Down Club Hurling & Football

[here comes 6]

well i think terrible is a little too harsh in fairness.. i was standing listening to both sets of supporters shouting and roaring at the referee for every single thing he blew for... Their men were pulling, dragging, clamping their arms around their opponents, tackling from behind, persistent fouling in the tackle, persistent fouling off the ball when it was being played in... What is the referee supposed to do here... If he lets the advantage rule kick in - he is criticised if the play breaks down, if he dont let it kick in - he is criticised.  If he allows the pulling, and dragging thing to continue both on and off the ball - he gets criticised.  Every single aspect listed above is breaking the rules.  You may throw - ah but jaysus let common sense prevail - no - its breaking the rules and thats it.  If you continue to break them you get booked or sent off.  The players in this county are well aware of what the rules are and while clubs are partial to releasing some of their hard earned money to various managers and trainers - they would do well to actually coach the tackle and explain what you are allowed to do and not allowed to do in a game.  Training sessions usually end with a game - this is where the corrections should be made.  Stop the game if there is a genuine foul and explain why.  Maybe then people would get off referees backs and actually watch the game.  And for all the supporters of Mooney - he scored one hell of a point in the first half claiming the ball in front of the stand and hitting a 1 - 2 and putting it over the bar and his point in the second half was decent - but he should not have been on the pitch at this stage imo.  He persistently fouled in the first half and finally got booked - should have got his scond yellow card - but the referee did rostrevor a huge favour by not depleting them... but did the referee get any plaudits - na - only criticism....

I totaly agree the art of tackling is gone completly out of the game.  its now al about stoppng the man with the ball at all costs as far away from the goals as possible.  I wasnt at the match last night but i have been at the bad end of some of this refs decision in my time and he cant explain himself what hes booking players for and alot of the time doesnt even know what till give a free for,  but again i dont blame all on the men in the middle as at least their brave enough till take the whistle and only for them there would be no game..    A middle ground needs to be found in fairness

[supersub]

Pauly no harm to you but the referee spoilt that game last night and that has come from both sets and a few neutrals as well. He didn't let it flow and I have never seen so many ticks and yellow cards in a match which wasn't dirty at all! If that is the way they men in the middle have been told to go about their business in the championship this year it will be completely spoilt as a spectacle and each game will be horrible to watch, stop start stuff like last night. No common sense or consistency in decisions! Apart from All that we were lucky enough they didn't score a goal near the end!

[RedFred]

well i think terrible is a little too harsh in fairness.. i was standing listening to both sets of supporters shouting and roaring at the referee for every single thing he blew for... Their men were pulling, dragging, clamping their arms around their opponents, tackling from behind, persistent fouling in the tackle, persistent fouling off the ball when it was being played in... What is the referee supposed to do here... If he lets the advantage rule kick in - he is criticised if the play breaks down, if he dont let it kick in - he is criticised.  If he allows the pulling, and dragging thing to continue both on and off the ball - he gets criticised.  Every single aspect listed above is breaking the rules.  You may throw - ah but jaysus let common sense prevail - no - its breaking the rules and thats it.  If you continue to break them you get booked or sent off.  The players in this county are well aware of what the rules are and while clubs are partial to releasing some of their hard earned money to various managers and trainers - they would do well to actually coach the tackle and explain what you are allowed to do and not allowed to do in a game.  Training sessions usually end with a game - this is where the corrections should be made.  Stop the game if there is a genuine foul and explain why.  Maybe then people would get off referees backs and actually watch the game.  And for all the supporters of Mooney - he scored one hell of a point in the first half claiming the ball in front of the stand and hitting a 1 - 2 and putting it over the bar and his point in the second half was decent - but he should not have been on the pitch at this stage imo.  He persistently fouled in the first half and finally got booked - should have got his scond yellow card - but the referee did rostrevor a huge favour by not depleting them... but did the referee get any plaudits - na - only criticism....

i think if the ref's had a better knowledge of the rules it would be of benefit. simple things like not throwing the ball up between players when the game has been stopped for an injury, the rules on this were made very clear last year. or if they punished players for persistent small fouls. i went to a game last weekend and witnessed a corner forward fouled 7 times in the 1st half and 5 in the 2nd by the same player who eventually got a yellow with 2 minutes to go.

seemingly only 33 referees have completed both the fitness and written assesment out of over 100 referees. some have done neither this year. surely 1 assessment a year is not much to ask of people who get £30 per game.

there is little doubt some games can be hard to referee but hindering a good game by simply not knowing the rules has to stop. Better games will only help to develop players and be a better spectacle for supporters.

[ardtole]

Have any of the local bookies prices up for the championship games this week? They didnt have any for the Longstone v Lecale game thank God.

[thewobbler]

Refereeing isn't easy, and the rules don't help.

But my biggest bug bears are:

1. interpretations of dangerous fouls and intent,
2. systematic fouling, especially towards the end of games,
3. how people are dealt with when they react to provocation.

An example of problem with intent, would be the yellow card Danny Hughes got against Cork. Danny had placed his arms up to block off a charge, and the Cork midfielder lowered his head into Danny's hand. There was no intent in terms of aggressiveness on Hughes's part. It was technically a foul, and I've no problem with that. But a referee should have more sense about the gravity of the foul.

