Connacht chief John Prenty favours countdown clock

Connacht Council secretary John Prenty believes the pitch invasion before the end of Sunday’s provincial final may have been prevented if a countdown clock was utilised. Referee Barry Cassidy, at the end of regulation time, instructed for an additional seven minutes to be allotted, with the large clock at the clubhouse end of Pearse Stadium reading 42 minutes and 16 seconds when Roscommon supporters came on the pitch.

An announcement quickly came over the tannoy that the game was not finished, with patrons clearing the field so as to allow the game resume. Prenty, who insisted that the Connacht Council had sufficient steward numbers on the ground, quipped that ‘the army’ would not have kept out excited Roscommon fans.