We need to talk about Diarmuid

[omagh_gael]

Way off topic here but you Mayo guys are unreal, look at this youtube clip. It has KK's red card in slow motion. It is absolutely crystal clear that KK struck MM with an open handed slap...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlPbGHVA8FU

[mup]

The whataboutery by some of the Dubs on here is plentiful.

[Fuzzman]

In fairness most Dubs I've spoken to all think he deserves his ban and are disgusted that at this stage of his career he's still making such silly decisions.

I just watched it again on youtube

A few things to note
1. As soon as the ball goes out the linesman had his flag up to say Carlow ball
2. Connolly ignores or doesn't see that and tries to grab the ball anyway
3. Three Carlow lads try to take the ball back off him but to no avail
4. Connolly doesn't seem to have any issue with the Carlow players but immediately starts shouting at the linesman.
5. He walks over to him and doesn't just put his hand on his shoulder but he pushes him back 3 steps as he isn't happy with his decision.
6. Look at the reaction of the Carlow guy in yellow which tells you he thought he attacked the linesman


One of the many reasons I think this happened is that the Dubs aren't too used to playing outside of Croke Park and as most teams know when you play in an away venue (or neutral as here) you don't always get your own way. Some players feel they have to stand up for themselves a lot more because of this. If this match was in croker I bet you DC would not have felt it necessary to react like that but that away from home feeling sometimes makes player make rash decisions.

As for the argument that the ref and linesman didn't feel at the time it was that bad, I think they are well entitled to change their mind after having another look at it.
Yes there might have been worse incidents before, that went unpunished but they got to make a stand against this behaviour at some point and the fact 2 earlier instances this year have been punished I think it's vital that they continue down this road.

[Wildweasel74]

Bomber u say attempting to strike is a straight red card in the keane incident, so how come donnelly not getting a suspension for attempting and striking in the derry game?

[nrico2006]

Way off topic here but you Mayo guys are unreal, look at this youtube clip. It has KK's red card in slow motion. It is absolutely crystal clear that KK struck MM with an open handed slap...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlPbGHVA8FU

Definitely clear in this video, however Murphy should also have received a red in this case.

[Hound]

A few things to note
1. As soon as the ball goes out the linesman had his flag up to say Carlow ball
2. Connolly ignores or doesn't see that and tries to grab the ball anyway
3. Three Carlow lads try to take the ball back off him but to no avail
4. Connolly doesn't seem to have any issue with the Carlow players but immediately starts shouting at the linesman.
5. He walks over to him and doesn't just put his hand on his shoulder but he pushes him back 3 steps as he isn't happy with his decision.
6. Look at the reaction of the Carlow guy in yellow which tells you he thought he attacked the linesman

The one thing you're missing from your 1-6 is that it was clearly a Dublin ball. Connolly didnt look at the linesman because it was crystal clear that it was a Dublin ball. A long kick from Carlow cleared everyone and went straight over the line.
Not that it excuses Connolly in any way, but needed for some context as to why he grabbed the ball and why he was surprised that Carlow lads were jostlining him, and annoyed when he turned around to see the linesman pointing the other way. Of course Connolly should just have walked away at that point.

[blast05]

Only in gaaboard land can a thread about a Dublin player can twisted into one where there are more posts about a random sending off in a Mayo game from a number of years back
The bitterness and resentment that the Tyrone guys are still displaying after the All-Ireland QF last year is incredible (i guess its from a number of recent games, not just last years QF). Get over yourselves FFS. You'd swear yee were the ones waiting 66 years for an All-Ireland

[Hound]

Just looked at the rulebook there and the rule says that if the referee after clarification being sought, clarifies that he did not adjudicate on a matter at the time the the relevant CCC can act. Rule 7.3 (f). "Adjudicate" is the key word.

Yeah, Brolly made that point in his interviews.
Says he finds it very hard to believe that the linesman and ref didnt adjudicate at the time of the incident, given the linesman was directly involved and the ref standing very close by.

[Stall the Bailer]

It is only the ref who can decide if it is a foul or not during the game. The linesman can alert him to the foul but has no power above that. If the ref wasn't alerted during the game, he can still report it afterwards.

