Brian Gavin: Gillane goal and Cahalane red were wrong calls

If only there was an avenue to check such incidents. An official with access to replays would have only needed 15 seconds

Munster GAA Senior Hurling Championship Round 1, Walsh Park, Co. Waterford 21/4/2024

For the third time in as many years, Colm Lyons was entrusted with overseeing Clare and Limerick in a Munster round game.

It was never a game that was going to pass without incident and so it transpired with the awarding of Limerick’s third goal. There was no doubt it should have been ruled out as Aaron Gillane was in the square when Gearóid Hegarty struck for goal.

To be fair to Lyons, he had a good chat with his umpires before awarding it. You could tell he wasn’t 100% about it by his and his team’s body language, but they were wrong and it was a major turning point in the game.

If only there was an avenue to check such incidents. A referee or official with access to replays would have been able to confirm after 15 or 20 seconds that the goal should have been ruled out.

There was also a suspicion of a square ball for Diarmaid Byrnes’ earlier goal, Gillane again lurking, but that would have been a harsh call, as it wasn’t clear that he was in the small parallelogram.

Nobody could have blamed Lyons if he sent off Gillane and Conor Cleary as well as Seamus Flanagan and Adam Hogan. The carry-on between both pairs was incessant, they were all booked well before the end and were fortunate with those punishments.

If Clare had reason to be upset about the Gillane goal, Limerick could cry that Hegarty didn’t pick up a few more frees. Outside of that and maybe the Kyle Hayes helmet issue, Lyons coped with a difficult assignment.

The relatively inexperienced Michael Kennedy was put in charge of the Waterford-Clare game and unlike Lyons laid down the law early, which helped. He was assertive up to the black card for Ciarán Joyce in the 50th minute. He didn’t seem certain, spoke to his linesman Liam Gordon, and then punished the Cork centre-back while giving the penalty when he could have got away with a free-in and a yellow.

Limerick's Aaron Gillane celebrates scoring his side's third goal during the Munster GAA Hurling Senior Championship Round 1 match between Clare and Limerick at Cusack Park in Ennis, Clare. Photo by Ray McManus/Sportsfile

If that was a borderline call, Kennedy’s second yellow card for Damien Cahalane was not. It was wrong and he shouldn’t have seen the line for an innocuous foul. The sound of Cahalane’s hurley making contact with Patrick Fitzgerald probably made it appear worse.

Kennedy was right with several yellows, such as those issued to Tommy O’Connell, Dessie Hutchinson, Seán Twomey and Calum Lyons. He’s a referee with clear potential and this will bring him on.

Saturday’s Ulster quarter-final raised an issue which we could see more of over the coming months. Donegal goalkeeper Shane Patton required medical attention, and as per the new rule he had to go off. He tried to take his sweet time by going behind the goal but was directed to the sideline by David Gough and could only return at the next break in play.

So Donegal were down to 14 men and Daire Ó Baoill seemed like he was going to take the kick but was beckoning Patton to come back onto the field for it. Donegal were penalised by Gough for taking too much time and a throw ball was given on the 20-metre line when it seemed yet another Donegal player went into the goals.

This rule is going to cause all sorts of confusion. Who exactly has the goalkeeper privileges in that situation? By that, I mean the “designated” goalkeeper is permitted to pick the ball up off the ground in the small rectangle but if nobody knows who he is then it will lead to mass confusion. It would make a lot of sense for the temporary goalkeeper to wear a bib.

In relation to helmets being taken off, this anomaly was raised by the Central Competitions Control Committee earlier this month but their proposal to amend it for goalkeepers was rejected. Let’s hope there isn’t a high-profile case of “told you so” later in the championship.

Otherwise, Gough had a good game. Ironically, he may have been too far ahead of the play when he awarded Donegal their penalty. Had he been a few yards behind, he would have had a better view of Chrissy McKaigue’s foul on Shane O’Donnell as it appeared to occur outside the parallelogram.

Finally, the new referees' committee appears to have hit the ground running. The word is the fitness tests for the championship weren’t administered overly strictly and there is a good vibe about the place. After a difficult spring, it was needed.