John Bannon: Ulster rivals keep it cool for David Coldrick

David Coldrick will have been pleasantly surprised by the sporting nature of his Ulster Championship game at the Athletic Grounds and to see Donegal playing down the clock from the 60th minute.

That was not in the script before the game.

Armagh midfielder Aaron Findon should have got a yellow card in the 23rd minute, but Coldrick only had a word with him rather than producing a card for a foul on Ryan McHugh. It was Armagh’s James Morgan who got the first yellow of the game, and that was in the 48th minute.

In the Connacht semi-final, Danny Cummins got a yellow in the 12th minute when, after playing good advantage to Mayo who went up and scored a point, referee Padraig Hughes went back and dealt with it. Danny was also correctly called for over carrying in the 62nd minute.

In the 50th minute, Paul Conroy got his black card for the pull down on Colm Boyle. The referee got valuable help from his linesman. It was the correct call and Mayo’s Lee Keegan can have no complaints about his second yellow card in the 74th minute.

The third game I saw over the weekend was between Kildare and Laois in Tullamore and Anthony Nolan used the advantage clearly and effectively on a number of occasions, in particular in the 18th and 50th minutes for fouls on Kildare’s Padraig Fogarty.

There were two yellow cards after 10 seconds between Mayo and Galway in Pearse Stadium where two players were rolling around the ground after the throw-in, so it is up to the team managers and the players: if they have the right attitude, then there is no issue for referees.

We would have to say that Donegal and Armagh went out with a positive approach and to get to the 48th minute with no yellow cards would have shocked people because everyone was expecting a bit of fireworks from that one. That is how it was built up anyway.

The referee can only deal with what happens on the day so there was no need for Coldrick to give cards. Coldrick’s style would be slightly different to Hughes who gave quick frees and gave cards more quickly in his game.

Apart from the Findon example there was no yellow card merited in Armagh before the first one actually given. Referees’ styles and methods differ. Some people would say that Hughes gave too many frees, but I would say they were all correct.

Galway gave away five or six frees within the arc which were tap-over frees for Cillian O’Connor. You can argue whether they were soft or not, but a free is a free. The only thing I would say is that Hughes gave frees easier than Coldrick.

That’s the interpretation on the day and you will never get all referees to give the same interpretations. It’s not even to do with using the advantage rule, Coldrick was just less inclined to award a free when there was contact.