Kerry v Galway, All-Ireland Senior Football Final. 24 July, 2022

[imtommygunn]

Watching that back I definitely think he got the free in to Kerry from the arm hold at the end wrong and it swung the game. The arm was held yes but the arm was near enough round the neck before and definite foul out. The rest of the game he was great - I'm unsure what the right answer is/was on the shoulder sandwich for Kerry. I think most would have given what he did.

I actually think he was right on not giving the Galway goalie a black card too.

[Taylor]

As good as Walsh was today - and he was surreally brilliant, maybe among the top 5 AI final performances I've ever seen - if anyone describes his performance as streets ahead of Clifford, it's only because they're marking Clifford by a different criteria.

The difference between the teams was David Clifford. It's not more complicated than that. He was outstanding.

Agree with that. Both exceptional performances, but for Clifford it was maybe 15% better than what we normally see, for Walsh it was significantly more, 75%??
I would also agree that I think both, especially Clifford ran out of juice a bit before the end. He very noticeably not busting a gut to get back up front on a few occasions in the last 15 - hardly surprising given the disrupted preparation he must have had.

?

[onefineday]

As good as Walsh was today - and he was surreally brilliant, maybe among the top 5 AI final performances I've ever seen - if anyone describes his performance as streets ahead of Clifford, it's only because they're marking Clifford by a different criteria.

The difference between the teams was David Clifford. It's not more complicated than that. He was outstanding.

Agree with that. Both exceptional performances, but for Clifford it was maybe 15% better than what we normally see, for Walsh it was significantly more, 75%??
I would also agree that I think both, especially Clifford ran out of juice a bit before the end. He very noticeably not busting a gut to get back up front on a few occasions in the last 15 - hardly surprising given the disrupted preparation he must have had.

?

He picked up an injury after the cork game, missed the Munster final, was nowhere at full pace for the mayo game and picked up another knock anyway, so you'd imagine he's hardly done much fitness work since mid may.

[imtommygunn]

I'm not seeing anything close to an arm around the neck. I've seen them given as a free out but they are cop out frees. Good call by the ref.

It may have been a bit lower than neck but the arm was in a place where it was a foul. For me that was a bad call - and a big one at that stahe... Galway were tiring though so I still think they probably wouldn't have won it but it'd have been tighter.

[Milltown Row2]

Watching that back I definitely think he got the free in to Kerry from the arm hold at the end wrong and it swung the game. The arm was held yes but the arm was near enough round the neck before and definite foul out. The rest of the game he was great - I'm unsure what the right answer is/was on the shoulder sandwich for Kerry. I think most would have given what he did.

I actually think he was right on not giving the Galway goalie a black card too.

Watch it again, below shoulder and he was 'reaching' in at the ball round the neck is a foul and this wasn't the case

[yellowcard]

Watching that back I definitely think he got the free in to Kerry from the arm hold at the end wrong and it swung the game. The arm was held yes but the arm was near enough round the neck before and definite foul out. The rest of the game he was great - I'm unsure what the right answer is/was on the shoulder sandwich for Kerry. I think most would have given what he did.

I actually think he was right on not giving the Galway goalie a black card too.

Watch it again, below shoulder and he was 'reaching' in at the ball round the neck is a foul and this wasn't the case

Very seldom is the player in possession of the ball penalised in that situation and Spillanes arm was around the neck before Daly grabbed it. It has to be judged in the context of how he refereed the rest of the match and nobody in the stadium would have batted an eyelid if it had been a free out or had he even played on. Nobody expected a free kick to be given to Kerry in that instance, so he got that one wrong. Hence the booing. The very fact that such a match swung on such a crucial decision will gnaw at Galway for a long time to come. 

[Mario]

Watching that back I definitely think he got the free in to Kerry from the arm hold at the end wrong and it swung the game. The arm was held yes but the arm was near enough round the neck before and definite foul out. The rest of the game he was great - I'm unsure what the right answer is/was on the shoulder sandwich for Kerry. I think most would have given what he did.

I actually think he was right on not giving the Galway goalie a black card too.

Watch it again, below shoulder and he was 'reaching' in at the ball round the neck is a foul and this wasn't the case

Very seldom is the player in possession of the ball penalised in that situation and Spillanes arm was around the neck before Daly grabbed it. It has to be judged in the context of how he refereed the rest of the match and nobody in the stadium would have batted an eyelid if it had been a free out or had he even played on. Nobody expected a free kick to be given to Kerry in that instance, so he got that one wrong. Hence the booing. The very fact that such a match swung on such a crucial decision will gnaw at Galway for a long time to come.

Galway only got back into the game because of the free from the shoulder (which wasn't a free), they were 2 points behind at that stage and hadn't scored in over 10 minutes. Kerry looked to be cruising. You could argue either way on the Daly decision i think, both momentum swings at the time but in the end i think it evened itself out.

[yellowcard]

Watching that back I definitely think he got the free in to Kerry from the arm hold at the end wrong and it swung the game. The arm was held yes but the arm was near enough round the neck before and definite foul out. The rest of the game he was great - I'm unsure what the right answer is/was on the shoulder sandwich for Kerry. I think most would have given what he did.

