The Sunday Game

[tyrone08]

Darren Fehill and Pat Spillane doing the  GAAGO commentary on the first ever live stream of a championship game from Gaelic Park New York this Sunday.  Pat will be hoping his own son will be in action for Sligo.

Disgraceful comments from Cavanagh on the Sunday game last night. He should not be allowed back on the show after that. I've never seen a referee get a personal attack like that before in any sports show.

Players can be attacked so why not a ref?

[BennyHarp]

Darren Fehill and Pat Spillane doing the  GAAGO commentary on the first ever live stream of a championship game from Gaelic Park New York this Sunday.  Pat will be hoping his own son will be in action for Sligo.

Disgraceful comments from Cavanagh on the Sunday game last night. He should not be allowed back on the show after that. I've never seen a referee get a personal attack like that before in any sports show.

Hyperbole much?

[clarshack]

Darren Fehill and Pat Spillane doing the  GAAGO commentary on the first ever live stream of a championship game from Gaelic Park New York this Sunday.  Pat will be hoping his own son will be in action for Sligo.

Disgraceful comments from Cavanagh on the Sunday game last night. He should not be allowed back on the show after that. I've never seen a referee get a personal attack like that before in any sports show.

Cavanagh was correct in calling out McQuillan.

[thewobbler]

Cavanagh is the most stone coke useless pundit in the game, which is really quite some achievement

[Gael80]

Darren Fehill and Pat Spillane doing the  GAAGO commentary on the first ever live stream of a championship game from Gaelic Park New York this Sunday.  Pat will be hoping his own son will be in action for Sligo.

Disgraceful comments from Cavanagh on the Sunday game last night. He should not be allowed back on the show after that. I've never seen a referee get a personal attack like that before in any sports show.

I didn't see or hear the comments, and it's important there are no personal attacks on refs or anyone in the GAA for that matter, if that is what happened.  There is growing unease though about the inconsistency of how games are reported, and how actions are taken against certain counties.

Canavan appeared to want to vent on Saturday evening as well, McGuinness did well to side track the discussion. If the Sunday Game allowed Cavanagh to give his views and it wasn't personal I think that is a good thing. Discipline and reporting on incidents are important, but it needs to happen across the board to stop this growing resentment. I don't blame the refs, I blame the narrative that has been allowed to develop which in my opinion leads certain counties to be treated more harshly.

[Throw ball]

Thought Cavanagh walked a tight line on his referee comments. Whether he overstepped the mark is a matter of opinion.

For what it matters his defence of McKenna was very forceful. The problem I had with overall discussion was that it suggested it was OK to come in and back up a team mate. Not only is that what starts a melee but if the rules do not allow you to defend yourself they can hardly allow you to defend a team mate.

There also seemed to be an agenda to blame Fermanagh for starting things - and the hand in face did not look good - but the simple fact is that if the Tyrone player had have released the ball when the referee blew his whistle then none of this would have happened.

In the end no matter what people think of the referee players caused the problem and he was probably under pressure to act in line with previous episodes.  We all asked for consistency after all.

[HokeyPokey]

Darren Fehill and Pat Spillane doing the  GAAGO commentary on the first ever live stream of a championship game from Gaelic Park New York this Sunday.  Pat will be hoping his own son will be in action for Sligo.

Disgraceful comments from Cavanagh on the Sunday game last night. He should not be allowed back on the show after that. I've never seen a referee get a personal attack like that before in any sports show.

Calm down, much much worse said about players (Cavanagh being the most glaring example) and similar remarks made about refs in the past.

I don't think Cavanagh is a fantastic pundit if I'm honest, he gets too partisan when it comes to Tyrone (I can understand why though), but I don't think he's any different from Spillane on that front and I am not overly impressed with any of the other pundits, though I don't watch all the time.

[Whishtup]

I find it bizarre that, even when there was a zoomed replay of the hand in the face/eye area by the Fermanagh player, most of the talk was about the other shenanigans. Imagine the narrative if a Tyrone player did that?  Ref's have to be held accountable for their actions and Cavanagh, being from a county at the receiving end of some daft decisions recently, voiced the frustrations of the county.  All people want is consistency and a level playing field. The GAA need to figure out how they can deliver this. All other sports using video evidence now.

