Waterford Minors into first All-Ireland Final since 1992.

Waterford Minor hurlers are through to a first All-Ireland Final since they lost to Galway in the 1992 final after they recorded a 2-12 to 0-16 win over Galway at Croke Park.

Not for the first time this year Waterford had to dig deep to come out on top in a game which saw both sides finish the game with fourteen men on the field.

Waterford lead at the break 2-5 to 0-9, the Déise goals coming from Adam Farrell and Darren Foran but in truth Waterford should have held a greater lead at the interval and would have but for the concession of a large amount of frees which Alan Murphy proved to be unerring from and had it not for his first half tally from placed balls, Waterford would possibly would have been almost at the line out of sight at the break.

Kilkenny heading into this game had a five week lay off from championship action heading into this game. They had not played since they easily beat Laois in the Leinster Final five weeks ago, while Waterford in the meantime had a Munster final clash with Limerick and a replay which was needed to get a winner for this years championship a quarter final meeting with Antrim two weeks ago and a round of games in the County Minor Championship and the extra games showed for Waterford.

Not for the first time this year, Waterford let their opponents have the better start in the game in it looked as though a repeat of the games against Cork and the Munster Final replay against Limerick was going to be on the cards.

Playing into a near empty Hill 16 at the start of the game Kilkenny raced into an early two point to no score lead courtesy of efforts from Kevin Kenny and an Alan Murphy free.

Waterford hit back with a point from Patrick Curran following a foul on Tom Devine on five minutes and less than two minutes later Waterford were in front when Adam Farrell netted following some good spadework by Stephen Bennett who picked out the De La Salle man with a brilliant pass.

Waterford missed a chance to further extend their lead on nine minutes when Adam Farrell and Patrick Curran linked up brilliantly but the De La Salle man with his final effort shot wide of the target.

Discipline was always going to be key to Waterford getting a result in this game. With Alan Murphy in the Kilkenny side, the Waterford defenders know that when presented with the chance he was not going to make too many mistakes and on eleven minutes when Waterford conceded another free, Murphy made no mistake in putting the ball between the uprights.

On thirteen minutes Kilkenny drew level when Murphy again put over another free and seconds later there was the same result when Kilkenny won another free.

On the quarter of an hour mark, Waterford went back in front when they struck for a second goal, and what a goal it was as Portlaw’s Darren Foran slammed to the net after he weaved his way through the Kilkenny defence before putting the ball high into the top corner of the net.

Kilkenny cam back as Alan Murphy shot over two points from frees to level matters 2-1 to 0-7 after seventeen minutes.

Patrick Curran from a free and John Walsh swapped scores to keep the sides tied with ten minutes of the first half remaining, but it could be said that Kilkenny were somewhat unlucky not to have been in front at this stage as Gavin Power did well to divert Walsh’s effort over the crossbar.

Two points from Patrick Curran, the first from a free and the latter from a sixty five gave Waterford a 2-4 to 0-8 lead with three minutes of the half remaining.

Niall Mullins pulled a point back for Kilkenny with two minutes of the half remaining, but Waterford would retire to the dressing rooms under the Cusack Stand holding a two point advantage when Stephen Bennett pointed from play.

In a number of games played this year, Waterford got off to a great start at the second half and they did so again in this game as Mikey Kearney and Patrick Curran with a stunning effort from near the sideline hit points to extend Waterford’s lead to four.

Kilkenny wasted no time to hit back as Alan Murphy from another free and John Walsh pointed to pull Waterford’s lead back to two.

Patrick Curran extended Waterford’s lead to three points four minutes into the second half. Three minutes later that lead was just one when Alan Murphy and then Liam Blanchfield fired over.

Austin Gleeson who again proved to be outstanding for Waterford put over another magnificent point on thirty nine minutes to give Waterford a two point cushion, which was extended to three a minute later when Mark O’Brien found the range.

Patrick Curran put four between the sides when he put over a sixty-five on forty-two minutes, before Murphy pulled one back for The Cats with thirteen minutes to play.

