AISF 2010: An Dún vs Cill Dara

[Main Street]

My problem with Mc Enaney was his decision not to award the penalty at the end.  Crowded goalmouth man jumps on the ball on the ground is always a penalty.  The speed of Mc enaneys whistle and his signal for the hop ball to end the attack was an emphatic rejection of the penalty award - in other words he had no doubt whatsoever he was making a non decision - what sort of decision is that?  A sensible referee would have blown the whistle when a foul had been caused and ran in and became more aware of the lie of the ball and awarded the penalty.   He didnt want to give it simple as that.  Whilst delighted that Downs in an all ireland final I am gutted for Kildare men who deserve to be there, alas it wasnt there day.   

If McEnaney had seen all that happened in that goalmouth then would not the proper decision have been to blow the whistle for the first offense, a Down player handling the ball on the ground outside the square and award a free kick to Kildare?

[Main Street]

I thought McEneaney gave Kildare a couple of soft frees after the goal alright, but the steps for the goal is not unusual. Practically any ref in Ireland will allow you to over carry if he feels you are being fouled, and O'Callaghan was being fouled, so it's not accurate to say one goal cancelled out the other, in my view.

Not the same but accurate enough though, 7 steps taken before the alleged foul and 4 steps after.

[AZOffaly]

I thought he was fouled from the moment he picked up the ball almost. Wasn't there two Down lads involved there?

[Main Street]

My memory is not as long as yours.

[charlieTully]

who got man of the match?

Danny Hughes in the irish news not sure about rte.

[lynchbhoy]

I thought he was fouled from the moment he picked up the ball almost. Wasn't there two Down lads involved there?

apart from the defender he ran past BEFORE he got the ball the down players werent close enough before he took the 6 or 7 steps to actually put a hand on him.

[paddypastit]

who got man of the match?

Danny Hughes in the irish news not sure about rte.

Martin Clarke

[mick999]

Lastly – I almost kicked the telly when rob Kelly was about to take that last free (took a good 5 yards more than where the free took place from !) Kevin mcstay said ' we don't know if the players are allowed to touch the ball or if it can be scored DIRECTLY' – that's f**king soccer you gabsihte.
Get this fcukwit off the telly !

Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh said exactly the  same thing ....
Bernard Flynn is very annoying trying to shout over Mícheál 

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/mediaplayer.html?features,2810187,2810187,flash,257

[agorm]

I really felt for Kildare in general and Johnny Doyle in particular.

I am not sure if it an experiment with the referrees doing umpire but it failled spectacularly yesterday.

I would argue that, considering Pat McEneaney's good track record, his "team" would have done a better job yesterday. McEneaney may have been more reluctant to overrule a fellow referree regarding the square ball and the communication might have been better  with his people overall. This was McEneaney's worst performance that I can recall. That said, it is probably better in the longer term having referrees doing umpire but they would need some experience of the position in noisy high tempo games not just challenge games in the local park where they are asked to make up the numbers.

In my opinion this is as big if not bigger mistake than the Meath Louth one with much greater consequences. The GAA should appoint a committee independent of the current hierarchy of the GAA to decide the best system to be used in all games from provincial semi up. Something on the lines of the Rugby video ref must be possible.

[Milltown Row2]

Would ya get over yourselves about referees, fooking try it sometime then come on board and say yeah this is easy. I doubt that will happen.

As for Umpires not being referees, thats more bullshite, referees regulary umpire for their referees, happens across the all grades and levels.

On another point I thought Doyles catch on 70 minutes in midfield was the best catch you're ever likely to see, in a ruck off players he came out with the ball!!!

[Mourne Rover]

I will hopefully get to see the tape of the entire match later today, but, from the stands, it appeared that Down were lucky for two big calls, our goal and their disallowed point, Kildare were fortunate that their goal stood and also got every free going in the last quarter, and the last seconds of injury time were simply a frantic finish when anything could have happened.

Benny's goal showed again how difficult it is to judge a square ball, and it is worth remembering that he got an almost identical score into the same corner of the Canal End net from another of Marty's crosses in the NFL D2 final last April.  That goal was legitimate, and it may well have been on McEnaney's mind when he wrongly allowed yesterday's effort.

