Mountbellew-Moylough boss regrets indiscipline after referee confronted at final whistle

Mountbellew-Moylough's players argue with with referee Jerome Henry

Roscommon side Pádraig Pearses' Connacht club semi-final win over Mountbellew-Moylough on Saturday was marred by ugly scenes at the final whistle as several players from the Galway champions confronted and surrounded match referee Jerome Henry, who had to be escorted from the Hyde Park pitch.

One player appeared to put his hands on the official after Pearses' 1-8 to 1-7 win — substitute Tom Butler got the winning point in injury time.

Mountbellew-Moylough were furious moments earlier when Barry McHugh was denied what looked to be a legitimate mark close to goal and also a free when he appeared to be fouled. 

Speaking to Galway Bay FM, Mountbellew-Moylough manager Val Daly explained the reasons for his players' frustration and insisted there will be no "sour grapes" over the Roscommon side's victory.

Damning footage of the scenes in Dr. Hyde Park where Mountbellew-Moylough players turned on ref Jerome Henry at FT. Pitiful end to what was a great battle w/ Pearses!

FWIW go to 1:27:20 for the mark that was never given, would imagine this was the issue. https://t.co/jYyPuwtKMs pic.twitter.com/UQz2rTLjYc

— Tommy Rooney (@TomasORuanaidh) December 11, 2021

”We have to congratulate Pearses on winning the game. They got through to the next round which is a Connacht final and good luck to them.

“The last five minutes wasn’t pretty from our point of view. In fairness, the man in the middle makes the decisions. He made a couple of decisions we were baffled with, and most people in the crowd, I think, were baffled with.

“There was one clear foul where our player got his legs cut under him, Barry McHugh, and the second one involved Barry as well. A good pass in from Michael [Daly], a mark, hit the ground and you’re allowed a few seconds to get your hand up in the air, which he did, and the referee waved play on."

The match also featured five black cards and one red card as the contest threatened to boil over late on.

Daly admitted he didn't like some of what he saw.

“We want to hold our heads up high, we want to respect the situation, we want to respect the officials in the game because they have a tough job to do. We have to understand when they make a poor call, it’s tough to take. He’s made a poor call and he’ll have to live with it, and we have to live with it big time.

“At the end of the day, we’ve had a really good year. We’ve conducted ourselves well. I didn’t like the bit of indiscipline at the end, but in fairness, it was a very fractious affair. 

"They wouldn’t allow our kickout by pulling and dragging our players around the place, which is tactically maybe what Dublin did to Mayo in the All-Ireland final. 

“But there’s no sour grapes from us, this is life on the road, this is football. This is a tough day for us to take.”