Waterford had their numbers cut in forty nine minutes when Stephen Bennett was sent off for what appeared to be a second yellow card, but from a personal point of view, I wonder was it a case of mistaken identity by the referee as from notes I had it that number five Michael Harney that was booked earlier in the game, and for the second offence it was the Ballysaggart man wearing number twenty five that was sent off.

From the resulting free Alan Murphy pointed from close range and minutes later, Murphy made an uncharacteristic error from a free shooting wide of the near post.

Stephen Bennett missed a chance to extent Waterford’s lead just before Eoin Kelly had their numerical advantage wiped out when Eoin Kenny was dismissed for a foul on Austin Gleeson, but from the resulting free Patrick Curran failed to convert.

Stephen Bennett missed another chance to extend Waterford’s lead four minutes from the hour mark but a Darren Foran effort soon followed to put three between the sides. Liam Blanchfield quickly responded for Kilkenny to ensure a tense finish, but in the time that remained, Waterford were able to hold out for a two point win and set up an All-Ireland final against the winners of next weeks semi final between Limerick and Galway.

Waterford: Gavin Power; Cian Leamy, Kevin Daly, William Hahessey; Michael Harney, Austin Gleeson, Shane Bennett; Mark O’Brien, Tom Devine; Stephen Bennett, Colm Roche, DJ Foran; Patrick Curran, Adam Farrell, Mikey Kearney. Subs: Cormac Curran for Stephen Roche; Conor Gleeson for Adam Farrell; Sean Hogan for DJ Foran.

Scorers: Patrick Curran 0-07 (5f, 1 ‘65); DJ Foran 1-1; Adam Farrell 1-0; Austin Gleeson, Mark O’Brien, Stephen Bennett, Mickey Kearney 0-01 each.

Kilkenny: Darren Brennan; Ciaran Wallace, Evan Cody, Darragh Joyce; Jason Stanley, James Maher, Conor Delaney; Niall Mullins, Ciaran Ryan; Liam Blanchfield, Eoin Kenny, Vinny Teehan; Alan Murphy, Kevin Kenny, John Walsh. Subs: Michael Kenny for Niall Mullins, Luke Scanlon for Ciaran Ryan.

Scorers: Alan Murphy 0-09 (9f); Kevin Kenny (1f), Liam Blanchfield, John Walsh 0-02 each; Niall Mullins 0-01.

Another big Waterford and Kilkenny Clash in Croke Park

The Waterford Minor Hurling selectors have made three chances to the team which easily disposed of Antrim in the All-Ireland Quarter Final for this Sunday’s Semi Final clash with Kilkenny at Croke Park.

Sean Power and his selectors have re-introduced Colm Roche at centre forward after the Shamrock’s Club man missed the game with Antrim after he retired early in the Munster Final replay against Limerick after picking up an injury.

Modeligo’s Tom Devine also comes back into the team as does De La Salle’s Adam Farrell. Cormac Curran, Sam O’Neill and Paul O’Connor are the three that miss out on selection this weekend from the team that starts against Antrim.

Potentially this is one of the best Waterford sides ever put together at this level. Not since 1992 when Waterford were beaten by Galway have Waterford reached an All-Ireland final at this level but there is a growing feeling that the twenty-one year wait could be about to come to an end for a return to Jones’ Road for a September clash.

To date, Waterford has played remarkably well, but the side have won no silverware yet, so for now, let’s guard against a little complacency.

If Waterford is to get past this latest hurdle, they will have to put in their best performance yet this year.

There is some that are suggesting that this present Kilkenny team are not the best side ever to come from the North of the River Suir. However, believing this could be very dangerous as you seldom if ever see a poor or bad Kilkenny side, and Waterford will have it all to do to beat them and they will have to be fully respected.

A great deal of the Waterford panel will know what the Kilkenny panel are capable of doing after playing against them in the Colleges Championships this year, while the management team will also have had reports on the team and their capabilities drawn up.

Most if not all of this years Kilkenny panel will have played in the Leinster Senior ‘A’ Colleges League and Championship. Dungarvan Colleges to win the Dr Croke Cup had to beat Saint Kieran’s College in the semi final and Kilkenny CBS in the final. To get to these stages of the competition, the two Nore-side colleges had to get the better of Castlecomber College and Good Council College from New Ross which also contained a number of players from clubs in Kilkenny.

