GAA explains Hawk-Eye problem during Tipperary v Cork clash

Referee Seán Stack was informed the ball had gone wide 30 seconds after Darragh Fitzgibbon's effort but there was a problem displaying that information on the screen

Between Darragh Fitzgibbon's eighth minute strike and the game restarting, communicating that the ball had gone wide took 99 seconds. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

An imagery issue was the reason behind Hawk-Eye’s extended delay communicating a Cork wide in Thurles on Sunday, the GAA has explained.

Referee Seán Stack had been informed by the score detection official Dickie Murphy less than 30 seconds after Darragh Fitzgibbon’s effort in the eighth minute that it had gone wide.

Between the Cork captain’s strike and the game restarting, the process to communicate that the ball had not gone between the posts took 99 seconds.

Stack had waited for the screen to display the decision to the stadium but only a graphic of the field without a shot trajectory appeared, while no “Tá” or “Níl” followed it. Eventually, Stack relayed a message to his umpire to signal for a wide.

“The delay was more to do with the physical video output of the decision on the screen,” said the GAA’s national games administration manager Bernard Smith. 

“The answer was given inside 30 seconds so that was quick enough. Dickie Murphy was able to communicate that to referee Seán Stack.

“Given the number of games played in Thurles, it is value for money for the Association. There are costs involved in the equipment used in both Thurles and Croke Park and both are of a high standard and reliable. There was no issue with the software, just the output.” 

The slowness of the technology in Thurles, which was installed there 10 years ago, has been a bugbear of supporters. 

Speaking on the Irish Examiner hurling podcast on Monday, presenter and columnist Anthony Daly said “you are better off not having it”, while former Tipperary goalkeeper and manager Ken Hogan said people grimace when it is called on in FBD Semple Stadium.

It has been suggested before that difficulties in ascertaining triangulation between Thurles’ Kinane and Ryan Stands, which are not the same shape, has led to the delays in Hawk-Eye confirming points and wides.