Brian Gavin: Championship could be lost to farcical sin-bin calls

I would make a calculated guess and suggest James Owens was only following the penalty/sin bin interpretation he was given in the referees’ group

Referee Fergal Horgan shows a yellow card to Kilkenny goalkeeper Eoin Murphy during their Leinster SHC semi-final against Wexford at Croke Park. Picture: Seb Daly/Sportsfile

Up to yesterday afternoon, this column was going to be all about Fergal Horgan and the pivotal role he played in making the Kilkenny-Wexford Leinster semi-final a classic game of hurling.

In those 100 minutes or so, Fergal showed an understanding of the game that made it an epic. With the crowds returning to matches in decent numbers, he gave them what they wanted, which was a full-blown derby.