All-Ireland Football Qualifiers 2016

[The Boy Wonder]

Imagine if this was Dublin or Cork - would there be a chance in hell that this game would be replayed? Can't believe we are not even putting up a fight.

I agree, but you need backbone to stand up and fight your corner.
Co Board were found wanting on Nowlan Park issue and now on this issue.
There were precedents where teams (e.g. Cork) broke rules and did not have to replay the game.

Of course we have to go out and give everything to win the replay but if we just roll over and say nothing then these things will just happen again and again.

Did Armagh Co Board even have the courtesy to acknowledge the Laois offer of a replay ?
No - they just manipulated the situation to their own advantage through the CCCC.

[OTF]

Right, time for a bit of cop on.

1: Who's fault was it? Laois.

2: The rules state that we could have been fined, replay match, or thrown out. We were 2 points up with 72 mins gone when sub was made. Could plausibly have made a difference. Therefore Rematch seems fair.

3: Let's just get back up and win this one again. We know we can do it. No point moaning and groaning. It was a Laois error and it's a fair outcome.

4: In a way we can see this as a positive as it will give the lads more time to develop our system and another championship match when they are few and far in between for us is welcome in my eyes.

5: Armagh will be up for this but we are the better team and if we've any ambition, we will be up for this and show we're the better team for the 2nd time. No the GAA is not out to get us. It was a Laois error and we've paid for it. What matters is how we react.

That's what I said on page 10

[maccer]

I see croke park have changed the throw in times for Sun to avoid clashing with the soccer...couldn't do it last Sat though....still think we're treated the same as everyone else?

[Junior Ex Laoistalk]

There was precedent in John O'Loughlins case  ...

In a press release yesterday evening, they stated: "Following an enquiry from the CCCC arising from the Round 1A Football Qualifier between Laois v Armagh on Saturday June 18, it has been confirmed that one extra substitute was used by Laois in error. CCCC have proposed in accordance with rule, that this game should be replayed on Saturday July 2 at 3.0 in Portlaoise. Laois have accepted this proposal."
Although Saturday's 1-10 to 0-10 has technically been deemed null and void because of Murphy's introduction, John O'Loughlin has been deemed to have satisfied his one-match suspension in missing the game and will be available on Saturday week. In 2012, the CCCC agreed former Dublin midfielder Eamon Fennell had served a one-match ban in the abandoned Division 1 game against Mayo in Castlebar

Other cases of wrong amount of subs being used...

Six GAA substitute sagas
Wednesday, June 22, 2016


Six times that extra substitutes were the cause of controversy after a week in which Laois were penalised for a seventh sub...


2001 –
The Leinster Council gave Sarsfields a replay after Na Fianna used six substitutes in beating them.

2002 –
Na Fianna used six substitutes in a Dublin SFC quarter-final against Raheny. The county board threw them out of the competition, a decision upheld by the High Court after Na Fianna appealed.

2002 –
Cork made six replacements in seeing off Tipperary by 19 points in the Munster SFC final. However, they didn't forfeit as secretary Frank Murphy demonstrated there was no penalty in the rulebook.

2002 –
In drawing with Sligo in a league game, Kildare made one more than the regulated number of substitutes but lost the point as a result of the rule breach.

2006 –
Kildare appealed Offaly's six substitutes in the Leinster quarter-final when Pascal Kelleghan, who had been blood subbed in the first half and returned in the second half, but not for his direct temporary replacement. The Disputes Resolution Authority ruled against Kildare.

2012 –
Dublin chose no to contest their All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Mayo on the basis of the DRA decision six years previous. Mayo used seven replacements — two were blood subs but were in truth permanent switches — when the maximum was five. The late Dublin chairman Andy Kettle later called for a time limit on blood subs.

[south Laois]

So the games on Sunday have been put back by two and a half hours to avoid a clash with Ireland v France. They've even taken into account it might go to extra time! But they wouldn't move our first game against Armagh. 45 mins would have been enough. The GAA really treat us like shit on the end of their shoe.

[Joeythelips]

People here just feel annoyed because of how smaller counties seem to be treated, thats all. Laois have to hold our hands up as it was our error and luckily we are still in the championship. Also with each game we have played since Cunningham has been part of the setup we have improved, the more time we have developing as a team with him on board the better.

[High Fielder]

Lucky to still be in the Championship? We have zero chance of winning it and they don't give a flying f**k about us anyway, as has been evidenced by their disdain towards us on all matters. The GAA go on like we should be grateful, but it would have been more beneficial in the long term if we told them to f**k off and just drop out. The GAA is in crisis and we should have served it back up to them. We're only lap dogs for them.

[Giovanni]

I find it odd to see that there's quite a lot of support for the county board's "we'll take out medicine and get on with it" approach.

If you take the GAA line that the match officials have no role to play here (and that the officials would therefore not stop any team from emptying its bench in order to try to get back into a game) then I guess you're with the county board on this.

The idea that the match officials can be exonerated from any blame for this farce is very bad for the integrity of the game in my opinion. I find it extraordinary that after all the incidents listed in Junior's post above, going back years, the GAA still haven't managed to come up with a system to ensure that this kind of thing can't happen. These are not serious game administrators really.