In addition to these four sides, players from the South Kilkenny area will be attending De La Salle College in Waterford City and Abbey Community School in Ferrybank and these players will also be know to many of the Waterford players.

Players like James Maher at wing back, Vincent Teehan who was a used sub in the Leinster final and Michael Kenny at full forward helped Saint Kieran’s reach this years All-Ireland semi final on the colleges front while Gary Kelly at centre forward, Kevin Kenny at wing forward, Luke Scanlon, Niall Mullins at centre field and Evan Cody full back were part of the Kilkenny CBS team that reached the All-Ireland Colleges final.

Other players that could well play a prominent part for Kilkenny this weekend include Alan Murphy a younger brother of senior Kilkenny goalkeeper Eoin who hit ten points for the cats in the Leinster Final five weeks ago operating at corner forward, Liam Blanchfield at wing forward and goalkeeper Darren Brennan.

Kilkenny’s path to the semi finals this weekend is an impressive one and one which resembles Waterford’s.

The Cats began with a 3-20 to 1-9 win over Laois before loosing in a South-East derby against Wexford on a 3-7 to 1-10 score line. Kilkenny got back to winning ways with a comprehensive 7-16 to 1-9 win over Kildare and in the Leinster semi final they beat Dublin 0-17 to 2-7 to set up a Leinster Final and another clash with Laois.

In that final played five weeks ago, Kilkenny once again proved to be too strong, running out 1-18 to 0-8 winners. Alan Murphy on the day proved to be the main difference between the sides hitting ten points, while Michael Kenny hit the games only goal in the opening minutes of the game.

To qualify for this weekend’s All-Ireland semi final, Waterford have had to play all the sides competing in the Munster Championship which is a record.

Waterford began with a defeat against Tipperary at Walsh Park and followed it up with a win over Clare at the second time of asking at Fraher Field in a play off, after the original fixture was called off at latterly the last minute due to the strong winds which blew over must of West Waterford on the night the game was fixed for.

In the Munster semi final Waterford travelled to Cork to play Cork who had beaten Clare in the first round. Despite a poor start, Waterford got back into the game with a brace of early goals in the second half and it was only fitting that after sixty minutes that the two sides would end in stalemate.

For much of the extra twenty minutes little separated the sides, but Cork’s cause was not helped when they had a player sent off and with both sides tiring in the extra twenty minutes, Waterford with their extra man were able to press on to record a first ever underage win for Waterford on Cork soil.

In the Munster Final Waterford played Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds and for much of the game it was Waterford that looked the better of the two sides, but in the closing ten minutes of the game with a huge local support filing into the Ennis Road venue, Waterford took their eye off the ball and were caught out by Limerick and at the end of the sixty minutes, the two sides had to settle for a share of the spoils.

In the replay at Thurles, Waterford got off to a very poor start as they did in the game against Cork, but just like in that game, they were able to fight back and went into the lead and it looked as though Waterford were going to come out on top.

However, just as in the original fixture, Waterford appeared to take their eye off the ball in the closing minutes, when they appeared to have had one hand on the Cup, and had to settle for second best on the night.

Waterford had a very quick turn around and after playing Limerick on a Tuesday night, the Déise County was out again on the following Sunday when they played Antrim at Ashbourne.

In this game there was never any doubt as to what the final outcome of the game would be.

It’s hard to know which of the two sides is best placed going into this weekend’s game. Kilkenny have not played a competitive game since their Leinster Final five weeks ago, while Waterford has played three times since then and the players have also been in action in the local Minor Championship.

Sometimes a break can do you good, but it could also be argued that there is nothing like regular games and since Waterford played Cork in the Munster Semi final this is what they are getting. Nothing beats a competitive game. While Kilkenny just like Waterford would have been training hard over the past few weeks and will possibly have got in a challenge game or two, there is nothing like what was in effect (apart from the Munster Final) a competitive knockout game where all players would have to give it their all, and not maybe holding back somewhat as you see in non competitive games.