[blast05]

A few things to note
1. As soon as the ball goes out the linesman had his flag up to say Carlow ball
2. Connolly ignores or doesn't see that and tries to grab the ball anyway
3. Three Carlow lads try to take the ball back off him but to no avail
4. Connolly doesn't seem to have any issue with the Carlow players but immediately starts shouting at the linesman.
5. He walks over to him and doesn't just put his hand on his shoulder but he pushes him back 3 steps as he isn't happy with his decision.
6. Look at the reaction of the Carlow guy in yellow which tells you he thought he attacked the linesman

The one thing you're missing from your 1-6 is that it was clearly a Dublin ball. Connolly didnt look at the linesman because it was crystal clear that it was a Dublin ball. A long kick from Carlow cleared everyone and went straight over the line.
Not that it excuses Connolly in any way, but needed for some context as to why he grabbed the ball and why he was surprised that Carlow lads were jostlining him, and annoyed when he turned around to see the linesman pointing the other way. Of course Connolly should just have walked away at that point.

Agreed. It was a Dublin ball all day long and that was clearly a part of Connollys frustration when he turned around and realised the ref wasn't giving the call to him.

Reminds me of a club match i was playing a few years back ..... i won a kick-out but  as i landed was subject to a litany of closed fist 'tackles' from both in front and behind. Refs whistle blew and i just held the ball presuming it was my free. As i turned around, the guy how had been standing behind me lamped me in the jaw and at the same time i saw the ref was actually pointing to a free for them. "What the f**k ref" was more or less my reaction (i was still holding the ball as i made my way over to the him) .... "what do you want me to do" he says .... "sure if you don't give him the ball after i call a free against you for not playing the ball, then what do you expect"
I have a small degree of empathy for Connolly on this one 

[Fuzzman]

Sorry I wasn't aware it was definitely a Dublin ball so I can understand his actions a bit better or at least why he was so annoyed to have the ball taken off him by three Carlow players.

That actually furthers my point about being away from home and decisions often not going your way and how you have to be prepared for that and not over react. I think if he had just shouted and pointed at him he might have got away with it but to have actually pushed him back a few steps was probably what made the ref look at it again and deem it deserved a punishment.

I think it will set down a marker for the rest of the championship and it hotly contested matches like the upcoming Mayo v Galway and Tyrone v Donegal games players will be a lot more wary now of ill discipline to the officials.

[general_lee]

Connolly needs to grow up. Winning by 10+ points, and getting into a hissy fit over a line ball against a team that they were never going to lose to... deserves it! If it was the last 5 mins of a game v one of the top teams and they were losing by a point in desperate search of a score you'd maybe  understand. Officials deserve more respect in GAA and someone as high profile as Connolly acting the cnut needs to be punished - bad example for young ones

[Farrandeelin]

Way off topic here but you Mayo guys are unreal, look at this youtube clip. It has KK's red card in slow motion. It is absolutely crystal clear that KK struck MM with an open handed slap...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlPbGHVA8FU

Fair enough.

[magpie seanie]

In fairness most Dubs I've spoken to all think he deserves his ban and are disgusted that at this stage of his career he's still making such silly decisions.

I just watched it again on youtube

A few things to note
1. As soon as the ball goes out the linesman had his flag up to say Carlow ball
2. Connolly ignores or doesn't see that and tries to grab the ball anyway
3. Three Carlow lads try to take the ball back off him but to no avail
4. Connolly doesn't seem to have any issue with the Carlow players but immediately starts shouting at the linesman.
5. He walks over to him and doesn't just put his hand on his shoulder but he pushes him back 3 steps as he isn't happy with his decision.
6. Look at the reaction of the Carlow guy in yellow which tells you he thought he attacked the linesman


One of the many reasons I think this happened is that the Dubs aren't too used to playing outside of Croke Park and as most teams know when you play in an away venue (or neutral as here) you don't always get your own way. Some players feel they have to stand up for themselves a lot more because of this. If this match was in croker I bet you DC would not have felt it necessary to react like that but that away from home feeling sometimes makes player make rash decisions.

As for the argument that the ref and linesman didn't feel at the time it was that bad, I think they are well entitled to change their mind after having another look at it.
Yes there might have been worse incidents before, that went unpunished but they got to make a stand against this behaviour at some point and the fact 2 earlier instances this year have been punished I think it's vital that they continue down this road.

Excellent post.

[criostlinn]

Way off topic here but you Mayo guys are unreal, look at this youtube clip. It has KK's red card in slow motion. It is absolutely crystal clear that KK struck MM with an open handed slap...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlPbGHVA8FU

Fair enough.

This thing with Kevin Keane is way off topic but just so people are clear.

Kevin Keane did not get off on technicality. He never denied that he hit Murphy.
He made the argument, an argument which was accepted and one which is backed up by the video in the above link that  after Murphy firstly thumping him in the face he then caught him in a chock hold which was restricting his breathing and the only way to get him release this chock hold was to bitch slap him.