John Fogarty: Banner paranoia or do Clare have a right to feel hard done by?

Are the proposed one-match bans for Peter Duggan and Rory Hayes unfair on Clare?

Munster GAA Senior Hurling Championship Final, FBD Semple Stadium, Tipperary 5/6/2022

PETER DUGGAN and Rory Hayes didn’t need to receive retrospective suspensions for many Clare followers to believe the authorities had it in for their senior hurlers.

Weeks before the proposed bans, a message circulating on forums and social media platforms read like the theses Martin Luther pinned to the Wittenburg church door in the 16th century. For clarity and legal reasons, we paraphrase it here: “Clare were the first and only team to have a player suspended with video evidence when there wasn’t video evidence. Colin Lynch.

“First and only county where referee’s final whistle didn’t count when forced to play Offaly in a replay in 1998 despite being three points up at the final whistle.

“First and only county to have a 65 given against them for goalkeeper pucking the ball outside a square when he was inside costing a Munster (2008 U21) title.

“First and only county to get a red card for ‘interfering’ with a helmet. Podge Collins 2014.

“First and only county to have a penalty given against and player sinbinned for a tackle by the sideline. Aidan McCarthy.

“First and only county with penalty retaken against them for keeper off line (this year’s Munster minor hurling final).

“First and only county accused of interfering with Central Hearings Committee appeal even though the GAA say accused wasn’t a member of panel, executive, or backroom team. And people say Clare hurling folk are paranoid.”

Quite the list, right?

What happened to Donal Tuohy and Clare’s U21s in Ennis in 2008 was an injustice as was the call against McCarthy in Limerick last year. Although, some of the list is exaggerated. For instance, several penalties down through the years have had to be hit a second time due to goalkeepers moving off the line.

Brian Lohan mightn’t like to agree with anything Davy Fitzgerald says these days but a comment the Clare’s 2013 All-Ireland-winning manager made after that year’s drawn final against Cork to describe the county’s status does spring to mind reading those grievances.

“We’re only the small, little fish out there and we’re trying hard to make it through but how do you get the breaks when you’re a small fish?”

After producing a performance of such might and quality against Limerick and understanding how difficult it will be to go at it again this Saturday, the recommended bans for Duggan and Hayes would have felt like gut punches.

Yet loose claims have enveloped the county this past week. They aren’t the first senior inter-county players to be cited by the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) this year, never mind years — just ask the three Armagh and two Donegal footballers following a clash in the latter stage of the Allianz League. James McCarthy was banned for a game after the CCCC said he’d a case to answer for an unpunished incident in last year’s All-Ireland SFC semi-final.

Limerick’s Diarmaid Byrnes picked up a retrospective one-match ban in last year’s Allianz League for an incident involving Galway’s Jason Flynn. The CCCC in 2017 attempted to collar Austin Gleeson only referee James Owens was satisfied with his decision at the time. Earlier in that championship, they succeeded in punishing Stephen Bennett for a faceguard pull that the referee didn’t see.

There have been loose accusations too. Claims that county loyalties coloured the CCCC’s condemnation of Duggan and Hayes neglects one essential fact — those officials whose county is due or scheduled to face the team facing the disciplinary charge must recuse themselves from the process.

The trial by TV remarks have long been rejected in Croke Park. Although there would be an acknowledgement there is a perception that is the case, since The Sunday Game has first dibs on video footage and can be considered the judges.

In his Sunday Independent column, Jamesie O’Connor spoke of the analysis being devoid of context. “Neither Brendan (Cummins) nor Shane Dowling were at the game in Thurles. For me, that segment of the show completely missed the mood of the day, the game, the entire occasion. Was the match hard and physical? Absolutely. There was no quarter asked for or given all afternoon, but would anyone who was there have described it as dirty or expected to see suspensions out of it? No way.”

O’Connor is quite right on that count. Coming away from Thurles, the only sense was elation. The collisions were huge but the line didn’t seem to be crossed too much. But to be there was to be consumed. So much was happening that it was difficult to see Hayes’ chop on Seamus Flanagan’s back. The naked eye would have struggled to catch the Duggan-Will O’Donoghue incident, while most people just saw Seán Finn on the ground after tussling with Duggan.

However, the idea Clare should somehow be given a pass for contributing to a sensational game is silly.

As O’Connor himself wrote, both Clare players “lost their discipline in these couple of moments”.

Members of the Limerick team did too but not to the extent of those incidents highlighted. Little will dissuade Clare from believing they have been done hard by once more, but their hope will be it can fuel them returning to Thurles in four days’ time.

How the GAA promoted the Tailteann Cup

The competition isn’t yet completed, the semi-finals taking place this Sunday, but Croke Park are already hailing the Tailteann Cup as a success and with some justification.

But how have they encouraged the buy-in and promoted the second tier championship to become a triumph when the final isn’t the undercard for the All-Ireland decider.

1. It’s not being advertised prominently but there are strong reports a €60,000 carrot of a holiday fund donation for the winners.

2. The launch last month was a major one and featured some excellent initiatives such as opposing players interviewing one another.

3. The Tailteann Cup draws superseding those of the qualifiers on RTÉ.

4. The promise of a team of the year being selected from the competition. Could we see some Cavan players add to their 2020 All-Stars?

5. The national broadcasters also dedicated the start of one Sunday Game evening show to early provincial matches as if to introduce Tailteann Cup teams.

6. The semis being the only senior championship fixtures this Sunday. In Croke Park. Live television. It won’t please everyone but you couldn’t ask for much more on that count.

7. Geographically seeding won’t be around next year but leaning on the provincial structure for the first couple of rounds at least gave the fledging competition a crutch of local derbies this year.

8. Not going out of the championship on the back of a hiding is a plus for developing counties. And they have at least four games next season, three of them in the Tailteann.

9. Cavan, Offaly, Sligo, and Westmeath’s summers lasting longer than so many of their provincial brethren.

10. Silverware. A spanking new cup. The inaugural winners will be the answer in table quizzes for years to come.

Bonner should have spoken

Donegal's manager Declan Bonner during the closing stages of the defeat by Armagh

Another week, another curious case of the silent managers.

It’s an unusually noble habit of Kieran McGeeney’s to only speak to the media after championship defeats. On occasions in the past, he has addressed journalists after wins but recently he has asked assistants, such as Kieran Donaghy in Clones on Sunday, to carry out the duties for him.

But as Declan Bonner chose not to speak after a championship exit that surely marks the end of his five-year tenure, there was the strange situation of neither manager commenting after a championship game. And no obligation to the Gaelic Player Association to keep schtum either.

An articulate communicator, Bonner has regularly spoken to the media but not fronting up after this loss hardly dispels the idea leadership was lacking. If the men in charge can’t exhibit responsibility, how can those in their care expected to do the same?

Four years ago, then Tipp boss Michael Ryan elected not to speak publicly after Limerick beat them in the of the inaugural Munster SHC round-robin opening round. He later clarified: “I do acknowledge when you lose there is a void created, a much greater void than when you win.” At this stage, Bonner may be past the point of caring but he has always been a man of duty. As Donegal look to move away and learn from it, his thoughts on another disappointing season were sorely missed.

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