Now that the leagues are finished and the championship is about to get under way I thought would this be a good time to discuss the Lee Keegan v Diarmuid Connolly saga again as we can't be accused of influencing the referee before a big game?
Of course the Mayo lads won't be pleased that I'm focusing on one of their players and no doubt many will come back at me saying Tyrone have had several players who behaved the same over the years but I think it is still well worth the debate as this seems to rumble on every year now.
If you watch the video below from last year's replay, some people will argue that Keegan didn't do much wrong and that Connolly felt his arms on him and so he dived to the ground to get a black card.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI_bzJyj0tAIf you pause it on 9 seconds you will see Keegan's hands grabbing the front of Connolly's shirt and then he puts his arm around his shoulders and finally his hand goes onto Connolly's mouth. Connolly goes to ground then quite easily as he knew he was fouled but it's not until you go to ground that the ref will definitely make a decision.
Now that is the last incident between these two players but as we all know there were several more incidents before that one and also Keegan was playing a similar way against Sean Cavanagh in the quarterfinal.
Firstly I think the application of the rules regarding these two players have been a total disgrace.
Of course it's not an easy decision for the refs but I think because this has been an ongoing battle between the two players now for several years that something needs to be done about it. It is just too easy to say "Ah calm down, let them at it and they'll sort it out themselves" as Tomas O'Se said below
http://www.independent.ie/sport/gaelic-games/gaelic-football/toms-s-sums-up-the-diarmuid-connollylee-keegan-saga-perfectly-35095414.htmlhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUYDFZxNQdwTom said "Jesus, there’s nothing malicious going on there other than two fellas trying to get the better of each other."
Maybe it's because Tomás played as a defender and had to mark lots of top quality forwards over the years or maybe it's his anti Dublin bias but to me there is nothing fair about how Keegan tries to stop Connolly from playing.
Basically he pulls and drags his man, off the ball, for most of the game to prevent him from making runs into dangerous places to receive a pass with him often dragging him to the ground and the two players getting into a wrestling match. I think the rules needs to be changed so that there is not this silly punishment of booking the two players involved
EVERY time one player gets involved with another player which ends up with this holding their shirt or worse their neck etc.
For many people Connolly has a bad history of getting sent off and over reacting but to me the rules of GAA should be there to promote fair play and be there to protect the player who wants to play the game fairly. As many manager has said before it is usually the forward who wants to get the ball and to attack and it's the job of the defender to stop his man from doing that. Of course we've seen times where the forward will try to cheat the referee by diving or feigning injury but if you look back over the incidents between these two players, 9 times out of 10 you see Connolly trying to make a run away from his man and Keegan getting in his way or dragging him down to the ground.
I am amazed how often the ref, linesmen and umpires see this happening but do very little to stop it. So then naturally the player himself then reacts and often both players end up getting a yellow card or sent off.
Ask yourself is this what we want? Do we think it's OK for the defender to antagonise the forward by various means to get a reaction and to see him being sent off? If Connolly played for Mayo and was their best forward would you feel the same way and just say "ah he's a big lad, he can look after himself".
To be honest with you, I am no big fan of Connolly but I do think we need to be trying to protect our best players to be allowed to play football rather than seeing "a job" being done on them and so they end up being sent off along with the player who started the whole thing. I just think the rules don't seem to protect the forward (or any player) who wants to play the ball rather than the man and too often the desired intention of the fouling player is achieved in that he is stopping the forward from playing well and getting scores in an unfair manner.
In fairness to Keegan, any time he's been black or red carded he just walks off and accepts it as he knows he's bending the rules and so living on the edge whereas lots of other players will claim their innocence.
I also know that Keegan is not the only player who uses this type of tactic to put players off and Connolly has shown he too can play him at his own game but I suppose I just am amazed how the CCCC are happy to let this ongoing battle happen year after year and nothing be done about it. The more he gets away with it the more it will be copied by other players.
