Furious Harte throws the book at ‘inconsistent’ referees

TYRONE manager Mickey Harte has launched a stinging broadside against ‘inconsistent’ referees after his side failed to win their way back into Allianz Football Division One.

On a day when Cork qualified to face Dublin in the top flight final on Easter Sunday, April 24, Harte was irate with the officiating of Derek Fahy following his side’s draw with Meath in Páirc Tailteann.

The outcome ensured Tyrone finished with nine points in Division 2 – one behind Derry, Donegal and Laois with the latter pair earning promotion on scoring difference.

Afterwards Harte accused whistle-blowers of being more concerned with their assessors than the action on the field.

He blasted: “I think they (referees) get caught up in who’s sitting on the bench in the stands. There’s too much attention on that and not enough on what’s happening in front of his eyes.”

Harte took issue with a number of decisions made by David Coldrick after Tyrone’s win over Kildare a week earlier. However, yesterday he was fuming with what he believed was Fahy’s failure to award frees to Tyrone when his players were ‘brought down’ when through a goal.

Harte also questioned the consistency of Fahy’s performance.

“Kevin Hughes got a decision, he retaliated and the ball was thrown up. Meath got a free, Ryan McMenamin was knocked in the back and they got the ball brought forward.

“Where’s the consistency? There’s a lot of assessment going on at the minute and I wonder where it’s all going.”

Harte also insisted Philip Jordan has not left the panel or retired though he was not in Navan yesterday after he was named as a substitute on Thursday night.

“There is no story,” he said. “There were other boys named in the substitutes and they weren’t there.”

In what was a remarkable day for Leinster GAA, Dublin and Laois were two of five counties from the province who either qualified for a final or gained promotion.

Westmeath and Louth face off for the Division 3 crown but their main battle is over after they earned promotion to Division 2 with wins over Offaly and Waterford respectively.

And in Division 4, Longford won the right to go up next season with Roscommon following their home win over Carlow.

The other three provinces each saw two of their counties drop a division. Limerick, despite beating Wexford yesterday, and Waterford were relegated from Division 3.

Because of their earlier defeat to Armagh who also finished on four points, Monaghan fall to Division 2 with Galway whose draw against Dublin in Salthill wasn’t good enough to save them.

Both Sligo and Meath finished with three points.

However, as the Royals won their league meeting, the westerners are relegated to Division 3 along with Antrim.

Meanwhile John McMahon was elected as new chairman of the Kildare county board following a specially convened EGM in Newbridge yesterday evening. Naas clubman McMahon has filled the vice-chairman role since the beginning of 2010 and stepped in as acting chairman when Padraig Ashe surprisingly resigned as chairman last month.

Originally eight names were put forward but by the time of the vote only two men remained and McMahon was voted in on a landslide margin of 103 votes to Eddie Lawler’s 25.

Lawler is the current chairman of the Kildare hurling board but failed to garner enough support from the county’s football clubs to put up a serious challenge to McMahon.

“I’m delighted, honoured and very proud to be elected as chairman of the Kildare county board,” said the new chairman in his first address.”