Feeling cheated by a referee’s mistake? Just deal with it

Back in 2009, my club, Kerins O’Rahillys, had the good fortune to reach the Munster Club SFC final against Kilmurry-Ibrickane from Clare. Unfortunately for me, it was down to be played the week after my wedding when my wife and I were supposed to be on a cruise ship somewhere around the Bahamas.

Probably not the best start to any marriage, but the honeymoon got canned.

Long story short, Kilmurry won the game in hugely contentious circumstances. After the referee disallowed what would have been an injury-time winning goal for us, the Clare champions swept up the field to kick the winner from distance to break our hearts. The man in the middle allowed play to continue long enough for us to create one more opportunity. Again, we were denied a late whistle that would have given us the chance to knock over a free and would have gotten us to extra time.