Curley blasts O’Rourke’s ref rant
Curley expressed disappointment with remarks made by former Meath footballer Colm O’Rourke about referee Cormac Reilly’s performance in the Dublin’s Leinster SFC semi-final against Kildare on Sunday.
After a weekend in which referees were heavily criticised for some key decisions, Curley defended Reilly’s awarding of an injury-time free to Dublin, which turned out to be the winning score. He also said he would have whistled Andriú Mac Lochlainn for fouling Bernard Brogan.
Furthermore, he suggested the widespread disapproval of Reilly’s late decision was fuelled by the desire to see Dublin and Kildare replay their semi-final.
However, Curley was most dismayed with O’Rourke, who he believes made inaccurate comments about Reilly’s officiating on Sunday. “I thought the comments of some of the analysts were completely wrong,” said Curley.
“Colm O’Rourke said referees shouldn’t get involved in the game at all. I can’t go along with that.
“We have no problems with analysts. If there is criticism, that’s the person’s opinion.
“If we do something wrong and it’s highlighted, we’ll take it on the chin.
“But when there’s a misrepresentation of a rule and it’s being said we should have allowed something to happen and go unpunished, then that’s wrong. The public are watching and listening to these people and maybe the analysts should be cognisant of the fact that they’re informing the public.”
On RTÉ’s Sunday Game Live, O’Rourke said: “Every game that I’ve been at this year has been more or less destroyed by fussy refereeing. If the referee got out of the way and let these players get on with it we’d have a great game of football.”
He added: “I just wish referees in general would get off the stage and let fellas play and stop giving out yellow cards which turn into red cards and then end up being rescinded at meetings. It’s destroying the game.”
O’Rourke also said: “There’s no need nearly for a referee in this game.”
The Meath legend echoed his point on RTÉ Radio yesterday but Curley contended: “He (Reilly) saw fouls, he called frees. I would make the point that over a number of years the question of persistent fouling has been a major issue.
“The rule-makers made a particular point of addressing it and it’s now taken into consideration in the rulebook.
“People might see it as pernickety stuff from the referee but they are the rules. The referee is obliged to call the foul.”
On the matter of Reilly’s most contentious call in Sunday’s game, Curley said Reilly was correct to call the foul against Mac Lochlainn in second-half injury-time. He feels the clamour to see Dublin and Kildare in a replay coloured the condemnation of the Meath official’s decision.
“Everybody seemed to want that game to end in a draw. If it’s a draw it’s a draw but it’s not the referee’s job to see that it ends in a draw and if there’s a foul there’s a foul. There’s no point blaming the referee because it wasn’t a draw. The criticism seemed predicated on the hope for a draw. But a team can’t be deprived of the opportunity of scoring a free if it is there for them and the foul has been committed.
“The Dublin player (Brogan) was entitled to run unimpeded to try and gain possession. Accidental contact is still a foul. It looked like a tangle of legs on TV. I’m not putting any blame on the Kildare player (Mac Lochlainn) but I would have given a free in that instance. The Dublin player was entitled to be challenged or the Kildare player was entitled to tackle him once he was in possession.
“The only legitimate charge a player can make to another off the ball is a shoulder to shoulder challenge going to the ball. Otherwise, it’s a clear foul. I will make the point I’m not getting into a conflict with the managers. We don’t want to do that. They’ve a job to do.”
With a massive 14 championship games played across both codes last weekend, naturally there were more flashpoints. While Westmeath manager Pat Flanagan was banished to the stands for a verbal exchange with referee Martin Sludden in Belfast on Saturday, Mayo’s Keith Higgins will face no suspension despite striking Mark O’Hehir in Castlebar on Sunday as he was yellow carded by Rory Hickey for the offence. Under the rule brought in this year, the Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) can’t review any decision already dealt with by the referee.
Kildare’s footballers and Offaly’s hurlers also had grievances with the amount of injury time in their games.
Yesterday O’Rourke figured there should have been at least five minutes additional time played at the end of the second-half in Kildare’s game.
“Time-keeping is an old chestnut,” said Curley. “Everybody has their own opinion on it but even if there was a clock the referee would still be the final arbiter of how much should be played. Say, the clock showed three minutes of injury-time and there was a stoppage in injury-time. It would be down to the referee to decide what time should be played.”
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