I know I’m not alone when I say this All-Ireland final was far from a classic as you could possibly imagine.

Kerry have no issue with Meath’s David Coldrick being appointed to referee Sunday week’s All-Ireland final despite the match official both living and working in Dublin.

We await the exact reasoning behind the Disputes Resolution Authority’s decision to rescind Diarmuid Connolly’s red card but it can safely be said the GAA’s appeals structure is undermining the authority of referees on and off the field.

Kilkenny were not happy with James Owens’ interpretation of an aggressive foul on a number of occasions in the first half.

September dawns and the GAA’s disciplinary system finds itself occupied in a month in which it is usually dormant.

A lot of the talk among supporters coming out of Croke Park yesterday was about the referee.

Yesterdays’s All-Ireland semi-final surprised a lot of people with the quality and the sporting manner in which it was played but there were second- half incidents that took away from the spectacle.

Yesterday’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final was by far the game of the championship so far and Barry Kelly played an important part in the spectacle. He should be commended for his handling of what was a match played out in a great spirit.

We’ll come to the football shortly but first yesterday’s All-Ireland hurling semi-final where Brian Gavin did well but should have awarded more frees.

James Owens improved his chances of refereeing his first senior All-Ireland hurling final with an impressive handling of the Galway-Cork All-Ireland quarter-final yesterday.

Of the three televised games this weekend, the most difficult match to officiate was the Donegal v Derry Ulster semi-final in Clones.

One-sided games usually have no major talking points and that was more or less the case for the three televised hurling games this weekend.

David Coldrick will have been pleasantly surprised by the sporting nature of his Ulster Championship game at the Athletic Grounds and to see Donegal playing down the clock from the 60th minute.

In recent years, lots of people, including myself, have been looking for linesmen and umpires to get more involved in assisting referees with making disciplinary calls.

Two weeks ago, I highlighted the inconsistencies of referees’ judgements on shoulder challenges.

Rule 5.14 of the playing rules of Gaelic football states that to use threatening or provocative language against an opponent is an immediate black card offence.

Ah, August. That time of the year when referees are that bit slower to reach for the whistle and shy away from making the big calls.

Louis van Gaal’s entire coaching philosophy is based on three central tenets: defence, transition to attack and attack.

Championship football referees will be told their handling of the black card must improve at next month’s meeting of the 16 match officials.

Former inter-county football referee John Bannon has warned there will be confusion in administering the black card relating to diving and body checks.

As a person who has been involved in refereeing as an umpire at all levels including All-Ireland finals in the ’70/’80s I take a particular interest in the performance of the referee, and indeed, the assessments by John Bannon each Monday in the Irish Examiner, which are very good.

These are the last days of the so-called advantage rule in Gaelic football and it is a death that should be celebrated.

The one thing you can’t say about Ballybofey yesterday was that Joe McQuillan had a poor game.

Former inter-county referee John Bannon claims there has been a massive over-reaction to the success of the black card recommendation.

Former inter-county referee John Bannon believes the new black card proposal in Gaelic football will put more emphasis on match officials to improve their performances.

Proposed black and yellow card suspensions won’t apply to the All-Ireland football finals.

Six months into his chairmanship of the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC), Simon Moroney describes his role as “challenging” but he didn’t go into it blind.

I take issue with John Bannon in the article ‘You are the ref’ (Aug 27) where, in particular, he states Conor O’Mahony of Tipperary should have got a red card for striking T J Reid with his hurley.

The GAA have said no rules were breached by Mayo in using eight substitutes in yesterday’s All-Ireland semi-final.

No blood, no replacement

How dare Diarmuid O’Flynn make excuses for the outrageous action of a Tipperary hurler In the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Semi-Final between Kilkenny and Tipperary last Sunday (Irish Examiner, Aug 21).

Tipperary chairman Sean Nugent has slammed Irish Examiner columnist John Bannon for remarks made about the team in Monday’s newspaper.

Referees chief Pat McEnaney has called on the GAA to introduce a penalty system to punish repeat yellow card offenders and combat the growing cynicism in Gaelic football.

I knew John Diamond because he came to our house to play 45.

More often than not, the tone for refereeing in the Championship is set in the first couple of weekends.

WHAT is it about this generation of Kerry player that their All-Ireland final appearances tend to get twinned with another?

DUBLIN manager Pat Gilroy has said the rules — not the referees — are to blame for the recent rise in criticism of match officials.

In an exclusive questions and answers interview the Chairman of the Central Competitions Control Committee, Seamus Woods, discusses his group’s workings with our GAA correspondent John Fogarty

REFEREE Pat McEnaney has voiced his opposition to the new refereeing rule which comes into force for this year’s All-Ireland championships.

GAA Director General Páraic Duffy has acknowledged John Bannon’s successful but amended motion to take referees out of the video disciplinary process could heap more pressure on match officials to make the correct decisions.

GAA chiefs have denied official Pat Fox has been sidelined from refereeing matches for refusing to upgrade a yellow card to Tyrone’s Ryan McMenamin against Donegal last month.

FORMER inter-county referee John Bannon is to make another attempt to change the controversial GAA rule which empowers the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) to request whistleblowers to review disciplinary incidents and impose retrospective suspensions.

BEFORE four-by-fours and fourballs formed the small talk at county board meetings, the GAA was run very differently.