In the likely event that I may drift into a griping and complaining mode before the end of this column I will get all the pleasantries and compliments out of the way early.

Congratulations to all involved with the Cookstown Fr Rocks club that had the honour of bringing back an All-Ireland title to Tyrone. They lifted the Intermediate football championship title with a well deserved victory over Spa of Kerry.

Particular credit is obviously due to my old team-mate Chris 'Cricko' Lawn and my fellow teaching colleague Declan 'Perfume' O'Neill who between them certainly installed in their troops a sense of purpose and, of course, unity. Hard work and unity will get you so far but when All-Irelands are to be won then natural ability and talent are also required and with players like Raymie Mulgrew, Marty Murray, Paul McGurk, Barry Hughes and Mugsy on board then the Fr. Rocks were never going to be short of these qualities.

Unfortunately I will be experiencing this new found enthusiasm at close quarters in the very near future as my own club, Errigal Ciaran, has been drawn to meet Cookstown in the first round of the Tyrone senior championship. What an intriguing contest that should prove to be. However, until then, best wishes to all concerned on this marvellous victory.

Congratulations go as well to the DCU footballers who picked up another Sigerson trophy last week when they defeated UCC by four points. Surprisingly this is only their second success in this competition. With the talent that's at their disposal and the conditioning they receive from Dr Niall Moyna you would expect their name to be on the trophy a few more times at least. This tough, battling competition highlights the need for team unity, team spirit, a cause. There were many talented teams who failed to secure any silverware in their Sigerson journey. A brilliant breeding ground for real footballers.

It is indeed very easy to select positive features from our sport and discuss their many virtues and benefits but unfortunately I feel compelled to return to the issues that I believe are causing most concern among the Gaelic public.

I've had the privilege to watch a few good games in recent weeks including school games, county games and club games like the Cookstown v Spa and St Galls v Corofin matches. And like I've said there was a lot to feel good about in all of these games.

However, in some of these games there were decisions made by officials that highlight one of the big problems that the GAA has today. 'Mistakes' is probably a better description than 'decisions' but I don't wish to sound too harsh on the men in black.

Many pundits and commentators are reluctant to be critical of the officials on duty - particularly the referee - and I can understand this fully. It would appear that we are being disrespectful, not just to the person individually, but to the post that he holds and aware also that it almost seems cheap to be taking a pop at the official out there in the firing line while we sit up in the stand relaxed and warm. Sometimes though we must call it as we see it.

We (almost every follower I know) yearn to have referees on the field of the calibre of those we see on duty in the Six Nations rugby. Not only do they appear to be clear and precise in their decision making but we can actually hear them communicate forcefully with the players and explain confidently their actions. On the other hand we see the players afford these officials their greatest respect.

This is a far cry from the recent club semi-finals featuring Portlaoise v Kilmurry Ibrickane and St Galls v Corofin - during which neither clarity nor respect was evident. With regard to the latter game Cormac Reilly's decision to issue two red cards during the course of the game was harsh to say the least. These players have made many sacrifices to get where they are and to receive a red card for over-eagerness (which I believe is what it was) in an All-Ireland semi-final is very hard to accept. Because of the timing of the incident Anto Healy's sending off didn't have the same impact on St Galls as Gary Sice's sending off had on Corofin. St Galls were undoubtedly the better team but Corofin can feel aggrieved as the loss of one of their better players is bound to have hindered them.

The sending-offs also highlighted the inconsistency of the refereeing when the game was cluttered with similar fouls yet no cards were shown. Players were continually stopped in play to come back and take a free which in doing so actually handed an advantage to the other team. Touching the ball on the ground, square balls and hand-passing were all issues that could have been queried on the night.

Unfortunately, in the other All-Ireland semi-final between Portlaoise and Kilmurry-Ibrickane I believe that Michael Duffy also had a poor day in charge and in this game one or two of the losing team's supporters went a little too far in their remonstrations. (Feeling aggrieved by a few poor refereeing decisions will usually subside by the time the final whistle comes around but when several poor decisions are awarded against you in quick succession then a feeling of injustice is born, even when this is not the case). Again I feel the sending-offs were harsh given what was at stake and given that there was no malice involved. Strict dominant refereeing does not require red cards but I do understand how and why the man in charge can feel the urge to use them when he wishes to impose himself on the game. Whether this is something he should be seeking to do is also up for debate.

Watching the game as a neutral I did feel Kilmurry got the break on a couple of borderline calls but there is no doubt the Clare men had come ready for battle and remained fairly disciplined throughout. As with Cormac Reilly, Michael Duffy also stopped the game too often for frees that were no advantage to the team in possession. While his decisions can be justified by reading the rule book it does not mean they needed to be given.

I feel reluctant to comment on the recent Tyrone v Mayo NFL game simply because I may not be able to leave my bias out of it but it resembled the games already discussed and highlights the same problems. Jimmy White who, prior to the new rules I considered one of the top refs, had a poor game. Supporters from both teams were confused at many of his decisions and once again the game was held up or called back for small infringements that only hindered the team in possession and stemmed the flow of the game. The referee's interpretation of the experimental rules was not always consistent and Mayo were awarded a free directly in front of goals for a legitimate fist pass by Pascal McConnell. How much will that decision cost Tyrone before the league is over is anybody's guess at this stage but it may well prove costly.

No, I am certainly not having a pop at the men in black. I have suffered greatly in the past by a couple of refereeing errors and have not spoken about them because they were isolated incidents. The reasons why I have mentioned the games above are two fold. I do respect the referees mentioned but, hopefully, they may agree with me that they did not have great games in these instances. As I have mentioned earlier we yearn for referees that demand respect.

Refereeing performances like those mentioned above confirm my belief that the success of our games is not dependent on the rules that are in place but totally dependent on the referees interpretation and implementation of them. Perhaps if the powers that be could channel the energy currently being expended on video reviews and CCCC meetings into referee development then perhaps there would be fewer contentious issues up for debate. The formation of a top band of referees (semi-pro if necessary) is one option that must be considered.

Recently Seamus McEnaney rightly suggested that there should be no more rule changes for at least the next five years - and if that were to happen we might even get the chance to write about a bit of football and leave the 'aul' refs alone! Tweet

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