However, from a Down perspective, we recovered from a dodgy start to dominate the game on either side of half time and were seven points up with 12 minutes to go. If Fitzpatrick had taken a goal rather than a point when he only had the keeper to beat, we would have been nine in front, although a seven-point gap was probably a fair reflection of the balance of play at that stage. The nerves got to us in the closing minutes when Kildare had nothing to lose, but we were highly unlikely to lose a game in which we scored 1-16.

Kildre are a fine side and hopefully they will be back. It's particularly sad that Early and Rainbow have probably reached the end of the line, as they have been outstanding performers over the years.

[ross matt]

Well done to Down. When they're motoring well they are a lovely natural footballing side to watch. Same for their '91 and '94 sides. It was a great match. Much better than last weeks semi.

Heart goes out to Kildare. Would have loved to see them win for the sake of the Early connection and I admire Geezer alot. They were very enjoyable to watch all summer and put up some huge scores rather than being as defensive as some lazy journos predicted they would be under the former Armagh star. What his players took from him was his great heart and focus. I hope Early has another shot at it in 2011 once his injury is sorted. No reason why the management and present squad cant have another push at it again next year.

Pat Mac is an over rated ref. Not saying he is a bad one but he gets an easy time from the media due to his personality and laid back approach. He got things badly wrong yesterday mainly because he didnt keep up with play. He should'nt even have had to consult umpires for Coulter's goal but when he did they should have told him it was a foul. He allowed too many steps for the Kildare goal. He showed have given a penalty at the end when the Down players dived on the ball.

When you consider those incorrect decisions and add in the Kildare point that was waved wide it's obvious they were very unlucky and in my opinion should have won the match. Yes Down played the better football and Kildare had some silly wides plus stray passes. Also they hit the woodwork twice. But it's not a question of which team is easiest on the eye. The timing of the Benny goal was crucial. Apart from getting 3 points out of it they also got momentum of their own and halted the momentum of their opponents who were in control at that point. You simply cant have 9 months preparation and dedication being ruined by incompetent offialdown. It shouldnt be accepted as "part of the game".

None of this is Down's fault. They have every right to profit from whatever decisons went their way and as Geezer said last night it was Coulter's courage that landed him in the square. Bravely running backwards he didnt even know he's gone over the line. I hope Down win the final but I think Cork may squeeze them in to submission. Bigger, stronger and more experienced side who have made the final without coming close to how they can play.

[Jinxy]

Even taking Coulters goal and the disallowed point into consideration, Kildare had enough chances to win this game in the last 10 mins.

[paddypastit]

Lastly – I almost kicked the telly when rob Kelly was about to take that last free (took a good 5 yards more than where the free took place from !) Kevin mcstay said ' we don't know if the players are allowed to touch the ball or if it can be scored DIRECTLY' – that's f**king soccer you gabsihte.
Get this fcukwit off the telly !

Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh said exactly the  same thing ....
Bernard Flynn is very annoying trying to shout over Mícheál 

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/mediaplayer.html?features,2810187,2810187,flash,257

I didn't for a second interpret what MOM / BF said as being about the concept of a 'direct' vs. 'indirect' free kick such as they have in soccer. The point I understood them to be making was that PMcE said that the free was THE last kick. i.e. that if it didn't enter the goal directly the game was over - it couldn't be playd into the goal area for someone to double on it as that woould take too long but he wouldn't blow the whistle until the kick 'finished' whether by coming in contact with another player or going out of play in some form.  The question that struck me then was 'did/should play then finish when the ball struck King's fingertips, when it hit the crossbar or when the Down boys hoofed it clear' I don't think he whistled until the ball was in the Cusack Stand... whatever that means in the end?

[lynchbhoy]

Even taking Coulters goal and the disallowed point into consideration, Kildare had enough chances to win this game in the last 10 mins.

both sides missed a lot of chances throughout the game - Down spilled the ball too often in the second half when they had worked it up to between the 45 & 21 !

Hats off to that Cork minor side who in spite of being 9 points down , still went after the game when many adult senior teams I know (Derry being one at least this season) would have thrown in the towel.
They rattled off a goal and then sent points after point sailing over.
It was a wonderful comeback, somewhat spoiled by the last point from a dubious enough free.
Still on that effort alone they prob deserve to be in the final.
Fair play to them (and hard luck to that good young Galway side )