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IT Carlow manager DJ Carey. Tom O'Hanlon/INPHO
Criticism

DJ Carey: 'If you ask a referee what they’re doing, they tell you where to go'

The IT Carlow manager also bemoaned the hectic schedules his players are facing at this time of year.

IT CARLOW MANAGER DJ Carey has called for referees to show greater respect towards managers when they inquire about officiating decisions during matches.

Carey’s charges put five goals past Mary Immaculate College on Saturday to book a place in this year’s Fitzgibbon Cup final against defending champions UCC.

Carlow came through as comfortable 14-point victors but they were trailing their Mary I opponents by one point at half-time in very windy conditions. 

Jamie Wall’s side also kept in touch for part of the second half through Cathal Bourke’s frees. The Tipperary forward finished with eight points from dead ball situations.

When asked if he was concerned by the number of frees conceded by Carlow ahead of Wednesday’s final, Carey responded:

“At the end of the day, we’re very frustrated and I think as hurling people, it’s very frustrating the way the game is going. There seems to be an awful lot of very easy frees and I’m not saying that they don’t go our way.

“I think the game is going in such a way that now if you run at a defence and some sort of half-tackle goes in, it’s a free. I really disagree with the advantage rule.

cathal-dunbar-with-david-prendergast Cathal Dunbar scored two of IT Carlow's five goals. Tom O'Hanlon / INPHO Tom O'Hanlon / INPHO / INPHO

“I think it’s an absolutely terrible rule in the game. Because if there’s an advantage given for nothing, the play is brought back within five seconds, when the ball could at the other end of the field. I just find it very frustrating.” 

The Kilkenny legend continued by expressing his frustration at ‘inconsistencies’ in how the advantage rule is officiated in hurling, and claimed that referees don’t explain their decisions to managers during games.

“Today we had a guy went down, he allowed the advantage, he went back and booked the player and the ball was gone wide.

I don’t understand where there’s an advantage. I just don’t understand the absolute inconsistency. If you ask a referee what they’re doing, they tell you where to go.

“I think as a manager, there should be respect shown towards managers. Whether that’s me or Jamie Wall or Brian Cody or Liam Sheedy or whoever. There should be a respect shown towards managers, to ask what is actually going on.”

Carey also bemoaned the hectic training schedules that are affecting his players.

He remarked that some of his players came through some intense training sessions during the week, and indicated that balancing their inter-county commitments is proving difficult.

“Unfortunately at the end of the day, we’ve a lot of lads who have had very, very heavy training sessions on Wednesday and Thursday.

There’s not a lot we can do. We can’t control what inter-county managers do. It’s just a pity, even for Mary I, I’m sure. You’re at the behest of county managers and sometimes their legs are very heavy.”

Carlow suffered a blow in the final minutes of their semi-final, when corner-forward Seamus Casey was withdrawn with what Carey described as “a pretty bad ankle injury.”

It’s not yet known if he will be able to recover in time for the final against UCC.

Meanwhile, Mary I manager Wall said it was a disappointing defeat for his side, but added that he has no complaints about the result.

“It is a bitter pill to swallow, with the scoreline. I’m not knocking them. The better team won. We are not complaining about that.

“There were this five or six-minute spell there, where we didn’t get a score. They punished us big time with two quick goals where one or two of them came from mistakes we actually made around the middle. That is the difference at this level.”

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