As stated to already, this present Waterford minor team is potentially the best ever put together, even more so than the one in the early to mid 1990’s which saw the likes of Paul Flynn, Tom Feeney, Dave Bennett, Ken McGrath, Eoin Murphy and Dan Shanahan come to the attention of many Waterford supporters.

This Sunday’s game is one that could well be close. Victory is going to go to the side that wants it most. Maybe we could see a Waterford game end in stalemate after sixty minutes for the third time this year.

Is Waterford going to win? I am hopeful that they will. I am not going to say more than that. I was told a few times in the last few years that a tip to win put in print by me is often a kiss of death. Read into that what you want, and maybe into tweets made by me recently if you follow mine.  

If Waterford does win on Sunday, lets all remain level headed after the game and in the run up to the clash with Limerick or Galway in September. In the past when he got excited about a penitential result, we were often left disappointed.

 

Weekly Digest 8/8/2013.

Week’s Round up.

Every week from now on (hopefully on a Thursday or a Friday) I am hoping to have on this blog a look pack over what was happening within the G.A.A. in the Waterford area in the week just ending and look forward to some of what is coming up in the week ahead.

Another All-Ireland for Trish Jackman:

Over the August Bank Holiday weekend, Galltir and Waterford Camogie player Trish Jackman won the All-Ireland Puc Fada for the fifth year in a row.

This is a remarkable achievement, and will hopefully be recognised within the county. This year’s title will surely be the most pleasing to Trish.

To win a first title for any player in any sport or event would be special. To retain the title the following year would be seen by some to be extra special. To win the title five years in a row is truly remarkable. Not even the great Kerry football team of the late 1970’s and early 1980’s could win five All-Ireland’s in a row. The great Kilkenny Hurling team over the past few years could win five All-Ireland’s in a row.

Trish managed to win five finals in a row last weekend and in the process did so finished the 2.5km course in a record low amount of pucs (27).

 

 

Dr Harty Cup

The draws for the group stages of the 2013/14 Dr Harty Cup were made recently, and the disappointing news coming out of the draws was that Dungarvan College’s who won the 2012/13 title were not allowed to defend their title.

I am not up to speed as to how voting takes place at a Munster College’s Meeting. Does each college taking part get a vote, or is it the officers that does the voting, maybe doing so on what they are hearing from the delegates as well as going with what they believe themselves.

I could be doing them an injustice and if I am I apologise, but you can’t but think that the call to not allow amalgamated sides into this years college could be down to the colleges in Tipperary and Cork who for a long number of years have dominated the competition along with Saint Flannan’s from Ennis.

There is a believe out there that the colleges in both Cork and Tipperary (a sizeable amount between them compared to what is in other counties) got together and to ensure that they are only playing smaller sides than themselves from this year. The numbers available to Dungarvan Colleges in last season’s competition (collectively from Dungarvan CBS and St Augustine’s) would be smaller than what other sides have put together.

However, the call is made now and the twenty two competing sides will have to get on with things as things stand.

In group one of the 2013/14 competition Thurles CBS will be the strong favourites to come out as group winners. They are in a group along with Castletroy College, Doon CBS and Gael Cholaiste Mhuire from Cork.

In group two, Blackwater Community School from Lismore and Dungarvan Colleges are paired together, along with Midleton CBS, Nenagh CBS and Rochestown College from Cork. This will be a very difficult group to come out of. Four of the sides will be fancying their chances, but wont be making too much noise about it in public, while the fifth side, Rochestown College did well last year in the Munster ‘B’ Competition and will be looking for another good run at the higher grade in this years competition.

The third Waterford side competing in this years competition is De La Salle and they are drawn in group three. They are in another tough group which contains Ard Scoil Rís from Limerick, Hamilton High School from Bandon, St Flannan’s from Ennis and St Colman’s from Fermoy.

In group four, last season’s beaten finalists Our Lady’s from Templemore will fancy their chances of reaching the knockout stages in a group that also contains Charleville CBS, Clonmel CBS and Colaiste na Trionoide from Youghal.

