BRIAN GAVIN: Conor Lane gets big calls right in Croker cauldron
Margin of error is something a lot of observers don’t consider when analysing a referee’s performance, writes
Refs don’t go out with a plan to make mistakes but neither do they believe they are going to get everything 100% correct.
If you can come off the field having made three or four mistakes while getting all the card decisions correct then you can consider it a good day’s work done.
Conor Lane will be happy with himself this morning. The Cork man had an excellent game in my view and got all the key decisions correct, from the two penalty decisions to the yellow cards to the black card to the red card.
His first major test of the afternoon came in the 19th minute when he called the penalty against Tiernan McCann for the foul on Paul Mannion. Conor booked McCann too, which was right, and then he gave great advantage for Johnny Cooper in the build-up to Dublin’s second goal as they looked to move the ball on quickly having earned a free.
There were calls for Colm Cavanagh to be shown a black card towards the end of the opening half but it was more a clumsy foul on Con O’Callaghan than anything cynical. He awarded Cavanagh a penalty late on and he was right on that count with the only question being should Philly McMahon have been issued a black instead of a yellow for bringing him down. Lane was close to the action when John Small committed that second yellow card offence and Small could have no grumbles with being shown to the line.
Throughout the match, I was scribbling down a lot of calls Conor was getting right and they included a free against Cooper for holding an opponent in the first half and a push on Cavanagh. The Dublin supporters were very annoyed before half-time when Small was on the ground receiving treatment after an exchange with Peter Harte but the umpires he consulted at the Hill 16 end seemed to think there wasn’t much in it.
Harte was fortunate not to pick up cards having gone beyond the rules of the game to stop two or three Dublin players going through in the second half.
I didn’t see if Lane was playing advantage in such cases and he didn’t seem to cop them but the Dublin fans did.
The black card for Kieran McGeary was unquestionable given how he ploughed into Brian Fenton.
In the second half, Rory Brennan thought he had earned a free and held onto the ball for far too long waiting for it but the whistle never came.
Instead, Conor gave him the benefit of the doubt and allowed play to go on as he did in giving excellent advantage to Ciarán Kilkenny for that last score of his in stoppage time. Harte benefitted from a soft free in that closing period but Lane couldn’t be anything but satisfied with what he contributed on Gaelic football’s biggest day.
I mentioned in my column the day before the ref was appointed for the final that he was in the shake-up along with David Gough, who was his stand-by referee yesterday.
Gough is one of the best in the business but Lane, following his second All-Ireland final, knows he is considered as a leader in what he does.
In the minor final, Seán Hurson acquitted himself well.
Seán has been on the national senior championship panel for three or four years now and while an All-Ireland minor final appointment can’t be sneezed at he needs to be stepping up the ranks now.
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