I actually think he was right on not giving the Galway goalie a black card too.

Watch it again, below shoulder and he was 'reaching' in at the ball round the neck is a foul and this wasn't the case

Very seldom is the player in possession of the ball penalised in that situation and Spillanes arm was around the neck before Daly grabbed it. It has to be judged in the context of how he refereed the rest of the match and nobody in the stadium would have batted an eyelid if it had been a free out or had he even played on. Nobody expected a free kick to be given to Kerry in that instance, so he got that one wrong. Hence the booing. The very fact that such a match swung on such a crucial decision will gnaw at Galway for a long time to come.

Galway only got back into the game because of the free from the shoulder (which wasn't a free), they were 2 points behind at that stage and hadn't scored in over 10 minutes. Kerry looked to be cruising. You could argue either way on the Daly decision i think, both momentum swings at the time but in the end i think it evened itself out.

I've seen people mentioning the White shoulder, but again at the time I didn't think it was shoulder to shoulder and didn't think very much of it but I could be wrong. I'd need to watch it again. In real time it looked like a free kick.

Other than that I thought Hurson was very good and has improved a lot as I thought he used to be very whistle happy. However he used common sense most of the time and allowed the game to flow as much as he could which all the top referees do.

[Rossfan]

Watching that back I definitely think he got the free in to Kerry from the arm hold at the end wrong and it swung the game. The arm was held yes but the arm was near enough round the neck before and definite foul out. The rest of the game he was great - I'm unsure what the right answer is/was on the shoulder sandwich for Kerry. I think most would have given what he did.

I actually think he was right on not giving the Galway goalie a black card too.

Watch it again, below shoulder and he was 'reaching' in at the ball round the neck is a foul and this wasn't the case

Very seldom is the player in possession of the ball penalised

The man with the ball nearly always gets away with everything.
Blaming 1 refereeing decision for losing the game is a cop out by Joyce.
If Kerry had their shooting boots in the first half....
Question marks about some of the Galway substitutions....
Shouldn't his goalie have got 2 yellows?

[Milltown Row2]

Watching that back I definitely think he got the free in to Kerry from the arm hold at the end wrong and it swung the game. The arm was held yes but the arm was near enough round the neck before and definite foul out. The rest of the game he was great - I'm unsure what the right answer is/was on the shoulder sandwich for Kerry. I think most would have given what he did.

I actually think he was right on not giving the Galway goalie a black card too.

Watch it again, below shoulder and he was 'reaching' in at the ball round the neck is a foul and this wasn't the case

Very seldom is the player in possession of the ball penalised in that situation and Spillanes arm was around the neck before Daly grabbed it. It has to be judged in the context of how he refereed the rest of the match and nobody in the stadium would have batted an eyelid if it had been a free out or had he even played on. Nobody expected a free kick to be given to Kerry in that instance, so he got that one wrong. Hence the booing. The very fact that such a match swung on such a crucial decision will gnaw at Galway for a long time to come.

The arm was never around his neck, the neck is above the shoulder, just in case you are struggling with that part of the body.. He reached in for the ball, and if we are going to blow for that in ever game then we are screwed, you are entitled to play the ball, tackle neck or above its an easy free out, he was below the shoulder reaching in, the player grabbed his arm. the funny thing is people want that particular part of the game stopped, so for me he called it right, he'd no reason to grab his arm at all.

[tiempo]

Watching that back I definitely think he got the free in to Kerry from the arm hold at the end wrong and it swung the game. The arm was held yes but the arm was near enough round the neck before and definite foul out. The rest of the game he was great - I'm unsure what the right answer is/was on the shoulder sandwich for Kerry. I think most would have given what he did.

I actually think he was right on not giving the Galway goalie a black card too.

Watch it again, below shoulder and he was 'reaching' in at the ball round the neck is a foul and this wasn't the case

Very seldom is the player in possession of the ball penalised in that situation and Spillanes arm was around the neck before Daly grabbed it. It has to be judged in the context of how he refereed the rest of the match and nobody in the stadium would have batted an eyelid if it had been a free out or had he even played on. Nobody expected a free kick to be given to Kerry in that instance, so he got that one wrong. Hence the booing. The very fact that such a match swung on such a crucial decision will gnaw at Galway for a long time to come.

The arm was never around his neck, the neck is above the shoulder, just in case you are struggling with that part of the body.. He reached in for the ball, and if we are going to blow for that in ever game then we are screwed, you are entitled to play the ball, tackle neck or above its an easy free out, he was below the shoulder reaching in, the player grabbed his arm. the funny thing is people want that particular part of the game stopped, so for me he called it right, he'd no reason to grab his arm at all.

100% a free kick, thems the breaks

[yellowcard]

Watching that back I definitely think he got the free in to Kerry from the arm hold at the end wrong and it swung the game. The arm was held yes but the arm was near enough round the neck before and definite foul out. The rest of the game he was great - I'm unsure what the right answer is/was on the shoulder sandwich for Kerry. I think most would have given what he did.

I actually think he was right on not giving the Galway goalie a black card too.