[Wildweasel74]

He's openly biased, bit like pat but if you commenting on games you need to be neutral

[HokeyPokey]

Thought Cavanagh walked a tight line on his referee comments. Whether he overstepped the mark is a matter of opinion.

For what it matters his defence of McKenna was very forceful. The problem I had with overall discussion was that it suggested it was OK to come in and back up a team mate. Not only is that what starts a melee but if the rules do not allow you to defend yourself they can hardly allow you to defend a team mate.

There also seemed to be an agenda to blame Fermanagh for starting things - and the hand in face did not look good - but the simple fact is that if the Tyrone player had have released the ball when the referee blew his whistle then none of this would have happened.

In the end no matter what people think of the referee players caused the problem and he was probably under pressure to act in line with previous episodes.  We all asked for consistency after all.

I think a lot of this is coloured by the teams. If it was Conor McKenna or another Tyrone player who had their hands in someone's face, there would have been much more discussion of that and probably that he should have the book thrown at him. Similar the other players who were the aggressors on the Fermanagh side. I think this is as much down to Tyrone being a high profile team and Fermanagh not being high profile.

I think your point about releasing the ball could make sense, but the Fermanagh players didn't seem interested in the ball and it seemed to have started with a Fermanagh player pulling at his collar, him then ending on the floor, then seemed to get a dig when on the ground, then he grabbed a leg and then they both set about him.

I can understand your point about players backing each other up, but I think this case where a player is in a vulnerable position on the ground with two players on top of him with one putting his hands in the vicinity of his eyes is a different matter than the usual tiddly winks that goes on.

It could be interpreted as a red, from what the rules say. But, it's about contributing to a melee, surely the two players who went at McKenna should also have seen red. Again, the application doesn't seem to be consistent to my eyes.

[Wildweasel74]

The Fermanagh player will be banned but then instances with hand in face should be a 2/3 match band, same in Derry/Galway game recently.What  McKenna done was dangerous play and on that he deserved a red card. Ref report will say what he's been carded for. I always think the refs committee should explain carding decisions mid week after a game.

[Throw ball]

Thought Cavanagh walked a tight line on his referee comments. Whether he overstepped the mark is a matter of opinion.

For what it matters his defence of McKenna was very forceful. The problem I had with overall discussion was that it suggested it was OK to come in and back up a team mate. Not only is that what starts a melee but if the rules do not allow you to defend yourself they can hardly allow you to defend a team mate.

There also seemed to be an agenda to blame Fermanagh for starting things - and the hand in face did not look good - but the simple fact is that if the Tyrone player had have released the ball when the referee blew his whistle then none of this would have happened.

In the end no matter what people think of the referee players caused the problem and he was probably under pressure to act in line with previous episodes.  We all asked for consistency after all.

I think a lot of this is coloured by the teams. If it was Conor McKenna or another Tyrone player who had their hands in someone's face, there would have been much more discussion of that and probably that he should have the book thrown at him. Similar the other players who were the aggressors on the Fermanagh side. I think this is as much down to Tyrone being a high profile team and Fermanagh not being high profile.

I think your point about releasing the ball could make sense, but the Fermanagh players didn't seem interested in the ball and it seemed to have started with a Fermanagh player pulling at his collar, him then ending on the floor, then seemed to get a dig when on the ground, then he grabbed a leg and then they both set about him.

I can understand your point about players backing each other up, but I think this case where a player is in a vulnerable position on the ground with two players on top of him with one putting his hands in the vicinity of his eyes is a different matter than the usual tiddly winks that goes on.

It could be interpreted as a red, from what the rules say. But, it's about contributing to a melee, surely the two players who went at McKenna should also have seen red. Again, the application doesn't seem to be consistent to my eyes.

Hard to disagree.

