Illogical and unfair system is destroying All-Ireland

AFTER the weekend of magnificent hurling action we’ve just had, it seems petty to carp, but I must.

First, the lack of a genuine advantage rule in the GAA. Several times over the four All-Ireland hurling quarter finals, we witnessed instances in which play was waved on by the referee after obvious fouls, only for no advantage to accrue. Surely, by any standard of justice, this is wrong, flies in the face of fair play, advantage actually falling to the perpetrator of the foul rather than the victim.

Second, the lack of a countdown game-clock. Again at the weekend we had a situation where a game came down to the wire, but with no-one knowing exactly how much time was left. In hurling especially, a referee has more than enough on his plate in doing the basics — recording scores, deciding on fouls, issuing and keeping track of the various cards/black book tickings, keeping up with play generally — besides also having to keep on checking his watch, remembering to stop it for every official break in play, remembering to start it again on resumption. With the seconds ticking down, how can a ref keep looking at his watch while simultaneously keeping an eye on play?