I have no dog in this fight .
KC’s super club image(financial strength, numbers strength and star player recruitment) has no relevance. 16 men on the field at a crucial vulnerable time for them , is a clear advantage penalised by rule.
I would ignore Mannion as 17th player , he was nowhere near the play or the line of vision to the goal.
In several years of involvement with the GAA I have never come across an issue with crucial play proceeding before sub went off . Sitting in hogan stand I commented that there seemed to be chaos around KC substitutions in injury time. KC conceded two second half goals ( from a 45, and last kick) into Hill 16 end last year in AI final. They nearly got caught in injury time in this year’s AI semi.
Subs at top level are usually pre-organised , Mullins number was up , on PA system, subs board and two big screens . There is real possibility that he knew exactly what he was doing , by positioning himself on the goal line at a crucial period .
In short:
1. KC recent defensive history indicates a late goal was a real possibility
2. There is real possibility that Mullin staying on was not accidental
3. Rule was contravened (possibly deliberately) to the clear advantage of the winners at a crucial
Period of vulnerability for them
4. There is a clear evidence of this
5. Glen IMO have a duty to their players, management and members to do everything possible to win AI within the rules. This is not unsporting given the above
6. If KC are good enough they’ll win the replay 15 v 15
I think I remember Manion looking over as he didn’t know he was being subbed. He then (I think) looked up at the big screen, he then knew and walked over towards the sideline.
I’ve no recollection of seeing 14 being told he had to go off or did the camera show him like they did with Mannion, I really think the chaos and confusion of those final moments contributed to a mistake, the conspiracy theories are ott.
The ref ultimately didn’t wait till the subs fully left and played on, but he’d definitely been told of the subs, the club sec writes out the slip hands it to 4th official, he’ll have said 2 subs coming on and next break of play, there is only one light up board for subs and injury time minutes left, punching in one sub and if the second one was done also then unfortunately that’s the ref’s fault not KC’s
Exactly. It's completely disingenuous to suggest this was a deliberate ploy by Mullin or Crokes. It's crystal clear Mannion had no idea he was going off until Fox (the sub) ran up to him and pointed for him to get off. Mullin also was concentrating on defending the 45, not looking at the big screen or hiding (incidentally the big screen put Mullin's name up in the top left hand corner at the exact moment the 45 was been taken). Mullin just had the game of his life, and for eejits to be suggesting he's a cheat now is disgraceful.
He had no idea he was being taken off. The second sub didn't get to him in time. The ref still had his hand up when the 45 was taken. The only reason I can think of for the ref to have his hand up is to signal for the freetaker to wait. But the freetaker didn't wait and the ref let it play anyway.
There is an onus on a team to have no more than 15 on the pitch when play resumes. And if this was a pure Crokes error I could see a reason for a replay to be a valid punishment in the circumstances. But Crokes may have a valid argument that the ref did not give them enough time to conclude the substitution, so it's a refereeing error rather than a KC error. Ref errors happen throughout the game and should not be reason for the GAA to enforce a replay. However, there may be an alternative view that the sub should still have made the effort to get to Mullin and get him off even though the Glen man was running up to hit the 45.
