Down Club Hurling & Football

[speculative]

A refereeing shocker from where I was sitting last night. Kilcoo's persistent and cynical fouling continued to go unpunished with Coulter receiving a torrent of late tackles, surely one of the top referees in the country should be able to spot these infractions and deal out the appropriate punishment (black card). Blatant penalty (foot block) on Conleth O'Hare as he took a shot at goal in 1st half that more or less swung the game, as Johnston scored from the resulting counter attack.

Having said that, the 'Bridge will be disappointed with their decision making at crucial points in 2nd half. They certainly rattled Kilcoo and effectively nullified the influences of O'Hanlon (who could have easily seen red on a few occasions), Ryan Johnston and Devlin. A few incorrect decisions from Ciaran Brannigan cost them a deserved spot in the final.

What a complete load of bawls the above biased opinion is. The Bridge got stuck into Kilcoo from the start and its what you would expect of Mayobridge, there was cynical fouling and rough play from both sets of players and on a different ref there could well have been 3 or 4 players from each side black carded. The game was as good as any I've seen this year.
As for Benny, yes the best player we've produced for 20 years but are you not allowed to tackle this man?
The best team won last night, to come from behind twice in the manner Kilcoo did was fantastic against a very good Bridge team.

There's no bias here Oglach. Many neutrals from around me were of the same opinion. Yes, the Bridge did get stuck in, but was more often than not fair and on the ball. Of course you're allowed to tackle an opposing player, but not after the ball had left him 2 secs previous, it was because of this the GAA introduced the black card.

Kilcoo showed great resilience but I still think if the 'Bridge had have got their fair share of decisions, Kilcoo wouldn't be in the final

[bridge fan]

Any thoughts on this surly this shud NOT be allowed

The 3 brannigans are  first cousins of Cairan Brannagand
Also the the kilcoo secretary O Hanlon works for Brannagan and also does umpire for him at county matches

[charlieTully]

I didn't get to the game as was working, had a few quid on the bridge. sounds close from reading the reports here. feck that.

[pauly2]

Any thoughts on this surly this shud NOT be allowed

The 3 brannigans are  first cousins of Cairan Brannagand
Also the the kilcoo secretary O Hanlon works for Brannagan and also does umpire for him at county matches

Clutching at straws here lads.  There are many instances where the relations of the referee comes into question but take the beating on the chin and move on.  Next season will be interesting for the bridge.  they will be needing a new manager if walsh takes up with down though.  big woods is obvious choice..

[superblues]

It's simple it should not happen he should not have Been the referee it was blatant that he could not be impartial and was boarding line cheating have been out at an under age match this morning and he is all the talk which I am sure is what he set out to do so he will be happy

[bcarrier]

@OfficialDownGAA: Morgan Fuels SFC result from Pairc Esler Burren 2.17 Longstone 1.07 well done Burren on reaching this years final to play Kilcoo on 5th Oct

[charlieTully]

John Clarke was outstanding for the kingdom tonight i thought, nerves of steel at the end, made that free look very simple.

[SHEEDY]

John Clarke was outstanding for the kingdom tonight i thought, nerves of steel at the end, made that free look very simple.

good job there was a bit of excitement in the 1st game because the 2nd game never got going. the stone never got going and burren won at ease. the match never got near the level of intensity or passion of last nights semi final. burren going into final as favourites?

[charlieTully]

John Clarke was outstanding for the kingdom tonight i thought, nerves of steel at the end, made that free look very simple.

good job there was a bit of excitement in the 1st game because the 2nd game never got going. the stone never got going and burren won at ease. the match never got near the level of intensity or passion of last nights semi final. burren going into final as favourites?

it could have been a worse hiding, both longstone midfielders should have been sent off.

[PAULD123]

The Bridge v Kilcoo match has had a lot of contrasting comments. As neutral I would say all the comments have been too one sided so far. This was a fairly bad tempered and frequently violent game that the referee lost control off early on.

