Why do the same mistakes keep on taking place? I read somewhere that Crossmaglen Rangers, in winning the replayed club All-Ireland final against Dr Crokes had completed a winning sequence of twenty victories in twenty major finals. The list is made up of county championship, provincial and All-Ireland deciders and makes for the most impressive reading. It got me thinking about bad luck and poor refereeing and then it became pretty obvious that if their record is this amazing, the Rangers have never felt the harsh blows of a poor decision or a bad bounce. They have obviously bought into an old piece of advice that coaches like to spread - be so far ahead as to take the role of the referee or Lady Luck out of the equation. Crossmaglen will be unable then to empathise with Crokes over the fiasco that will be known as ´two strikes NOT out´ but they may have some understanding of it. I say all this of course without in any way taking away from their superb fourth title. They were the better team, in the end. But we will never know what might have happened if Eugene Murtagh, the referee at the centre of this controversy, had issued the red card when he obviously should have. And there is surely another angle to this. There should never have been a replay in the first place. The original referee, Syl Doyle of Wexford, missed the 10 or so steps Oisin McConville used to get himself into position to shoot the levelling point. It might only be April, and to be honest we had to wait for a few months to pass before we had a major screw up, but when there are two dreadful errors in the first major football final of the year one has to question how these matters keep popping up, season after season. I understand the fourth official failed to assist the referee even when Crokes pointed out the error and indeed stood idly by as the McEntee twin was replaced by a substitute. Was this yet another case of the referee's helpers getting stage fright? This is a very difficult scenario for players and managers to accept. They have put their lives on hold in an attempt to win these titles and expect the very highest standards. We are talking about basic mistakes in both cases here. Anybody who has played or managed at a high level will understand that these big games nearly always come down to a single point or two either way and thus every referee can unduly influence the destination of the trophy. I understand totally that they do not set out to influence matters in a negative way but mistakes mean it does happen. These unacceptable errors, human though they may be, will leave a sour taste in the mouths of the Kerrymen and slightly taint the deserved win of the northern boys. I often wonder what goes on at Croke Park ´After Action Reviews´ on a Monday morning or if such look-backs take place at all. Is there a ´Lessons Learned Department´ anywhere in the house? You will realise by now that any company that keeps doing things the same way every year but expects a different result really is a candidate for liquidation but it seems to me our association are the slowest to learn from previous errors. Remember the Cork minor that replicated the exact offence we now write of? A minor semi-final against Derry a few years back when two yellows failed to realise the red and he played on. Basketball has a single sheet with all the match details and they leave it in the safe hands of a fourth table official who is responsible for score-keeping, time keeping and the noting of cautions. Matters work perfectly and there is no let up in the action. We need this so fast it is not funny, because the summer is just around the corner and have no doubt the usual problems will raise their ugly heads again: not enough/too much time played, too many subs used, blood sub rule abused, black, yellow and red cards get mixed up and cards issued to one player noted in the refs book beside another. We have yet to see an error with the score keeping in a major game but it happens regularly enough at club level. Are you holding your breath? January 2007 marked the issue of the new and updated Parts 1 and 2 of the GAA Official Guide and excellent publications they are too. All the recent amendments, rule changes and disciplinary procedures are included in an effort to consolidate and overhaul what was previously there. But will it form any basis for improvement? Probably not, because managers and players do not trouble themselves with such trivialities and we noted the Offaly county secretary mis-read a rule also. Most officials, if they admitted it, are in the same boat as the rest of us - ropey enough on the rules and regulations that govern us. It is fair to repeat that the best informed are indeed our referees and their biggest problem is when it comes to interpretation. So, a fair bit done, but a site more to do. Tweet

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