However, the really big problem is that we might lose the "replay". The bookies are making it roughly a 50:50 game (we're slight favourites). If we lose the game and end up out of the competition on a technicality, then the "we'll take our medicine" brigade in the county board will have a lot to answer for.

As a minimum, the county board must, for once, make a serious and concerted effort to get people to come to this game to support the team. They should appeal directly to every club in the county, advertise the game, make it attractive for families, subsidise the prices if necessary. This is an extremely important game now for the team but maybe more for the county board. For once, please do the job of promoting the game in the county in order to earn your seat at the All-Ireland final

[Clubber Lang]

What are the possibilities of Cahir Healy being asked back onto panel if hurlers beaten by Clare? If David Conway can be brought back and earn a starting place surely Cahir should be provided with same opportunity. Granted we have to beat Armagh but a game against Clare the following week might be an ideal game to bring him onboard. He would be huge addition to team. 

[The Boy Wonder]

Well said Giovanni - this "take your medicine /cop on and stop moaning" viewpoint is disappointing.
Laois made a minor rule infringement - the punishment far outweighs the crime.
I don't believe we would have been thrown out if Co Board had stood firm and not offered a replay.
CCCC would probably have told Armagh that the ball was in their court and they would have to appeal.

We expect the lads on the field to stand up and fight and never throw in the towel - we should expect same from Co Board.
Anyway as Giovanni says, every club in Laois should get behind Laois the next day and get a decent crowd behind the team.

[Tony]

So the CCCC proposed a rematch.

They could have recommended a fine, a rematch or us being thrown out.

I'm an avid Laois supporter, but given the rules, a rematch is CLEARLY the fair call. Why?

There was 2 points in it. We scored a point WITH THE SUBSTITUTE THAT SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN ON THE FIELD.

Armagh could easily argue that they could have potentially scored a goal without him there.

So, a fine, is too lenient. Throwing us out is too far. A rematch is in the middle and fair, clearly, given the options.

And no I don't agree with how they've treated us in other ways - the Nowlan Park episode & fixing the match for 3.30 last week with the soccer was horrendus.

But a rematch is fair in this situation - it's in the RULES. We weren't leading by 20 - we were leading by 2.

[Giovanni]

The key issue here, in my opinion, is that GAA officials are taking no responsibility for overseeing the application of substitute rules. If the ref missed a square ball or a clear penalty, would the game be replayed? No. It makes no sense that official decisions like those cannot be reexamined but the rules about substitutions can. Total nonsense.

As for the 2 points or 20 points In my memory, Quigley was black carded in the 73rd minute. The free was awarded about 50 m out. The kick was taken and drifted about 15 yards to the right of the posts. It was collected by a Laois man (I forget which one but I think it was Damien O Connor). Laois went on the attack. Ross scored a point. The referee blew the final whistle.

The extra sub would not have changed the direction of Armagh's free. It might have changed the likelihood of a Laois man collecting it 15 yards to the right of goals - let's say the likelihood of an Armagh collecting it increased from 50:50 to 55:45). In the unlikely event that the course of history changed and an Armagh man collected the ball 15 yards to the right of goal, they would have had to score a goal from the next play. With 13 Laoismen behind the ball, this is very unlikely indeed (maybe one time out of 100 such attacks). Therefore chances that Armagh would have scored a goal from the next play without a substitute are probably of the order of 200 to 1 (because first they would have had to win the ball and then they would have had to score a goal against 13 men). Everyone, including Armagh and the GAA knows this. They can claim that this in in the RULES of course but they did nothing at all at the time to uphold the rules. To start reading the rulebook two days after the game is over is utterly nonsensical in my opinion. The time to apply the rules is when the game is going on - not in some back office in Crossmaglen or wherever 2 days after the game is over.

[ILikeStrawberryJam]

I was fuming when the Dublin match went to Nowlan Park.
Same when we had to play at the same time as the belguim game despite both county boards
asking for it to be changed to 4.30
But i can accept this replay. The laois mgmt sent on a 7th sub. Your allowed 6. Its that simple.
Id rather replay it and lose it than do a meath (LF v Louth ) on it and win it dishonestly.

I think the extra match will help the development of the team.
I think we are a better team than Armagh.
I chose the ireland belguim match the last time but ill be there saturday week.

Small counties, not  just Laois are being treated with disdain by the upper echelons
of the GAA. I admit that that. I think it will reach a head soon but not sure how or
what will trigger it.

[High Fielder]

I think it's already come to a head Ilikestrawberryjam. Counties are fielding weaker and weaker teams as the years go on, in the full and certain knowledge that they can't compete. Investment diminishes and interest follows suit. We are worlds apart in comparison to Dublin, yet we are expected to compete. I don't know a sport like it to be honest. They will eventually find a way to have an A and B Championship, but it won't entice smaller counties and nor will it attract youngsters and/or future players. Smaller county boards are populated by men who have designs on bigger positions in Leinster Council or beyond. Our own CB have lied down and taken their beating all year. This not so much because as Tony says, rules are rules. But the Nowlan Park issue was disgraceful and I personally would rather have forfeited the game than buy into the whole farce. I'd love to see my county stand up for itself every now and then and try and make a difference, rather than clock in and clock out.

[Joeythelips]

Is it true that minor semi final is now on a Tuesday night due to euros?? Really does seem like the don't give a shit about us alright