O’Connor worried referee could ruin decider

Kilkenny’s 1993 All-Ireland captain Eddie O’Connor fears Barry Kelly could spoil Sunday’s All-Ireland final as a spectacle.

O’Connor says the game with Tipperary will be “a tsunami of hurling” if the Westmeath referee lets the game flow.

There is scepticism about Kelly in Kilkenny after he sent off HenryShefflin for two yellow cards in last year’s All-Ireland quarter-final defeat to Cork, a dismissal which was later overturned.

The experienced Kelly takes charge of his fourth final at the weekend and his previous three appointments have all involved Kilkenny. He also took charge of their Leinster final win over Dublin this year.

O’Connor is concerned the official will try to impose himself too much on the action.

“When I played Tipp in the 1991 All-Ireland final there was a lot of physical challenges in it. It’s a man’s game and I hope Barry Kelly has a bit of common sense and leaves the game run. Too often, referees are looking to flash the cards.

“There will be heavy shoulder challenges in it and he has to referee it but I hope he doesn’t make a mess of the game. The fear I have is he will make a mess of the game.

“It’s not an U10 match we’re playing, it’s part and parcel of an All-Ireland hurling final. Everyone is going to go out and try and dominate their own part of the field.

“I would expect a savage battle to go on all over the field. If you look at both teams there are huge match-ups and the fear I have is Barry Kelly might want to be more important than the players.

“When that happens it can ruin the game. It’s a bit like the football match last Saturday [between Kerry and Mayo] when the referee spoiled the game. Let the game flow. If you’re not able for the physical challenges then take up golf. If you’re not prepared for a physical challenge you shouldn’t be playing hurling.

“The good, honest hits are what people want to see. If the GAA don’t realise it’s a physical game then they should just give up the field in Croke Park and sow spuds on it.”

Kelly also drew the ire of Kilkenny fans when he awarded Galway a late free in the 2012 final, which Joe Canning converted to force a replay.

O’Connor believes Brian Cody and the Kilkenny team have moved on from what happened with Shefflin in Thurles 13 months ago but maybe not the supporters.

“It was a bit like Patrick Horgan against Limerick last year. It was nothing he [Shefflin] was sent off for and he shouldn’t have been sent off. When you send off players for Mickey Mouse things it ruins the game.

“We all understand if you strike with the hurley you’ve got to go, constant fouling and all this kind of craic.

“I think Brian has put that under the bed and under the carpet but a lot of Kilkenny supporters are very, very unhappy with the sending off last year of Henry. They felt Barry Kelly made a big mistake.

“I’m not sure he cost them the game but he certainly ruined the game as a contest. I suppose Kilkenny last year, they were an aging team and the last thing they wanted was to be down a man.”