Dour games tough calls for referees

I don’t often agree with Pat Spillane but he was 100% right when he said yesterday’s TV games were hard to sit through.

They were dour matches and in that respect difficult ones for the referees but I thought both Michael Duffy in Castlebar and Cormac Reilly did well.

I criticised Duffy last year but on this occasion there weren’t many reasons to find fault.

Players in both teams attempted to convince him into awarding them frees but he wasn’t buying any of it.

There’s not buying it, of course, and then there is punishing players for simulating fouls. It’s a yellow card offence to feign and there were dives but it’s so hard to say for certain that a player has tried to deceive the referee.

Duffy may have given one or two harsh frees against Mayo in the first five minutes but perhaps he was attempting to set a tone for the game. Technically, I wouldn’t say he was correct in making those calls but could understand where he was coming from.

Mayo were so much better than Roscommon that it would be unfair to be heavy on Duffy.

Their tackling has improved a lot as well and they’re not giving away silly frees, as they would have done in the past.

In Enniskillen, Reilly was in total control of the game although both teams broke a rule at the start of the second half when they placed seven defenders in each half at throw-in. According to the rules, all players must be in their respective positions (six backs and goalkeeper in one half, six forwards in the other) starting a half.

I was in Aughrim on Saturday night where Conor Lane had an impressive game. Just 30 seconds in he noticed a pick-up off the ground. He did exceptionally well in the seventh minute when he allowed advantage for Paul Earls’ goal and he also correctly gave a yellow to Ciaran Lenehan for a high tackle.

Even awarding 17 frees to Wicklow and 13 to Meath, it didn’t affect the spectacle.

There was consistency in his whistling. That said, he didn’t pick up Conor Gillespie putting a hand in the face of Seanie Furlong in a move which saw Meath score a point via Eamonn Wallace. However, he rightly awarded frees to midfielders like Gillespie and James Stafford after they were fouled after making high catches.

The game was played in a good enough spirit and it makes the referee’s job so much easier.

I have to congratulate my former mentor Pierce Freaney for his page in the Leinster match programmes regarding information on the rules. It is essential players and spectators are made aware of what is permitted and not in our games.