The last few weeks have not been good for some referees in both hurling and football. There is no question about it, in a close game the referee decides who wins if he makes bad decisions. The rules of our games are often blamed by people who should know better. In my view there is nothing wrong with our rules but there is a lot wrong with the manner in which some referees apply them.
In the recent past we had two instances where players were sent off in the wrong by the same referee Derek Fahey: Marc Ó Sé and Dan Gordon. These players were later exonerated and rightly so.
Mayo can feel very aggrieved that they were denied a free in a scoreable position towards the end of the game against Tyrone last weekend. They lost by a point.
However, the big talking point over the last ten days or so was the 65 awarded to Tipperary towards the end of the Munster under-21 hurling final from which they scored the winning point.
Prior to the award of the 65, the Clare goalkeeper Donal Tuohy took the puck-out and Patrick Kelly won possession for Clare. He passed the ball to Nicky O’Connell who was fouled about 20m out from the Tipperary goal. The referee correctly awarded a free to Clare. After this free was awarded the referee’s attention was drawn to the umpire at the Clare goals who was seeking his attention to advise him of an infringement. When the referee spoke to the umpire he was told that the Clare goalkeeper had taken the puck-out from outside the small rectangle. This communication between the referee and the umpire took place one minute and seven seconds after Donal Tuohy took the puck-out. It was an extraordinary and incorrect decision by referee Jason O’Mahony from Limerick to award a 65 to Tipperary.
Rule 4.15 of the 2008 Official Guide Part 2 states: “To take the puck-out from outside the small rectangle – Penalty – 65m free opposite where the foul occurred.”
However, the referee had no authority to apply the above rule (rule 4.15) retrospectively after a segment of play was completed and having awarded a free to Clare 20m out from the Tipperary goals. The referee did not have the power in this instance to cancel the free he had awarded to Clare and instead award a 65 to Tipperary. Once play had continued he was wrong go back and award a free for something that happened earlier. This serious error by the referee cost Clare dearly.
There are a few other points that are worth pointing out as well. It is not a case whether the goalkeeper’s foot was outside the small rectangle when he took the puck-out. This was incorrectly highlighted in news reports. The issue is whether the puck-out was taken outside the small rectangle or not. Having looked at the video of the game it is debatable whether the goalkeeper took the puck-out from outside the small rectangle.
Furthermore, although the Tipperary player took the 65 from slightly behind the line, he actually struck the sliotar inside the line – a common offence in hurling that referees never pull. This was a foul and the referee should have penalised it by throwing in the ball. The point stood and Clare lost out. The sad thing about all of this is that some of these Clare players will never have the chance of winning a Munster under-21 hurling final again.
In the Kerry v Monaghan game last Sunday the referee Maurice Deegan did not penalise as much as one illegal hand-pass during the entire game even though Kerry were guilty of throwing the ball on 40 occasions. Kieran Donaghy and Tommy Walsh were culpable of constantly threw the ball. Others were guilty too, including Monaghan players. Of Kerry’s scores, 1-6 resulted from illegal hand-passes. In addition, Kieran Donaghy was not penalised for hand-passing the ball over the bar in the 54th minute of the game. The rule states that a player who is in possession of the ball may not score a point with his open hand(s), but may score a point by fisting the ball.
I would have expected the analysts on TV3 and on The Sunday Game to comment on this but they didn’t. I found this quite astonishing as it had a major impact on the game. I am tired of listening to people saying that these type of fouls should be ignored in the interests of common sense and keeping the game flowing. Common sense is not nearly as common as some critics think and keeping the game flowing is not part of the referee’s job. Under rule 1.2 (v) of the Rules of Control the referee has a duty to control the game in accordance with the playing rules. More importantly, with a few exceptions, (ie to behave in any way which is dangerous to an opponent, to use the hurley in a careless manner, rough play and the type of language used) the referee has no authority to interpret the rules of play.
Gerry McDermott is a Gaelic games analyst and expert on the rules of the GAA.