Laochra Gael 6/3/06 - Mickey Kearins

[realredhandfan]

FranKie Donnelly Carmen and Tyrone great holds the individual Tyrone record for a game against Fermanagh I believe.  Cant remember how much.

[SLIGONIAN]

My dad reminds me of one of his best performances often.

Apparatently Kearins scored 15pts (11 from play) against Mayo in the championship AET I think. That speaks volumes.

[An Gaeilgoir]

Yeah,My father was at that match,he said he was quite hard as well as been a superb footballer. Ye could do with a few of his sort now.

[paddypastit]

Enjoyable programme all right. Interesting to hear Eamon Carney talk about about people going to club games just to see MK - mine weasn't a football family per se and the only adult club game I ever saw before I was actrually directly involved in one as a player was when my father brought me to see MK play in a club League game against Geevagh just after they got promoted from Junior sometime in the early 70s.  IN those days there was just Junior and Senior.  I saw him play at club levelk a number of times in his later years - he played up to the late 80s at junior level. I actually marked him in a tournamnet game in 86 I think on the eve of the AI final in the Civil Service grounds in Islandbridge in Dublin, it was a Sligo Association gig that was a bit of a tradition in years gone by, it was dying by then. We - S Gaels - were a bit of a late call up so I wouldn't exactly have had a good night's sleep the night before if you follow but I might as well not have been there - I couldn't get neear the ball, and he must have been 45 or so at the time, and not terribly mobile.  Very good ref - knew every trick in the book. Actually teneded to favour backs a little ion that he would penalise a forward that didn't 'use' the ball so if you could someohow hold a lad up without actually holdimng him, you got the call.

Enjoyed the half hour

[magpie seanie]

Enjoyable programme alright. Hearing the commentator repeat "Sligo are Connacht champions..." after the final whistle in '75 sounded was pretty nice. There was some good footage of games but an awful pity there wasn't more. When you look back both him and Sligo were horrid unlucky down the years. All those bloody draws. The feckin Galway team of the mid sixties. We're cursed.

[IolarCoisCuain]

I was astonished to hear that Sligo delegates voted against him reffing the 1989 Final. Any idea why that was Seánie? Was it because of Mayo involvement, or was there dirty work at the crossroads?

He seemed pretty bitter about it. I thought it a sad way to finish a fantastic career. Fair play to TG4 for profiling him. They understand what the GAA is about.

[magpie seanie]

I don't know enough about it to be honest but suspect it was to do with the allegation that he was told to even things up in the semi (ie send of a Cork man in the second half) and didn't. Paddy might be able to shed more light on it.

[realredhandfan]

Looked to be one of the all time greats, a wonderful forward, Looks also like his own people shafted him in 89, and hes still bitter. 

[Lecale2]

I didn't know much about the man before watching the programme. Good show about a very interesting career. There aren't many top class players who take up refereeing after their playing career ends. He did seem very bitter about the actions of his own county's delegates. I'd be interested to hear more but we probably never will.

[ONeill]

I was astonished to hear that Sligo delegates voted against him reffing the 1989 Final. Any idea why that was Seánie? Was it because of Mayo involvement, or was there dirty work at the crossroads?

He seemed pretty bitter about it. I thought it a sad way to finish a fantastic career. Fair play to TG4 for profiling him. They understand what the GAA is about.

Would be interested to find out more about this. Why would that have happened? Any chance it was for his own good as Mayo were there and if they lost (as they invariably do) he might have gotten a hard time. Doubt that though.

[spectator]

It was always bewildered us that MK tended to favour backs so much during his reffing days also.

Often, even during big Ros \ Mayo games, both sets of supporters would momentarily abandon rivalries & unite in agreeing that he was one of the most infuriating refs we'd ever come across. A die-hard fan declared in total frustation one day " He's consistently inconsistent and that's the besht wan can say about him [as a ref]"

For all that, he'd left his legacy as a great player on the field of play and that's quite rightly what he'll be remembered for in the future.