To suggest that one side was physical but fair and the other side was brutal and should have had several players sent off for seriously aggressive fouls is total crap. Both sides committed some violent fouls. I will not pick out any in particular, but both sets of forwards were hacked and battered.

From my view one side was not better or worse than the other. Kilcoo do inspire a higher level of aggression in teams they play against than probably anyone else but that is no excuse for the choice those opposition teams make.

As for the ref, I did not see bias, I saw incompetence. He lost control and bottled many decisions. He was not helped by mass brawls. The referee was not the deciding factor in this game. How about when you are a minute into injury time you don't leave a completely unmarked opposition forward inside your own 21!

But lets be positive too - That was a hell of a night of entertainment, no-one was bored watching that match

[Mid Down Gael]

The Bridge v Kilcoo match has had a lot of contrasting comments. As neutral I would say all the comments have been too one sided so far. This was a fairly bad tempered and frequently violent game that the referee lost control off early on.

To suggest that one side was physical but fair and the other side was brutal and should have had several players sent off for seriously aggressive fouls is total crap. Both sides committed some violent fouls. I will not pick out any in particular, but both sets of forwards were hacked and battered.

From my view one side was not better or worse than the other. Kilcoo do inspire a higher level of aggression in teams they play against than probably anyone else but that is no excuse for the choice those opposition teams make.

As for the ref, I did not see bias, I saw incompetence. He lost control and bottled many decisions. He was not helped by mass brawls. The referee was not the deciding factor in this game. How about when you are a minute into injury time you don't leave a completely unmarked opposition forward inside your own 21!

But lets be positive too - That was a hell of a night of entertainment, no-one was bored watching that match

100 percent correct. The Bridge brought an intensity that surprised everyone, in your face tactics and mixed it with kilcoo and kilcoo responded. The referee let her go Kilcoo came out on top. I do believe most genuine bridge Gaels will take their beating and realise it can't always be the referees fault. He let her go but was same both ways.

[Maurice Moss]

Any thoughts on this surly this shud NOT be allowed

The 3 brannigans are  first cousins of Cairan Brannagand
Also the the kilcoo secretary O Hanlon works for Brannagan and also does umpire for him at county matches

I have a few thoughts on this bridge fan.

First point, the three Branagans may be related to Ciaran Branagan, but are you telling us all here that due to the parochial nature of the GAA, there are not other cases of referees being in charge of games in which they have relations playing in? If the referee and relations were members of the same club then there would be an issue here, however, Ciaran Branagan isn't a member of the Kilcoo club and showed no bias towards any Kilcoo player for the duration of the game. He has been in charge of a few Kilcoo games this year and again, being a top inter county referee showed no bias towards any Kilcoo player. This should not be an issue at all here, and I am sure most people will agree that Ciaran Branagan shows no bias towards anyone he referees, be it Kilcoo or any other team in the county or outside. Petty argument, graciously accept your defeat like the majority of 'Bridge supporters and look at the positives of what an intense and exciting game that was on show last night!

Also on your point about O'Hanlon, he's not Kilcoo secretary. So I'd advise that before you come on here and spout out such a heap of nonsense, to go and get your facts right and then you can be taken seriously. Keyboard warrior clutching at straws, grow up!

[bridgegael]

I think the thing that will eat away  at the players is they hsd 2/3 good chances in last five minutes for points, didnt take any of them. Point was a big score then.
The team that has put mayobridge out of the championship in the last 18 years has went on to win it. Well done kilcoo

[superblues]

Mayobridge never got a free kick inside the 50 metre line I think that says a lot

[SHEEDY]

Mayobridge never got a free kick inside the 50 metre line I think that says a lot

as a neutral at the match, I thought the ref was tough on mayobridge. thought they had to work a lot harder to get frees than kilcoo. in saying that the best team won and I think they'll also win the final.