Shamrocks don’t deserve criticism for objection but replay unlikely

By Kevin Egan

As is now traditional for the Offaly SFC, it was only when the glistening guillotine blade of knockout competition started to sparkle in the eyes of the clubs that the action caught fire last weekend.

In a nine-team senior championship where five sides entertained realistic aspirations of reaching a county final before a ball was kicked, those five were the clubs still standing by 4pm on Sunday afternoon when Ferbane and Shamrocks faced off to see who would join Rhode, Edenderry and Tullamore in the semi-finals.

The lack of variation at the top table in this county is an ongoing lament so from the perspective of Offaly’s overall well-being, Shamrocks taking a notable scalp such as that of last year’s finalists might have been for the greater good. It wasn’t to be, however, as they coughed up a six-point lead midway through the second half to lose out by the bare minimum - 3-15 to 2-17 - with Jack Clancy’s hat-trick goal in the 59th minute the key score.

It was a fantastic contest with many really impressive performances, not least those of David Nally and Jack Clancy, both of whom will surely get an invitation to join the county senior panel. They may even consider those invitations strongly, given how little playing time they were allocated by senior hurling manager Johnny Kelly in the first half of this year.

*Objection and the fallout It has since emerged that Shamrocks have lodged an objection to the result on the basis that Adam Egan’s score in the sixth minute, awarded as a two-pointer, looks to have been struck from marginally inside the two-point arc. Replayed footage suggests that a white flag instead of an orange was the correct outcome, though even on slow-motion replay, it’s not entirely conclusive as his left, kicking foot may have been on the arc when he swung his boot.

The decision to appeal by the Shamrocks club has been made following consultation with the players who are understood to have supported the decision, though the evidence from around the country this autumn would indicate that the chances of a successful outcome to that objection are low.

There have been several similar cases but only one – arising out of the Fermanagh Division One League final – where a replay was ordered. In that instance there were two utterly egregious calls where the decision to award two points for each kick was clearly incorrect, and Derrygonnelly Harps, the side who benefited from those errors, made it known to the Fermanagh CCC that they were happy to play again. At the time of writing, Ferbane GAA have made no public statement or submission to the Offaly CCC, and it’s unlikely that they will.

In contrast, similar disputes in Mayo and Carlow – again, both instances where there could be no doubt about whether or not the on-field decision by the match officials was correct – did not result in any change of the official result.

Not unlike their neighbours from Ballinamere and Durrow, who were put under the spotlight following Durrow’s decision to concede a walkover against Rhode over a fortnight ago, critics have been quick to emerge and opine that incorrect refereeing decisions, either controversial or even incorrect, are part of sport. Every reader will have their own lowlight reel of times when an important match was turned by a hotly-disputed call and frustrating though that is when a player or supporter is on the receiving end, it’s unavoidable and arguably even adds to the magic and unpredictability of it all. After all, like life, in sport sometimes you just get dealt a bad hand.

Nonetheless, if this was in fact a player-led decision – though clearly not with the support of management, based on the decision by John Monaghan and Brian Kinnarney to step aside in protest at not being consulted - then the Shamrocks executive were effectively backed into a corner. There is no comparison between the importance of being seen to stand by your players, and the irrelevant mutterings of critics inside and out, individuals who may have never pulled on a jersey, donned a bib or laid out a cone for the club.

The counterpoint that Shamrocks have only themselves to blame given that they led by 2-15 to 2-9 after 45 minutes is also irrelevant, since the obvious conclusion at the end of that line of thinking is that either your own performance is flawless, or else you’re not entitled to fair play.

After this year’s All-Ireland hurling semi-final when Kilkenny were certainly not helped by the scoreboard error at the end of their game against Tipperary, most right-thinking people felt similarly. The view was that what happened was unfortunate, but that it fell far below the threshold of what would necessitate a replay. It shouldn’t fall on the club/county that has been hard done by to determine if the error was sufficiently consequential to warrant an objection, and if that club/county does feel that way, then it’s for whatever Competitions Control Committee oversees that competition to determine if they have a case, not some self-appointed moral police.

In a nutshell, criticism of the Shamrocks club for their decision to object is unwarranted, but it would still be a huge surprise if the result is overturned, either here in Offaly or following an appeal to a higher authority.