Feb 25

Refs Suffering from Premature Ululation by Blowing too Early

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If the ref blows prematurely, it leaves no-one satisfied.
If the ref blows prematurely, it leaves no-one satisfied.
With new rules stipulating that fun and games can’t end until the balls have gone out of play, referees have come under scrutiny in recent weeks for the genuine, but ultimately unsatisfactory practice of premature ululation.

Louth have claimed that their O’Byrne Cup Final result could have been much different had the referee been able to contain himself and not blow so early, even though it was well into the third minute of injury time and Louth had plenty of action in the box that could have led to the vital score. However the DCU defence remained impregnable with some very safe and experienced practices to mean they were able to hold on for a satisfying if exhausting end result.

One observer commented “Normally you wouldn’t expect young people to be unable to contain their excitement, normally they would blow, especially at the thought of finally scoring like the big boys, but DCU showed a lot of maturity and restraint to hang on for the victory.”

A couple of weeks on and Longford have a similar tale of woe from another referee for whom the final whistle came too soon. Longford secretary Peter Reilly is looking another bite at the cherry by claiming the premature end to things and the mess it left during their match up with Limerick could cost them their season.

As for the unfortunate referees, it’s an embarrassing enough situation without the media repeatedly drawing attention to their inadequacies. Once again it draws attention to proposals that referees should get someone else to help with the time keeping, maybe so far as handing that job over to a fourth official who could maybe sound a hooter when time was up.