Brian Gavin: Mayo should blame themselves for defeat, not David Coldrick
Referee David Coldrick issues a black card to Robert McDaid of Dublin during the All-Ireland final. Picture: Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
The runaway train that is this Dublin football team shows no signs of stopping. Some felt they should have been derailed by black or red cards on Saturday evening but those were incredibly tough decisions for David Coldrick.
Let’s take the Mick Fitzsimons hit on Lee Keegan. Yes, it was frontal but what saved Fitzsimons was the ball was lost by Keegan in the tackle and in those instances the referee gives the benefit of the doubt to the tackler that he has made a genuine attempt to dispossess his opponent. Had the ball not been lost then there would have been a free at the very least.
Ten minutes into the second half, there were calls for Jonny Cooper to follow Robbie McDaid off the field and into the sin bin for his foul on Aidan O’Shea. He did have O’Shea by the jersey and David could be seen saying it was a pull back and there was also a tangling of the feet, but it wasn’t a clear-cut pull-down to be deemed a black card.
If anything, McDaid was a tad unfortunate to be sent to the bin for 10 minutes for his body collision on Kevin McLoughlin. I’ve had the benefit of seeing the incident a few times whereas David only had a few seconds but it did seem harsh. McLoughlin looked like he knew what he was doing there as well so it could have gone either way.
Cooper did get a booking for persistent fouling and David was on top of his game there from what I could see. Mayo can only blame themselves for giving away silly frees towards the end. James Carr should have also been yellow-carded for his foul on John Small.
Other than the black card, David had an excellent first half and overall put in a really good shift. Mayo were clearly committing more of their fouls in Dublin’s half as they tried to stop the runners and David was sharp on that.
The half-time tunnel skirmish, David would not have been aware of as the match officials go to the Cusack/Davin Stand tunnel at half-time. That is an issue as it would have been picked up in most other venues where everyone leaves on the same side of the field.
It really could have led to something serious and O’Shea looked like he had a mark or two on his face early in the second half so it might have escalated. The GAA have put in protocols that one team should remain on the field until the other has left but clearly that wasn’t followed in this case.
In the U20 final, Paul Faloon showed tremendous judgement not to be hoodwinked into giving Dublin defender Josh Bannon a free at the end, which would have forced extra-time had one been pointed.
The irony is had he not made such an attempt to win the free he likely would have been awarded one as his feet tangled with an opponent, which would have left Faloon with little choice but to give the free. But instead he made a meal of it and Faloon didn’t fall for the dive.
Overall, the football referees have had a decent enough year although I’d maintain their lives are made harder by the advanced mark, which offers nothing to the game. I know Mayo scored three of them on Saturday but I have no great love for it and I don’t get the feeling there is much appreciation out there for it either.
In Sunday’s senior ladies football final, referee Jonathan Murphy had a decent game and was spot on with the penalty. Cork goalkeeper Martina O’Brien put her two hands around Carla Rowe and while it probably wouldn’t have been given further out the field she didn’t give Murphy much option but to award it. Both late yellow cards were also the right calls although it does seem harsh to be sin-binned for a booking.
Speaking of sin-bins, news last week that it and a penalty could be coming into hurling, as well as football, for cynical play stopping goal-scoring opportunities has to be explored.
Whether such fouling is punished with a penalty, a sin bin, or both, it has to be tackled, especially in hurling where there was another example of it on Friday when there was a deliberate trip using the hurl in the Galway-Kilkenny U20 semi-final.
