Brian Gavin: David Coldrick and his team got the big calls right

Kerry and Croke Park played to Tyrone's tune because it seemed they had little choice but to, although this game really should have gone ahead last week

Kerry's Tommy Walsh reacts to referee David Coldrick. Picture: INPHO/James Crombie

All credit to Tyrone, their performance on the field was almost as sharp as it was off it in getting this game played two weeks after the original date.

Kerry and Croke Park played to their tune because it seemed they had little choice but to, although this game really should have gone ahead last week. Holding the GAA to ransom is not the way to do things and now both their club championships and Mayo’s will be held up as a result.

You have to admire how Tyrone gave themselves the best chance of getting through to an All-Ireland final. It’s not often Kerry are outdone in the cuteness stakes. It’s unfortunate that they had Covid cases and Kerry did the right thing in offering to wait a bit longer but it does raise a lot of issues.

When Sligo weren’t given the same respect last year and had to forfeit their game against Galway, you have to wonder where the equality is but at least we have an All-Ireland final, one that will finish a competition in which every game has taken place. And a novel one too. One county’s wait is going to end and there will be a lot of hearts with Mayo.

As for this latest semi-final, it was a brutally tough one to referee when the game was so close and there were collisions left, right, and centre. David Coldrick, I felt, had a fine game and the two major decisions, the first two black cards, were right. Niall Sludden did pull down Paul Murphy and there was great consultation with his umpires to bin Darren McCurry for a bodycheck on Gavin Crowley.

Peter Harte was shown great advantage to score a point in the first half. You could see Kerry fans were getting seriously frustrated with David in the first quarter but he was letting a lot of things go. Each team was hitting hard and Kerry soon enough were picking up a series of frees.

It was a great call to disallow the Stephen O’Brien goal for a square ball although David did offer a soft enough free to Kerry which they scored coming towards the end of the first half. Gavin White and O’Brien could have been awarded frees on other occasions but, in such a tense game, there were going to be a couple of calls that fell through the cracks.

David Moran and Conn Kilpatrick were yellow carded for an off-the-ball scuffle which saw the Kerry midfielder require a new jersey, an incident picked up by linesman Barry Cassidy, which highlighted how much the entire refereeing team were on their game.

As the game wore on and particularly in extra-time, David used a lot of discretion to allow for players to be treated for cramp. Considering the Covid situation that dominated the build-up to this game and the gruelling play, he was right to do so. It mightn’t be in the rulebook but it’s only right and fair to give a player a minute or two to stretch. It can be abused, of course, but David had to be considerate.

David has given himself a chance of taking charge of the final now yet the rumour mill is suggesting Joe McQuillan, who has been refereeing well this summer — this would be his fourth final.

In the minor final, Derek O’Mahoney had an excellent game. It will be pointed out that he was caught for Meath’s winning score when the corner-back took two consecutive hops before setting up the point but Tyrone did have a chance to equalise.