Two teams from the four groups will advance to the quarter finals. It is expected that the groups of five teams will begin in late September with the four team groups starting in early October and will continue to the Mid term break (Halloween) with one or two rounds played when the schools re-open in early November.

Under 16 Ladies Football

Waterford’s Under 16 Ladies football team make the journey to the Gaelic Grounds in Limerick this Saturday to play Roscommon in the All-Ireland ‘B’ semi final.

Waterford has had a long wait for this game. They played their first Munster Championship game back on March 27 when they played Limerick at Hospital where the game ended in a 1-16 to 1-4 win for Waterford.

Waterford’s second game in the Munster Championship was against Clare on April 3 when Clare travelled to play at Bushy Park and the game again resulted in a win for Waterford, this time on a 5-12 to 1-3 score line.

Waterford played Clare again in the Munster Final, after the young ladies from the Banner County beat Limerick in their Round Robin game. This time round the game was played at Tipperary Town and proved to be a much closer affair, but Waterford again proved to be the stronger of the two sides winning 3-6 to 2-5.

The long delay can be very off putting for players and management alike. It is hard to keep interest alive when there is too big a gap between games, but no doubt the Waterford management team will have kept the side ticking over and will have whatever side they send out to play the ‘Rossies’ fully prepared.

Under 16 Camogie All-Ireland Semi Final

Over the past few weeks the Waterford Under 16 Camogie team have been in action a lot and are back in action this Sunday afternoon when they play Wexford in the All-Ireland semi final at Fraher Field.

To date, Waterford has put together some impressive results. Earlier this year, they won the Munster Final, beating Cork at the Gold Coast grounds.

In the All-Ireland championship, Waterford began with a game against Westmeath at Bushy Park, which Waterford won 10-10 to 0-3. Next up was a trip to Mahon to play Cork, a game that ended in a 1-7 to 1-7 draw.

Waterford’s last two games in the group stages of the competition required them to make the trip to Dublin. First up they played Armagh, a game that Waterford won 5-10 to 1-10 at Swords and then made a return trip to the Capital to play Derry, a game Waterford won 4-14 to 2-2.

With Waterford and Cork both finishing the league section of the competition with seven points from a maximum of eight, a play off was required recently in Mahon to see which of the two sides would top the group and to see who would play the two teams coming out of group ‘A’ in the All-Ireland semi final’s.

Cork won that game 3-3 to 1-6 to end Waterford’s unbeaten run in 2013 in the championship, but each and everyone in the panel will know it is better to loose a play off game with Cork where there was little or anything at stake than to loose later on in the competition.

What a pity that this game has to clash with the All-Ireland Minor Semi Final. I am sure that the girls will receive an amount of support on Sunday in Fraher Field, but it could be even grater if it did not clash with the big games in Croke Park which many will be travelling to or watching on TV.

The Waterford County Camogie Board cannot be faulted for the timing of the game. They can only play games as they are told. However, the scheduling of events by the Association’s central council this year does leave a little to be desired at times. A few weeks back they fixed an Intermediate Championship game the same day as the Munster Puc Fada Final. The clash meant that Waterford was not represented at the event in the Glen of Aherlow. At times some joined up thinking would not go astray.

All-Ireland Minor Semi Final

Many in Waterford will be making the annual pilgrimage to G.A.A. head quarter this weekend. Over the past number of years a visit to the Jones’ Road venue in August meant supporting the counties senior hurlers in an All-Ireland semi final, but this year it is to support the minors.

Waterford has qualified for this year’s semi final after games against Tipperary, Clare, Cork, Limerick (two games) and Antrim.

At the time of putting this piece together neither a Waterford nor a Kilkenny team is known. However, as soon as they are known it is hoped to have something up on the game on my blog.

To reach this stage of the competition, Waterford has surely set some sort of a record. I wonder are they the first county from Munster to reach an All-Ireland semi final having had to play the other four counties from Munster to compete in the competition.

Ladies Football

This weekend, the Waterford Intermediate Ladies Football team should discover who they will play in this year’s All-Ireland quarter finals.

