Kelly: Limerick’s minors deserve a replay

Former GAA president Sean Kelly believes the association should offer Limerick a rematch of last Sunday’s disputed All-Ireland minor hurling semi-final.

The Limerick County Board have taken their case to the Central Appeals Committee following the CCCC’s utterance that they were precluded from hearing the objection. Given the decision not to award Barry Nash’s point was a technological error and not that of referee of Fergal Hogan, the game should be replayed, maintained Kelly.

“In the great sporting tradition of the GAA where you win it on the field, I think a replay is justified,” Kelly said. “The fact that it wasn’t an error by the referee or the umpires, that it was a technological error, I think that changes the position and Limerick have a very strong case and perhaps have both a right and a duty to test it out so justice can be done and so the situation will be avoided.”

Kelly asserted there was ample time to iron out technological glitches during Hawk-Eye’s bedding-in process over the past number of years and the failure of the score detection system last Sunday simply “wasn’t good enough”.

“There were plenty of opportunities to put all technological glitches that might occur to the test. Hawk-Eye was being developed over the last three or four years. It was given plenty of time and there was plenty of money pumped in. There is only one source of error in this instance and that’s Hawk-Eye.

“It shouldn’t have occurred and hopefully it won’t happen again. It wasn’t good enough, but it wasn’t a GAA error it was Hawk-Eye. They were paying a company to do a job and they weren’t doing it. As a result there is a lot of angst, a sense of injustice, particularly in Limerick and also it is unfair to Galway who thought they had advanced legitimately to an All-Ireland final. They are trying to concentrate on an All-Ireland final, but this issue, unresolved, must be playing on their mind.”

The Kerry native said the appeals process was put in place by the GAA to allow justice prevail and Limerick’s board shouldn’t be criticised for trying to further their case. “During my term as president we allowed for a situation where people would feel they were getting a fair crack of the whip through the system right up to the DRA. I think there should be no such thing as saying that anybody pursuing that line is being in any way unsporting.”