Earlier in the game, Kallum King stuck his knee in a Cork midfielder's back after the Cork man took a clean catch. This was a dangerous and deliberate act. If Hughes's foul was a yellow card, then this should have been a straight red. I'm not saying it was a red card - but in order of severity it was 10 times worse than what Hughes did.

The tactical fouling towards the end of games is one of the biggest blights on our game. Effectively teams close off a small lead by dragging every attack down before it gains momentum. Referees need to be wise to two things. First a deliberate foul is a deliberate foul, and it doesn't matter that the attacker was pulled down in full flight, or before getting speed up; they both prevent an advantage. But, there is no doubt in my mind that most referees judge the gravity of the offence by the speed of the action. Hence, every ball won at midfield in these cicumstances evolves into a ruck before momentum is gained, and is rewarded (at best) with a free - but should the team in front launch a breakaway attack into space, every foul is punished with a card. The second thing, is how to stop it happening. I'd recommend a simple warning to the team captain that tactical fouling has been noted, and every instance of it from then onwards would be automatically punished with a yellow card (regardless of whether the individual was involved previously). This works well in rugby.

Provocation is again easily referred back to the Cork game. Regardless of what Marty Clarke did to Noel O'Leary, anyone with any depth of sense would have to ask why one of the most gifted attackers in the game is reacting in that way. I'm sure Marty was up for the battle and was ready to protect himself, but let's be realistic on this, if a famously provocative player is lying in a heap, nine times out of ten, he has done something to end up there. If a referee can't trust his other officials to offer a full explanation of the circumstances (has it been ongoing, was there a tussle first, did O'Leary make a meal of it), then he shouldn't take punitive action on one team based on one swing of a hand. I'm not advocating violence on a football field, but the initial aggressor should never get off scot free for "being cute". It goes against what football should be about.

It would not be possible to keep a count of the number of incidents in a year that pan out like this:

a. An attacker is pulled to the ground.
b. A teammate of the defender comes in and winds the situation up.
c. The attacker gets up and does a bit of pushing.
d. There is a throw-up ball, or the free is reversed.

So the offending team get two bites of the cherry in terms of foul play, but because the fouled player stands up for himself against what is, in effect, bullying, his team loses the advantage they earned. This is always wrong. But every referee in the country calls it this way.

[hayemaker]

if anyone is trying to defend eugene ohare,your a joke!  him and his officials were absolutely awful last night. I just hope this weekend isnt ruined like last night, it could have been an awful lot different, rostrevor got out of jail, theyll be destroyed next round

[DownFanatic]

Kilcoo up by four at the break against Liatroim. Ended up winning by 6.

[Mid Down Gael]

Kilcoo 1-14 Liatriom 2-5

Kilcoo won this game unconvincingly without getting out of second year. Jerome Johnston top scored with 1-7 while the brilliant Conor Laverty terrorised the Fontenoys defence with an amazing dispaly.
Again the referee was the talking point, Barry Kane disgracefully given two yellows in the first 15 minutes, for nothin challanges. Towards the end Donagh OHiggins got the same treatment for next to nothing tackles, however, players from both sides committed worse challanges and no bookings. No consistency from Kieran Trainor at all and has a long way to go to become a competent referee.
Its annoying that the referees in Down are letting the game become basically non contact.

[Oglach]

Well, just back from a very average game and a typical derby between ourselves and near neighbours Leitrim. We'll just be glad to get through this one. Im not going to harp on too much about the ref BUT he awarded Leitrim a couple of controversial penalties while denying us a clear penalty! too many stops, and in some cases refereeing the score board. We lost a forward to 2 yellows early in the 1st half but it worked in our favour as our work rate increased. Leitrim lost one of their midfeild to a 2nd yellow in second half. Laverty was very sharp tonight and man of match IMO. Final score Kilcoo 1.14 Leitrim 2.05

[NP 76]

Banbridge 1 - 08  Drumgath 1 - 05 poor enough game

[whitegoodman]

Where was Doyle playing tonight?  Was he any good?

[redandblack4ever]

Was Declan Sheeran playing for Drumgath? I heard over the weekend he'd gotten a knee injury...

[redandblackareback]

Kilcoo 1-14 Liatriom 2-5

Kilcoo won this game unconvincingly without getting out of second year. Jerome Johnston top scored with 1-7 while the brilliant Conor Laverty terrorised the Fontenoys defence with an amazing dispaly.
Again the referee was the talking point, Barry Kane disgracefully given two yellows in the first 15 minutes, for nothin challanges. Towards the end Donagh OHiggins got the same treatment for next to nothing tackles, however, players from both sides committed worse challanges and no bookings. No consistency from Kieran Trainor at all and has a long way to go to become a competent referee.
Its annoying that the referees in Down are letting the game become basically non contact.

Second night and same old with the man in the middle!! Its threatening to ruin the weekend for the paying spectator

[knockitdown]

Was Declan Sheeran playing for Drumgath? I heard over the weekend he'd gotten a knee injury...

Correct. Injured

[Leonardo]

No sign of Sheerin tonight. Poor game but Banna should have won by ten at least. Very strong at midfield, winning some excellent high ball which gave platform for the win. thought ref was ok, but maybe tried to bring drumgath back into game; as previous poster said about looking after scoreboard. Dont think anyone will fear Banna after this game