Brian Gavin: Stack got it wrong on Fitzgerald black card and Déise pay heavy price  

Cork's Brian Hayes did not have full possession of the ball, which is required in hurling, when Mark Fitzgerald hauled him down. A yellow card and a penalty would have been the correct decision.

FLASH POINT: Referee Sean Stack shows Waterford's Mark Fitzgerald a black card. Pic: INPHO

Saturday evening provided another close game in the Munster championship and there were fine margins from an officiating point of view too.

Seán Stack issued two black cards and penalties, one in each half, for fouls made by Waterford defenders, Mark Fitzgerald and Jack Fagan.

There was no question they were infringements but Fitzgerald was unfortunate to be sent to the sin bin in the first half. Stack deemed that the Waterford captain had hauled down Brian Hayes in the large parallelogram with a goal opportunity developing.

But where Stack got it wrong was Hayes did not have full possession of the ball, which is required in hurling. If it was in football, it wouldn’t have mattered as the goal chance applies to the team, not the player.

A yellow card and a penalty would have been the correct decision. Waterford goalkeeper Billy Nolan was equal to Alan Connolly’s penalty attempt but it had a bearing on Fitzgerald as this was his third black card of the season and he is set to miss the Limerick game on Sunday next because of a one-match cumulative suspension.

For the second foul, there was no question Fagan wrapped his arms around Connolly who was bearing down on goal and even though there was a Waterford player in between the Cork forward and goal, the chance was on and the decision was correct.

Other than the two blacks, there were six yellow cards handed out and 30 frees were awarded, which was a lot. Stack was playing it safe in what his second game in the Munster championship.

That decision against Fitzgerald aside, he did well and it was in keeping with the performance levels from hurling referees in this championship.

In the Leinster game between Wexford and Dublin, Shane Hynes demonstrated he is becoming one of the more reliable officials. In the absence of Thomas Walsh and Liam Gordon who should be available again in the coming weeks, he has taken his opportunity.

He showed good advantage for Dublin’s first goal, but his umpires need to improve their communication among themselves. We had two occasions in the first half where we had to wait for a decision on the outcome of a Dublin scoring attempt as the pair at the Wexford goal did not appear to be on the same page.

Caymon Flynn got his chance in the other Leinster senior championship game in Newbridge and did well aside from Kildare’s first goal, which I would argue was a square ball.

On Sunday, the game in O’Connor Park finished with high drama. A sideline ball by Dan Bourke was flicked by substitute Oisín Kelly and it went out over the endline. It did take a deflection but it was difficult to determine whether it last came off Kelly’s hurl or Mikey Carey.

The umpire waved it wide, much to the frustration of the Offaly players and supporters. They protested, referee Johnny Murphy consulted with his umpires and the decision was reversed.

Eoghan Cahill slotted over the 65 to square the game and earn Offaly another draw and there was a lot of annoyance among Kilkenny’s fans.

Seven years ago, the shoe was on the other foot when a Limerick sideline came off Cillian Buckley but no 65 was awarded and Kilkenny ended up winning their All-Ireland semi-final.

Kilkenny should have had the game wrapped up in Tullamore before then. They hit 16 wides, seven of them coming from placed balls.

There were a lot of yellow cards in this game for silly stuff like chopping. Paddy Deegan, Cathal King, TJ Reid, Darragh Corcoran and Mikey Butler were among those booked. Murphy otherwise let things go.

In Killarney, Paul Faloon’s reputation would have preceded him as a man who likes to let the game flow. In those circumstances, you really have to call the obvious fouls and in the first half there were a couple of soft ones blown.

The second half going the way of Kerry meant the afternoon became an easier one for Faloon whereas Martin McNally had a busy day in Roscommon right up to the end where the home side landed a famous win.

In the closing stages, substitute Cian McKeon won a free for Roscommon and Damien Comer came in as he tried to tap and go, and the ball was brought forward 50 metres.

Referees have moved away from applying this rule in recent weeks, even though it’s the correct rule. It should be enforced on a more regular basis.