DUBLIN FOOTBALL BOSS Pat Gilroy believes that referee Marty Duffy must be ‘applauded’ for the common sense that he showed in reversing the decision to wave Eoghan O’Gara’s point attempt wide midway through the second-half of yesterday’s Leinster final.
O’Gara’s 53rd minute shot was initially adjudged to have been wide by the Davin End before then the replay on the two big screens in Croke Park showed the ball had clearly passed inside the upright. Dublin supporters were incensed by the decision and after manager Pat Gilroy expressed his frustration at the decision to linesman Maurice Deegan, the Laois man then rushed in to talk to Duffy. This lead to the umpires then being told to award the point which pleased Gilroy.
“I think it was common sense, they looked up at the big screen and saw it was over. They have to be applauded for that, we give out enough about referees but it was clearly a point and it takes fair guts to go back and change your mind on it. I think they used common sense.
“At least they have the video replay there, whether it’s in the rules or they’re supposed to do it, that’s a different matter. There’s two guys sitting there and they said it as well. It was common sense and if a score’s a score, it should just be given. They might get into trouble for it but I think in general people will appreciate that was common sense.”
Meath manager Seamus McEnaney had no qualms with the referee’s ruling on the incident either.
“To be fair to the officials, they saw it on the screen and it was a good recovery from their point of view. It was a mistake and the mistake was turned around within seconds. I would have no real qualms about it. The officials had quite a good game today and sometimes it’s easy to criticise them. Maybe that’s something we should take out of today and have a man upstairs to make those bad decisions good again.”
