Meath Vs Kildare - 5/6/2011, Páirc an Chrócaigh

[Donnellys Hollow]

If Farrell's 'slap' was a sending off then Emmet Bolton should have walked as well. Farrell went to pull him back and Emmet swung back at him first in an attempt to brush him off. A ridiculous decision by the referee and the red card should be rescinded. It just highlights the inconsistency of the GAA where Michael Shields and Philly McMahon get off scot free for boxing the heads off each other, while Farrell will probably have to serve a four week ban.

I presume McGeeney didn't bring Mikey on yesterday because it would rule him out of starting for the Juniors on Wednesday night. If he can come through a full 70 mins then he'll surely be in contention for the Dublin match. He'd be some option to bring into the half-forward line if the game is still in the balance in the last fifteen minutes. Good to see Scanlon getting a run yesterday Dinny. Himself and Tommy O'Neill must be going well in training. For a lad that has never let Kildare down, he's got very little football since 2008.

Flynn is getting his ankle looked at this afternoon. Hopefully he'll be able to line out in the middle. A forward line of: Doyle, O'Flaherty, Callaghan, Smith, Kelly, Kavanagh will cause problems for any set of backs.

[Dinny Breen]

I just don't think the decisions are farcical or woeful but they're called marginal for a reason neither decision without the benefit of a replay would be nailed on that's all.

A forward line of: Doyle, O'Flaherty, Callaghan, Smith, Kelly, Kavanagh will cause problems for any set of backs.

And not a natural forward among them 

[Dinny Breen]

How the feck can anyone be expected to call this in real time.

[DB_An_Mhi]

Two or three against one. GG should have got the benefit of any doubt.

[mylestheslasher]

How the feck can anyone be expected to call this in real time.

The point is that the umpires were best placed. Surely the ref would've had to be 100% certain to over rule them. As you point out he could not have been certain so the question is why did he make the call. Did anyone check if he has relatives from louth?

[lynchbhoy]

What was the Meath player sent off for? nobody in the stand had a clue!!

As for disallowed goal, the majority of accounts seem to dictate it should have stood so coupled with the sending-off  we definitely got fortuitous as the whole dynamic would have changed entering the last 10 minutes but I think when we raised the intensity of the game in the 2nd half we were much the better team. Meath I thought were very clever slowing down the game in the 1st half meaning we were quite ponderous and our half-back line were taking too much out of the ball and having a cut themselves from 35/40m with awful awful results, I think Chalky, Flanagan, MOF and Bolton must have been responsible for half those wides. In the 2nd half half we moved the ball much quicker with far better results.
Anyhow no trophies handed out in June so nice to win two championship games conceding only 15 points in total.
Sure we'll give it a lash against the Dubs now.

was an enjoyable game imo.
while hardsatation is obv a meath fanand biased here, I would agree that Paddy o'rourke was not given frees that he should have received- but thats a problem in GAA - bigger men usually dont get the frees that smaller men seem to win more easily.
The Geraghty goal being disallowed proves that we need microchip (in ball) technology to determine whether a ball is in the square, wide or a point etc.

Farrell deserved to get the line for retaliation. Whatever about a fella lashing out, if you are the second guy to swing, then you are 99% of the time caught and will walk for this. Red card for stupidity. Bolton wasnt a dirty player. The mcloughlin fella I pointed out before the game should have had numerous yelows for late hits and niggly dirty stuff off the ball etc. A decade ago he would have been emptied .
Would also think that Kildare would have won the game even with GG's goal - but who knows. Meath lost composure after half time and reverted back to what they were doing all league long.
First half they looked good and banty def showed who was the master when it came to tactics. Mcgeeney demonstrated his lack of exp imo. Only for meath to start giving the ball away cheaply and gk murphy uncharacteristicaly gifting three points, this could and should have been very different.
By the time GG came on, meath heads had dropped. they threw it away themselves.
However Kildare didnt do themselves justice. The bigger meath defenders outmuscled them in the first half and almost all of kildares wides came from way out the field in positions where they were restricted from shooting from. Doyle and Callaghan outstandingly grabbed kildare by the scruff of th neck to bring them to the win.
Kildare must hope that Dubln are also experiencing early season choesion problems. I'd be worried about the manager's lack of tactial ability.
Also he needs to bring back his'armagh tackling' like Kildare showed last year. Way too naive on sunday.

[DuffleKing]

What is the perceived contribution in Kildare, if any, of O'Rourke to the make up of this Kildare team?

