts: 708 - 13/07/2010 21:18:17    707957

I can tell you during the first fifteen minutes of Wicklow vs Kildate last year when the ref gave Kildare everything, only for the fact there is a fence in Tullamore I would have been on the pitch myself.

So Im not going to come on here and hammer those Louth fans last Sunday.

sponger (Wicklow) - Posts: 2952 - 13/07/2010 21:24:46    707972

ATTA

What that ref did last Sunday can NEVER be forgiven.

sponger (Wicklow) - Posts: 2952 - 13/07/2010 21:26:26    707979

Nobody condones the behaviour of the fans who attacked the ref but such a monumental cock-up by the ref was bound to lead to trouble. If any other team was robbed in such circumstances, I would not be at all surprised to see some of their fans react in the same fashion. Refs are human and they will always make honest mistakes - they can't be blamed for that. What was inexcusable in this instance is the unnecessary haste with which the ref made the wrong decision. He completely ignored one umpire and just told the other guy to raise the green flag right away. I don't know what on earth he was thinking - if he did not see the incident clearly, he should have properly consulted his umpires and if he did see it, he should have disallowed the goal and awarded a free-out.

Gaillimh_Abu (Galway) - Posts: 1037 - 13/07/2010 21:27:00    707980