Referees today - Brian Crowe did well

[David McKeown]

I disagree i think he had at best an ok game and if you want to pick up my previous posts ok lets look at the different incidents.  In my sides club game the ref did not see the incident nor did he have any impartial assistance that could direct him what to do. As a result he properly applied the refereeing directive that he could take no action as he did not see what went on.  Crowe on the other hand had at least 6 people who could assist him if none of them saw what happened then he was wrong to book O'Leary.  On the other hand if any of them saw O'Leary swing for Gearaghty (sp?) and communicated this to Crowe then again he was wrong to book O'Leary as he should have been dismissed.

Now in answer to your question I would prefer to see stoppages, bookings, sending offs, shomazzzles and the like stamped out of the game and I feel the only way for this to be done is if the offending team is punished.  Theres no point glossing over such incidents for the good of the game because you wont be able to get consistency as to how the offences should be handled if there not handled to the letter of the law.  As a result teams will feel they have been wrong if there are punished one week and not punished the other.  As far as retrospective punishment goes (that is to say play the advantage and punish the offender once the passage of play has ended) yes i would prefer to see it were possible but often it does not happen.

[Cloc Mor]

I disagree i think he had at best an ok game and if you want to pick up my previous posts ok lets look at the different incidents.  In my sides club game the ref did not see the incident nor did he have any impartial assistance that could direct him what to do. As a result he properly applied the refereeing directive that he could take no action as he did not see what went on.  Crowe on the other hand had at least 6 people who could assist him if none of them saw what happened then he was wrong to book O'Leary.  On the other hand if any of them saw O'Leary swing for Gearaghty (sp?) and communicated this to Crowe then again he was wrong to book O'Leary as he should have been dismissed

Was he right or wrong to book O' Leary then?

I stopped reading your post half way through your second post cause you were talking too much shit. 

LET THE GAME FLOW[/font]

[Fear ón Srath Bán]

O'Leary was booked for the 'push', not the 'punch'. That's what the officials perceived to the best of their ability. Therefore, correct refereeing decision in light of what he knew at that time.

[Cloc Mor]

And

[David McKeown]

The booking was wrong it should have been a straight red card for the strike or intention to strike.  Alternatively if he and his fellow officials failed to see the incident then it should have gone without punishment.  If as Fear ón Srath Bán suggests it was for pushing Gearghty over then again the booking was wrong if it was his first offence.  Hope thats not too long for you

[Cloc Mor]

Hope thats not too long for you

That really hurts

[pintsofguinness]

Agree with David.  It also annoys me that refs cop out with showing a yellow card for a strike  when the rules clearly state it's a red card offence.  Let the game flow is grand to a certain extent but you have to draw the line at striking. 

[Tyrones own]

  Abolish the ticking immediately, it's only a recipe for the referee's to
 cop out of making the necessary calls!!

[lynchbhoy]

crowe let the game flow and o'leary incident aside, justice was done and Cork deserved their victory.

I will say though that the meath brand of football would ruin a game as a spectacle if a ref was to interpret the full rules of the game to each of their matches.
It will prob take a whistle happy ref to bring an end to the 70 mins of jersey dragging, niggling and unspotsmanlike conduct.

In prev years when I played in the county , I was happy enough to see meaths players do this. But these days I cringe when I see meath players running alongside a free taker to put him off and also to block him from kicking in a certain direction, jerseys being pulled by meath backs and forwards, little rabbit punches being thrown into faces, ball being thrown into faces, chest/groin area when giving an opponent the ball for a sideline etc

have I really now turned into victor meldrew,  or does anyone else see this or share such an opinion?

I dont like this in the game and it gives meath's otherwise average team a huge helping hand in their games.
Refs may give frees some of the time, but wont turn the game into a whistle fest as they know themselves the game would be ruined and they would be looking very bad and prod would never get a big game again for this.

[orangeman]

John Gough and the famous 83 final ? How come he never referred any AI finals after this one I wonder ?

[Deal_Me_In]

If the referee applied the rules to the letter, Darren Fay would have been sent off for clearly taking out the Cork forward (McMahon i think) after he fisted the ball over the bar, McMahon was clearly running out of the box and Fay charged straight into him as he wasn't looking. This was a definate yellow and was Fay already booked?

[orangeman]

Cuchullain was never going to be sent off !

[bloody mary]

Crowe kept Meath in the game. He gave them soft frees, like the one 5 mins before half-time for a point that got them back in the game. How the heck did he see a push when he was out the pitch and too unfit to get up with play? He also gave ticks when they were obvious yellow cards, like twice when Cork players would have been through on goal. That's the problem with this bloody tick system. It means nothing and lets refs chicken out. A tick means absolutely nothing, a total cop-out. No wonder they have less players sent off this year, it doesn't mean the system is working, just that it doesn't allow for players to be sent off. That then allows teams to work the system, ie, managers tell players to foul away until they get tick-yellow-tick and then sub them for someone who does the same again!

It's the 3rd week in-a-row games have been at least party ruined by this (which is why we are debating it). Meath-Tyrone, Derry-Dublin and now Meath-Cork.

[behind the wire]

in all serious, in my own opinion the biggest issue which needs to be looked at by the gaa heirarchy in all counties is not the club v county issue or player burnout but rather the shortage of/standard of referees. there just dont seem to be as many people willing to do the job anymore and some of the ones that do are simply terrible at it.

my team has been on the wrong end of some very harsh refereeing this season, it actually got to the stage where some of the lads were contemplating quitting because the refereeing was so bad. is there any county in ireland with a decent crop of good referees? because they are certainly few and far between in co down.

[magpie seanie]

The problem with refereeing is that if you do it you are basically waving goodbye to your own club. I think the standards are gradually improving in the last 2-3 years though maybe I'm just in a good mood.