All Louth needed was a good GAA legal expert
In GAA terms it will be seen as the week that Ireland’s smallest county were robbed and rejected like never before.
Granted some Louth ‘fans’ didn’t cover themselves in glory in the aftermath of the Leinster final – but that is a separate issue we will deal with on another occasion.
The issue for discussion here is to consider what happened in the fourth minute of injury time in their exhilarating final against Meath and how matters subsequently transpired.
Like most people involved in gaelic games, I have seen and been involved in some devastating miscarriages of justice over the years. But nothing comes close to what happened to Louth in Croke Park.
Let’s recall the incidents.
Joe Sheridan’s ‘try’ was the final action of the game, four minutes into injury time which gave Louth no chance of a comeback. Before that there was the square ball and the brilliant block by Paddy Deenan, which should have gone into the history books as the intervention that won the Leinster title for Louth. And then there was the referee’s report where Martin Sludden admitted he made a mistake indicating he had blown the whistle for a penalty (which wasn’t justified) but then decided to allow the goal to stand – totally contrary to the rules.
Also, of significance, was the fact that the umpire didn’t put up the green flag. Why? We may never know as the referee didn’t appear to consult the umpires – he instructed one to raise the green flag.
All-in-all we had a series of incidents packed into less than a minute, the likes of which was never seen before.
Louth, and many neutrals, called for a replay but, on reflection, more notice might have been taken of Louth protestations had they demanded to be awarded the game. As it turned out their appeals fell on deaf ears as the buck passed all the way down to the Meath players to make a decision – a ridiculous situation.
Few were surprised with their decision not to replay the game. Once the game was over the players’ job was done. After that it was over to the officials to take it from there. It didn’t happen though. Likewise a referee handles a game but he doesn’t award the game. That is done by the organising body based on the referee’s report.
There’s a strong argument to be made that once the referee admitted in his report he made a mistake in allowing the goal, that it was illegal, Louth should have been awarded the game. I can’t recall a referee’s report that was so emphatic in saying a decisive goal was illegal. Surely this should mean something.
In 1999, Gerry Murphy scored a controversial goal for Kerry in the first-half of a Munster Championship game against Tipperary. His first shot went wide but the ball rebounded back into play and he scored at the second attempt.
Many members of the Munster Council refused to ratify the referee’s report on the basis the Kerry goal was illegal, even though they won the game reasonably comfortably in the end.
If Louth had taken their case to the Disputes Resolution Authority I think they would have had a great chance of success. All they needed was a good GAA legal expert. Sadly now, we’ll never know what would have transpired.
Anyway Louth have decided to march on and have been paired with Dublin in the qualifiers.
If they win, everyone with the possible exception of the GAA financial department, would be delighted for them.
