Cunningham sympathy for whistleblowers

Ger Cunningham was wearing two hats this week, Bord Gáis Energy representative at Wednesday’s Munster U21 hurling final won in such convincing style by Clare and selector on Jimmy Barry-Murphy’s Cork management team that faces Dublin in tomorrow’s All-Ireland SHC semi-final.

One job he will never do, however, is referee. In each of their last two games Cork have been embroiled in officiating controversy. In the Munster final, there was the straight red issued to Cork’s free-taker and most potent attacker, Patrick Horgan, a game they went on to lose. Then there was their All-Ireland quarter-final win against Kilkenny, two yellow cards for their king and main play-maker Henry Shefflin.

Despite the fact that Cork won a subsequent appeal against the Horgan sending-off, Cunningham has huge sympathy for the men in the middle.

“Referees have a hugely difficult job and nobody underestimates what they have to do. It’s grand sitting back afterwards, analysing it, looking back, slowing it down, seeing what happens, they should have made this call or that call.

“They have to make a call on the spur of the moment. Sometimes they get it right, sometimes they don’t – you’re not going to keep everyone happy. Everyone will have their own opinion on what happens in relation to a major decision or a sending off. It’s a very difficult job and they have do the best they can.”

Both dismissals exercised the minds of hurling supporters; in Kilkenny, however, they were particularly upset, the first time in his long championship career that hurling’s most successful exponent has ever been sent off. Coming as it did just before half-time – almost exactly as happened with Horgan – it made things much easier for Cork in the second half to defend the lead they then held.

“We had it in the Munster final and it’s very difficult having to deal with that situation. The first yellow (for Henry) was the harsh one and that put him under pressure. At the same time, Henry’s been around a long time and he’s an experienced player. It was unfortunate that he just seemed to catch Jamie (Coughlan) a bit high. In this day and age, you have to be careful of those things. I think everyone was caught by surprise (by the sending-off) but the first one put him in that situation. To play on a yellow card – you have to be very careful.”

On its own that gave Cork a major advantage; the fact they now had the half-time interval to plan their strategy for the second half added to that advantage. Putting the icing on the cake, they had exactly the right player for the role of ‘extra-man’ in corner-back Conor O’Sullivan.

“There was no debate really. He’s very good on the ball, very intelligent, his decision-making and distribution is fantastic. Shane and Stevie (O’Neill and McDonnell, the other two in the full-back line) would feel better marking someone than being the loose man themselves. There was no call really on that.”

No call either really on appealing the Horgan red card. “Pat’s one of our main playmakers. He’s been around for a couple of years and has been playing very well and has been very sharp in training. It was the manner of the sending off that was the disappointing thing. It destroyed the game to an extent. It was going to be difficult for us to win with 14 men, playing 35 minutes against Limerick at home, in that heat and everything.

As Kilkenny found themselves, it’s not easy to do. We had 15 minutes at half-time to plan what we wanted to do. That’s a big difference rather than something being forced on you and you’re trying to react on the sideline to it. But Pat’s been great this year, one of our leaders on the field of play and his performance justified that against Kilkenny.”

All in the past now but could it be that the referee could again have a major bearing this weekend?

James Owens (Wexford) will be the man calling the shots tomorrow, do Cork prepare for specific referees?

“It would be in the sub-conscious, more so. The panel that’s refereeing the top inter-county matches are very good referees. They’re all up with the play, they all have their own traits and their own little things they blow for but it’s just the consistency.

“If we can try to get a consistency situation where referees are as consistent as they possibly can, blowing for the same things — some referees can blow for advantages, some don’t, some referees blow for the foul straight away. That’s the inconsistency of it.”