[mylestheslasher]

What was the Meath player sent off for? nobody in the stand had a clue!!

As for disallowed goal, the majority of accounts seem to dictate it should have stood so coupled with the sending-off  we definitely got fortuitous as the whole dynamic would have changed entering the last 10 minutes but I think when we raised the intensity of the game in the 2nd half we were much the better team. Meath I thought were very clever slowing down the game in the 1st half meaning we were quite ponderous and our half-back line were taking too much out of the ball and having a cut themselves from 35/40m with awful awful results, I think Chalky, Flanagan, MOF and Bolton must have been responsible for half those wides. In the 2nd half half we moved the ball much quicker with far better results.
Anyhow no trophies handed out in June so nice to win two championship games conceding only 15 points in total.
Sure we'll give it a lash against the Dubs now.

was an enjoyable game imo.
while hardsatation is obv a meath fanand biased here, I would agree that Paddy o'rourke was not given frees that he should have received- but thats a problem in GAA - bigger men usually dont get the frees that smaller men seem to win more easily.
The Geraghty goal being disallowed proves that we need microchip (in ball) technology to determine whether a ball is in the square, wide or a point etc.

Farrell deserved to get the line for retaliation. Whatever about a fella lashing out, if you are the second guy to swing, then you are 99% of the time caught and will walk for this. Red card for stupidity. Bolton wasnt a dirty player. The mcloughlin fella I pointed out before the game should have had numerous yelows for late hits and niggly dirty stuff off the ball etc. A decade ago he would have been emptied .
Would also think that Kildare would have won the game even with GG's goal - but who knows. Meath lost composure after half time and reverted back to what they were doing all league long.
First half they looked good and banty def showed who was the master when it came to tactics. Mcgeeney demonstrated his lack of exp imo. Only for meath to start giving the ball away cheaply and gk murphy uncharacteristicaly gifting three points, this could and should have been very different.
By the time GG came on, meath heads had dropped. they threw it away themselves.
However Kildare didnt do themselves justice. The bigger meath defenders outmuscled them in the first half and almost all of kildares wides came from way out the field in positions where they were restricted from shooting from. Doyle and Callaghan outstandingly grabbed kildare by the scruff of th neck to bring them to the win.
Kildare must hope that Dubln are also experiencing early season choesion problems. I'd be worried about the manager's lack of tactial ability.
Also he needs to bring back his'armagh tackling' like Kildare showed last year. Way too naive on sunday.

Do you seriously think Farrell should have been sent off because by that logic that game would have finished 5 a side and the Monaghan Tyrone game would have finished with the ref on the pitch on his own (the last Monaghan player would've been sent off for fighting with himself). This is Gaelic Football, not cricket.

[lynchbhoy]

Do you seriously think Farrell should have been sent off because by that logic that game would have finished 5 a side and the Monaghan Tyrone game would have finished with the ref on the pitch on his own (the last Monaghan player would've been sent off for fighting with himself). This is Gaelic Football, not cricket.

two reasons why I answer yes.
The rules of the game - as instructed to the refs these days to enforce - any attempts at 'striking' whether or not the 'strike' was landed - is a sending off straight red.

While farrell's throw of the arm was a powder puff thing, it was still an attempts at a 'strike'.

Secondly, in my football upbringing, as a young lad , you are taught never to retaliate.
Whatever about a lad that hits out first, you will always get caught when you retaliate.
It is one of the stupidest things to do in football (hurling and soccer also) - as you will usually get caught and you will be sent off.
The last training session I took, Fri week ago, I told an u14 team not to be fighting and never to hit back (immediately).
there are other ways of getting a man back, but if you are fighting, you are not playing football (hurling).
Farrell wasnt worth a s**te to Meath on the sideline , esp when he left his side with 14 men.

if this was soccer, he's be fined by his team.
I'd hope that Banty, meath coaches and selectors (when they arrive) and coaches throughout meath and indeed the GAA community will use this to demonstrate to their players what not to do and what happens when you do it.

no point in debating how hard he hit , or that he missed or that it was really nothing at all.
the stupid fecker lashed out and he got caught.
Farrell is a fabulous player and will recover from this.

Would I have done it, maybe I did once or twice in my career. usually I'd wait to get the ball and run straight over the fcuker - and there are many more ways to get a guy back other than immediate retribution. I liked what I saw in meath (in parts) on sunday and think they have a lot of young good lads that could bring them back up there again and soon.
A few unblown frees for Paddy orourke, a disallowed legit GG goal - The royals were not far away at all. Despite playing sihte for most of the second half and much of the first.