I suspect McKenna will be cleared this time though

[Fuzzman]

https://www.irishnews.com/sport/gaafootball/2022/04/18/news/kevin-madden-tyrone-turn-it-on-when-needed-but-mckenna-red-card-leaves-unsavoury-taste-in-the-mouth-2645716/

[delgany]

Thought Cavanagh walked a tight line on his referee comments. Whether he overstepped the mark is a matter of opinion.

For what it matters his defence of McKenna was very forceful. The problem I had with overall discussion was that it suggested it was OK to come in and back up a team mate. Not only is that what starts a melee but if the rules do not allow you to defend yourself they can hardly allow you to defend a team mate.

There also seemed to be an agenda to blame Fermanagh for starting things - and the hand in face did not look good - but the simple fact is that if the Tyrone player had have released the ball when the referee blew his whistle then none of this would have happened.

In the end no matter what people think of the referee players caused the problem and he was probably under pressure to act in line with previous episodes.  We all asked for consistency after all.

I think a lot of this is coloured by the teams. If it was Conor McKenna or another Tyrone player who had their hands in someone's face, there would have been much more discussion of that and probably that he should have the book thrown at him. Similar the other players who were the aggressors on the Fermanagh side. I think this is as much down to Tyrone being a high profile team and Fermanagh not being high profile.

I think your point about releasing the ball could make sense, but the Fermanagh players didn't seem interested in the ball and it seemed to have started with a Fermanagh player pulling at his collar, him then ending on the floor, then seemed to get a dig when on the ground, then he grabbed a leg and then they both set about him.

I can understand your point about players backing each other up, but I think this case where a player is in a vulnerable position on the ground with two players on top of him with one putting his hands in the vicinity of his eyes is a different matter than the usual tiddly winks that goes on.

It could be interpreted as a red, from what the rules say. But, it's about contributing to a melee, surely the two players who went at McKenna should also have seen red. Again, the application doesn't seem to be consistent to my eyes.

Hard to disagree.

I suspect McKenna will be cleared this time though

I thought Fermanagh No 7 kicked it all off, by attempting to /sticking his knee into Conn Kilpatricks back, followed by the hand in the face!   
No one booked for this.

[Throw ball]

Thought Cavanagh walked a tight line on his referee comments. Whether he overstepped the mark is a matter of opinion.

For what it matters his defence of McKenna was very forceful. The problem I had with overall discussion was that it suggested it was OK to come in and back up a team mate. Not only is that what starts a melee but if the rules do not allow you to defend yourself they can hardly allow you to defend a team mate.

There also seemed to be an agenda to blame Fermanagh for starting things - and the hand in face did not look good - but the simple fact is that if the Tyrone player had have released the ball when the referee blew his whistle then none of this would have happened.

In the end no matter what people think of the referee players caused the problem and he was probably under pressure to act in line with previous episodes.  We all asked for consistency after all.

I think a lot of this is coloured by the teams. If it was Conor McKenna or another Tyrone player who had their hands in someone's face, there would have been much more discussion of that and probably that he should have the book thrown at him. Similar the other players who were the aggressors on the Fermanagh side. I think this is as much down to Tyrone being a high profile team and Fermanagh not being high profile.

I think your point about releasing the ball could make sense, but the Fermanagh players didn't seem interested in the ball and it seemed to have started with a Fermanagh player pulling at his collar, him then ending on the floor, then seemed to get a dig when on the ground, then he grabbed a leg and then they both set about him.

I can understand your point about players backing each other up, but I think this case where a player is in a vulnerable position on the ground with two players on top of him with one putting his hands in the vicinity of his eyes is a different matter than the usual tiddly winks that goes on.

It could be interpreted as a red, from what the rules say. But, it's about contributing to a melee, surely the two players who went at McKenna should also have seen red. Again, the application doesn't seem to be consistent to my eyes.

Hard to disagree.

I suspect McKenna will be cleared this time though

I thought Fermanagh No 7 kicked it all off, by attempting to /sticking his knee into Conn Kilpatricks back, followed by the hand in the face!   
No one booked for this.

Maybe the referee didn't see it. I only noticed on TV replay