'We were robbed': Easkey boss fumes at 'shocking decision' on red card

Emotions ran high in both Croke Park dressing rooms

Andrew Kilcullen of Easkey receives a red card from Eamonn Furlong referee. Pic: ©INPHO/James Lawlor

A pair of managers are asked for their thoughts in the long corridor underneath the Cusack Stand. The emotions spilling out of them couldn’t be of more different colour. Joe Ryan is smiling. Padraig Mannion is seething.

The winning Kilbrittain manager does not have to lament “our worst team performance of the year”. He is instead hailing an “incredible" bunch of players and their seeing out of a most chaotic conclusion.

The losing Easkey manager is spitting fire. His fury is aimed at referee Eamonn Furlong. The claim put forth is that his side were “robbed”. The red card to dangerman Andy Kilcullen was labelled a “shocking decision”.

In a departure from usual order, we are going to begin with the losing end of the Cusack Stand corridor. Padraig Mannion had a lot to say and none of it was couched in politeness or political correctness.

His ire, unsurprisingly, centred on the straight red card to Andy Kilcullen on 40 minutes. Kilcullen is their scoring leader. He entered the All-Ireland junior club hurling final with 15-77 to his name. He struck 6-43 for Sligo in last year’s Nicky Rickard Cup. He’d already chalked six white flags when there was a head-high collision between himself and Mark Hickey.

Eoin O'Neill of Kilbrittain and Colm Sheehan of Kilbrittain celebrate. Pic: ©INPHO/James Lawlor

Referee Furlong, following consultation with his linesman on the Hogan Stand side, deemed it a head-high challenge. Kilcullen was gone.

“The red card was a shocking decision,” Mannion began.

“From where I looked at it, his eyes were fixed on the ball, he was coming up out of a tackle. I don't know what the red card was for.

“Any red card to your marquee hurler, it is just devastating. I am devastated for Andy. He scored 15-77 in the championship up to today, in seven games. What do you do then when he is gone? The biggest day of their lives out on Croke Park and it got ruined.” 

Mannion had no qualms with the second yellow shown to Fionn Connolly for the foul that led to the winning free in the second minute of injury-time. He did, mind, take issue with the yellow card shown to Kilbrittain centre-back Aaron Holland in the final quarter for what he saw as a shoulder to the head of the aforementioned Connolly.

“The tackle on Fionn Connolly, that was an intentional tackle, shoulder into the face, chest-to-face whatever it was. Andy's was unintentional. He was trying to win the ball. He didn't line him up. There was no intent.” 

Tied at 0-12 apiece when reduced to 14 men, there was no consolation at having continued to live with Kilbrittain long after Kilcullen’s dismissal.

“We set out at the start of the year to win it. It is a failure in my eyes. Our goal was to win the All-Ireland, we got robbed.” 

Over the corridor to Joe Ryan. Let’s stay with the sending off and its implications. For almost too long, Kilbrittain mined no benefit from their numerical advantage. Being a man up was almost working against them.

“Yeah, for sure, that's why we brought on Tom Harrington [nine minutes after the sending-off]. We were already playing with a sweeper and then when they went down to 14 men, we had two men back there and were playing too much hurling back there instead of just sticking to our game-plan and being direct.

“Tom's a very experienced player. Putting Tom in something like that, he just talks to the lads, he's an excellent communicator. I knew he'd shore it up. Now whether that would be good enough to win it was another question.” They got there, just.

“That was probably our worst team performance of the year, just in some of the things we did, but it's in Croke Park, and it just takes on a life of its own.” Ryan is asked to sum up his now All-Ireland winning group of players. He takes the conversation poignantly off field.

“I will use the example of Ronan Crawley there, getting man of the match. One of his best friends, Oisín Gillain, passed away during the year. The county final was on the night of Oisín's birthday.

“We have a cohort of lads that are 19, 20, 21, and I don't think I'd be able to do what they did when I was that age, they’re incredible.

“Now on reflection, it's probably maturity on their part, but I think at the time it was so tragic that the only outlet the lads had was sport. I think we were all in a state of shock, and the only outlet we had was hurling and GAA.

“The night after Oisín passed away, we all met up in the hall. There were about 40 to 45 lads. I don't think we spoke a word for 30 minutes, but we were just with each other, and that's been the case for training.

“The lads putting internal pressure on themselves to do it for Oisín, that couldn't be it because it would be exhausting, and that's not feasible really.

“In the build-up to this game, we were telling the lads to just enjoy every second because we know what the flipside is. To have won it is just incredible. It's amazing.”