AS WE’VE COME to expect, Joe Brolly didn’t hold back in his scathing criticism of referee Padraig Hughes after he awarded a controversial penalty to Kerry during the Munster SFC final draw with Cork.
The game turned on the official’s contentious decision when Mark Collins was adjudged to have fouled James O’Donoghue in the small square.
The 2014 Footballer of the Year duly converted from the spot and Kerry went onto snatch a draw in the dying embers to earn a replay on Saturday 18 July at the same venue.
Cork were left furious by Hughes’ decision and Brolly, who was speaking on The Sunday Game afterwards, was in no doubt that the referee had made the wrong call.
“Paudie wouldn’t know a penalty if it bit him in the arse,” he remarked on RTÉ.
“It’s Mark Collins’ ball – he was going for it. It was in his zone and O’Donoghue simply ran to the side and stretched a left arm in and Collins was already falling to the ground trying to catch the ball.
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“I mean, and then to consult with the umpires and for them to say ‘yes, it was a penalty’. I mean you couldn’t make it up.”
Colm O’Rourke was in agreement with his fellow pundit but pointed out that the Armagh official was consistent when penalising in similar situations.
“As Collins had his eyes firmly on the ball, I don’t think it was a penalty but he gave a free in to Cork straight away after that which was in a similar circumstance,” O’Rourke added.
“Once the referee makes the decision, the umpires can’t change the decision the referee has made.”
Brolly wasn’t finished there, however.
“I tell you it’s not the first time, not the first time that Paudie has done that,” he continued before presenter Darragh Maloney intervened.
“We’ve looked at it once, Joe,” Maloney said. “You’ve made your point already. He looked at it once, consulted the umpires and it was his decision that counts.”
The referee was given a Garda escort at full-time and Brolly finished by getting one final dig in at Hughes.
“Looking at it once, you could sense the bewilderment immediately. The spectators, the players. How can it possibly be? It was obvious that it wasn’t a penalty.”