[Croí na hÉireann]

Legit goal and not a sending off for me, still think Kildare would have won though if the correct decisions were made. Good intense match, if Kildare start to bring their shooting boots with them they won't be too far off this year. They are crying out for a quality corner forward inside. Hard to know what to make of Eastmeath, they were well set up in the first half but their lack of leadership undone them again in the second. I know Graham Reilly wasn't having his best game but I'd have left him on, maybe swapped wings or even to half back to get him into the game more. They weren't getting the ball to Bray enough either. All set up now for a good semi final, won't be much in it.

[Jinxy]

Graham Reilly didn't look right from the word go.
I think they brought him back too soon from that operation during the league.
He has unreal pace but on Sunday he just looked like he didn't have it in his legs.

[Croí na hÉireann]

Meant to say, it occurred to me halfway through the second half that the "commentary" from Marty and Carney wasn't getting on my wick as much as it was in the first half. It was then I realised that the gaps of silence weren't intentional, Carney's mic must have had a bad connection as if you really listened you could just make out his drone and the very much so's. Unfortunately normal service resumed soon after.

[mylestheslasher]

Do you seriously think Farrell should have been sent off because by that logic that game would have finished 5 a side and the Monaghan Tyrone game would have finished with the ref on the pitch on his own (the last Monaghan player would've been sent off for fighting with himself). This is Gaelic Football, not cricket.

two reasons why I answer yes.
The rules of the game - as instructed to the refs these days to enforce - any attempts at 'striking' whether or not the 'strike' was landed - is a sending off straight red.

While farrell's throw of the arm was a powder puff thing, it was still an attempts at a 'strike'.

Secondly, in my football upbringing, as a young lad , you are taught never to retaliate.
Whatever about a lad that hits out first, you will always get caught when you retaliate.
It is one of the stupidest things to do in football (hurling and soccer also) - as you will usually get caught and you will be sent off.
The last training session I took, Fri week ago, I told an u14 team not to be fighting and never to hit back (immediately).
there are other ways of getting a man back, but if you are fighting, you are not playing football (hurling).
Farrell wasnt worth a s**te to Meath on the sideline , esp when he left his side with 14 men.

if this was soccer, he's be fined by his team.
I'd hope that Banty, meath coaches and selectors (when they arrive) and coaches throughout meath and indeed the GAA community will use this to demonstrate to their players what not to do and what happens when you do it.

no point in debating how hard he hit , or that he missed or that it was really nothing at all.
the stupid fecker lashed out and he got caught.
Farrell is a fabulous player and will recover from this.

Would I have done it, maybe I did once or twice in my career. usually I'd wait to get the ball and run straight over the fcuker - and there are many more ways to get a guy back other than immediate retribution. I liked what I saw in meath (in parts) on sunday and think they have a lot of young good lads that could bring them back up there again and soon.
A few unblown frees for Paddy orourke, a disallowed legit GG goal - The royals were not far away at all. Despite playing sihte for most of the second half and much of the first.

Thats all fair enough but you have to accept that if this particular view was taken by every ref in every game there would be some amount of sendings off. How many would have walked in the Monaghan Tyrone game alone?

[lynchbhoy]

Thats all fair enough but you have to accept that if this particular view was taken by every ref in every game there would be some amount of sendings off. How many would have walked in the Monaghan Tyrone game alone?

agreed.
you will find that the same ref in the same game wont obey the letter of the law (as otherwise a few more would have walked from both meath and kildare sides on sunday for harmless enough pushes/challenges).

I passed the ref course myself and did one game (Wanted to brush up on the rules should I go back coaching again next year). If any assessor would have been watching, I would prob never get a game again as I made mcananey look whistlehappy.

i'd almost send farrell off myself for being a eejit and retaliating rather than waiting his chance to bury the aggressor.

the refs are supposed to implement the rules to the letter of the law - meanaing both Farrell and bolton should have got the line. I dont agree with it , but you will see more of this and also more of the common sense approach from other refs like mcquillen, mcenaney and coldrick - this will just cause people to say that its inconsistnt refereeing - which collectively it is.

[thejuice]

Meath are appealing the Farrell sending off. If they do it by the book as Lynchboy said, I don't see how it can be over turned.