Watch it again, below shoulder and he was 'reaching' in at the ball round the neck is a foul and this wasn't the case

Very seldom is the player in possession of the ball penalised in that situation and Spillanes arm was around the neck before Daly grabbed it. It has to be judged in the context of how he refereed the rest of the match and nobody in the stadium would have batted an eyelid if it had been a free out or had he even played on. Nobody expected a free kick to be given to Kerry in that instance, so he got that one wrong. Hence the booing. The very fact that such a match swung on such a crucial decision will gnaw at Galway for a long time to come.

The arm was never around his neck, the neck is above the shoulder, just in case you are struggling with that part of the body.. He reached in for the ball, and if we are going to blow for that in ever game then we are screwed, you are entitled to play the ball, tackle neck or above its an easy free out, he was below the shoulder reaching in, the player grabbed his arm. the funny thing is people want that particular part of the game stopped, so for me he called it right, he'd no reason to grab his arm at all.

I look forward to referees all over the country giving those as frees against the player in possession up and down the country going forward then. But we know that they won't and that the vast majority of the time the referee will either play on or give a free kick to the player with the ball. A bit like when Gough sent off the 4 Tyrone players for contributing to a melee. By the letter of the law he was within his rights but everybody knew that it wouldn't become the norm going forward as there is an element of common sense and referee discretion applied to GAA refereeing. I just happened to think that taken in context it was not in line with how those decisions are normally refereed. As I said previously, nobody expected the free to be given against Daly in that instance which tells you a lot and my initial reaction was in wondering why Spillane was fist pumping. He knew the importance of the decision.   

[Captain Scarlet]

The tackle needs to be hand in/ hand out. That's what kids re taught these days. The hand went in and across his chest and it stayed in. Then the Galway boy grabs to buy the free but I have never seen a free like that given at club or county.
It wasn't a free in or out in my mind and there would have been no shouts if the play was waved on.

Now, in saying that, there are lads in Kildare who win that free a lot when on the ball. They feel the hand going in and the they kinda move it up around the neck with a little hold and they get a free to win

Aside from all that Galway had a lot of brain farts towards the end. A few really silly passes and even just basic unforced errors, so I don't see how we can look at one incident as being the winning or losing of it. Gleeson could have easily picked up a second yellow after another charge from his line too.

The performances from Walsh and Clifford were from another planet yesterday. I could watch Walsh all day.

[tbrick18]

Watching that back I definitely think he got the free in to Kerry from the arm hold at the end wrong and it swung the game. The arm was held yes but the arm was near enough round the neck before and definite foul out. The rest of the game he was great - I'm unsure what the right answer is/was on the shoulder sandwich for Kerry. I think most would have given what he did.

I actually think he was right on not giving the Galway goalie a black card too.

Watch it again, below shoulder and he was 'reaching' in at the ball round the neck is a foul and this wasn't the case

Very seldom is the player in possession of the ball penalised in that situation and Spillanes arm was around the neck before Daly grabbed it. It has to be judged in the context of how he refereed the rest of the match and nobody in the stadium would have batted an eyelid if it had been a free out or had he even played on. Nobody expected a free kick to be given to Kerry in that instance, so he got that one wrong. Hence the booing. The very fact that such a match swung on such a crucial decision will gnaw at Galway for a long time to come.

Galway only got back into the game because of the free from the shoulder (which wasn't a free), they were 2 points behind at that stage and hadn't scored in over 10 minutes. Kerry looked to be cruising. You could argue either way on the Daly decision i think, both momentum swings at the time but in the end i think it evened itself out.

Yeah there were a few calls that actually could have gone either way tbh.
I thought on the whole the ref had a good game. Played the advantage well, didn't get too involved.

I thought Walsh was the best player on the field myself. He was really the only forward for Galway who was firing which made his performance all the more impressive.
Comer not in the game at all.
Clifford had some game too, but imo, Walsh just shaded it.
It was a good game in terms of how it swung to and and fro and some of the point scoring was off the charts in terms of quality.
Both teams played very defensively, a lot of lateral passing (which other teams got lambasted for earlier in the year), so I wouldn't say it was a brilliant game as there were long passages of play when not much happened.

Kerry just about deserved the win given that in the 2nd half their forwards stepped up and didn't leave it all to Clifford. The substitutions certainly made an impact. I thought it was a brave move to take Geany off but utlimately it was the right call.
Galway didn't make enough of their dominance in the first half and too many of their forwards were not effective.
McDaid had a great game too. Disappointed for Galway, but it could be the start of something for them. A strong side, relatively young too.
Kerry could push on from this as well.
The next few years look a lot more interesting now in terms of all-irelands. Realistically there's maybe 5-6 teams in with a shout in Kerry, Galway, Dublin, Armagh, Derry. Tyrone may have slipped back I think.
Donegal will have a new manager so might come strong too.

[imtommygunn]

Two Galway forwards scored - that's not going to be enough to win you an AI. Though McDaid made a good try of making up for it.

Yeah agreed on that one incident didn't cause the winning / losing of the game. Galway were dead on their feet and just don't have the depth Kerry have so if that game had went to ET or anything I think Kerry would have won by a few.