U21 coach blasts refereeing

LIMERICK U21 coach Ollie Coffey has blasted refereeing standards and claimed that too many “decisions tend to go against the weaker counties”.

Coffey made his comments after Saturday’s Munster championship defeat to Kerry at Austin Stack Park.

He was especially incensed by Derek O’Mahony’s decision to award Kerry a penalty for an alleged leg block minutes before the interval. Coffey said: “How he could award Kerry a penalty just before half time baffles me. It was no penalty. The football struck one of our defenders on the leg rather than he put his leg out to block it. Justice was done as the Kerry lad drove it wide.

“It is not sour grapes. We have no excuses for being beaten, but some of the referee’s decisions were an absolute disgrace.” He claimed: “Those kind of decisions tend to go against the weaker counties. A lot of these new young referees are looking for Munster finals and with Kerry and Cork more likely to be there, the decisions tend to go their way. There is a better chance of

being appointed to a final if Clare, Tipperary, Waterford or Limerick are not involved. That’s the way they are thinking.

“We have put in a huge effort over the last three months and all we want is fair play. We certainly didn’t get it out there against Kerry,” he said.

“Kerry’s class was very evident in the second half… but they certainly weren’t seven points a better team.” Coffey was also critical of the competition’s format — with his side now out of the competition after one game. “I’ve tried to get the Munster Council to run a Round Robin series between the four so called weaker counties thereby giving them at least two more matches, but that fell on deaf ears.

“Kerry and Cork were opposed to that idea and from where I’m standing anything they say rules and the other counties tend to row in behind them.”