Curley: it’s time for a change

OFFICIALS have moved to explain the extended injury time which allowed Kerry equalise in Sunday’s Munster SFC draw with Cork at Fitzgerald Stadium.

Members of the Cork management team were furious with the amount of time Laois referee Maurice Deegan added after two minutes additional time was signposted by the fourth official.

A similar controversy arose out of the Leinster Championship tie between Dublin and Meath. This time Sligo official Marty Duffy was accused of allowing too little added time after an earlier three-minute stoppage.

“I spoke to the two referees,” said Mick Curley, chairman of the National Referees Committee yesterday.

“Maurice Deegan told me that he gave the signal for three minutes of extra time in that game. I know it was announced as two. I don’t know where the breakdown came.”

It has also been pointed out by GAA officials that up to a minute passed between the time the free was awarded and Sheehan slotting it over the bar. As for the debate in Croke Park?

“Marty Duffy had the misfortune, and it can happen, that the watch stopped on him. Most referees have two watches. One runs from nought to 35 and the other runs down from 35.

“They stop one of them each time they need to, not the two, so that they know how much time is played in a game. By stopping the other watch they know how much time is left.”

The two incidents have yet again kick-started the debate over whether the issue of time-keeping should be deleted from the referees’ list of duties and handed over to a designated official instead.

“It is something we discuss and that is a big deal for us,” said Curley.

“We have emphasised that if they signal two minutes they should play two minutes. If they signal a minute they should play a minute.

“There should always be a minute of extra-time in every half anyway. There will always be little delays, maybe with kick-outs or some little incident will happen that will warrant it.”

Ladies football has used a ‘hooter’ since 13 extra minutes was played in the 1997 All-Ireland final between Monaghan and Waterford.

Chief executive Helen O’Rourke said yesterday that the system has taken pressure off their referees.

“I would have no problem with that and I would have no problem with saying it publicly,” said Curley. “I would favour that. I think the referee has enough responsibility to control every other aspect of the match. If the time-keeping was given to someone else, he would still have control of the time because he would call, like they do in rugby, by raising the hand to stop it and start it again.

“He just wouldn’t have to watch the time. It would be a good idea to bring it in to Gaelic football. I certainly wouldn’t have a problem with it and I wouldn’t be the only one either.”

Croke Park referees’ coordinator Pearse Freaney was more circumspect about the possibility of introducing the hooter although he did accept that it worked smoothly in the ladies’ game.

“What we are trying to do is to get the referee to get it as accurate as possible. There are a lot of difficulties. It is not as simple as putting a fella somewhere.

“Generally (the current method) is working well. People used to say before that referees were playing for a draw and all that but one alleged hiccup doesn’t spoil the whole system.”