The second series of games in the qualifiers take place and see Roscommon take on Leitrim, Wicklow take on Down, Cavan play London and for the second time this year Limerick take on Tipperary.

The four winners of these games will advance to the quarter finals where they will be joined by the four provincial winners.

Waterford teams in Tournament action.

This Saturday evening three sides from Waterford will be in action in big tournaments.

At Kill, the President of the G.A.A. Liam O’Neill will be visiting the mid county village to officially open the clubs new dressing room facilities.

To mark the occasion, the local club have organised two senior tournament games. The official opening of the facilities will take place at 4pm and ninety minutes later, a Senior Football Tournament will take place involving Stradbally and Tinryland from Carlow. At 7pm the attention turns to hurling and the game between Lismore and Ballyhale Shamrocks will surly attract a sizeable support, as the likes of the Shanahan brothers Maurice and Dan face up to the likes of Henry Shefflin. With both Lismore and Ballyhale Shamrocks having important Championship games coming up shortly, it is envisaged that both sides could be at full strength and will be going all out for a win to built up confidence ahead of their next championship outing.

And in Clonmel on Saturday evening, the Clonmel Óg Club will be opening their new dressing rooms. They have organised a senior football tournament game between Clonmel Óg and Rathgormack which has a 7-30pm start.

In Kill, the winners of the football game will be playing for the McGrath Cup, those in the hurling game will be playing for the Mike Hennessy Memorial Trophy and in Clonmel the sides will be playing for the Jim Cleary Cup.

Silverware for Mount Sion

There was Silverware on the double for the Mount Sion Club last weekend when they won the Sargent Cup, beating Abbeyside in the Final at Cappoquin, a game which doubled up as the County Senior Hurling League final.

This proved to be a high scoring game with nine goals scored over the hour. Michael Gaffney, Richie Roche, Sean Ryan, Gavin Carroll and Pat Kelly all found the net for Mount Sion in a 5-15 to 4-10 win, while the Abbeyside goals came through Mark Fives who hit two, Mark Gorman and John Hurney.

Big weekend in Touraneena

Big crowds gathered last weekend at Kirwan Park in Touraneena for a number of games which were played as part of a ‘Gathering Weekend’.

In Ladies Football, Ballymacarbry proved too strong for Na Déise in an under 14 football game. Ballymacarbry ran out winners with four points to spare.

Slaibh gCua beat Kill in an Intermediate Football Tournament final for the Ned Burke Cup. In intermediate hurling, Saint Mary’s had a one point win over Fourmilewater in the final of the Bob Keane Cup and in underage games, Naomh Brid proved too strong for Brickeys in an under 10 game which saw one half played in hurling and the other in football. The local side were presented with the Michael Kiely Cup and on the same day, Ballygibblin from Cork retained the Bob Keane Shield beating Naomh Brid in an under 12 hurling game.

Intermediate Hurling

The quarter final parings in this years Eastern Intermediate Hurling Championship were confirmed last weekend. Portlaw who are the current champions will play Ferrybank, while Dunhill who were relegated from the Senior ranks last year will play Ballygunner’s second string team. Last years Junior hurling champions Butlerstown will play Clonea who are annual challengers for the Intermediate crown and the final game will see the clash of De La Salle and Mount Sion’s second string sides.

Intermediate Football

In the Western Intermediate Football Championship there is still one game to play in the group stages of the competition (Ballyduff and Clashmore) but the semi final parings are already confirmed.

The Geraldine’s have topped the group with ten points from a maximum of twelve and will play Dungarvan who are relegated from the senior ranks last year. The second semi final sees Sliabh gCua take on Ballyduff Upper. The two sides met in Cappoquin last weekend and the game resulted in a 1-11 to 0-5 win for Ballyduff who secured their place in the last four as a result of the win.

Meanwhile staying in the west of the county, Ardmore and Cappoquin will contest this year’s Western Intermediate Hurling League final. The two will meet at Fraher Field on August 23 in the final.

Camogie Quiz.

Don’t forget this evening to help try and offset the huge expense that the County Board will incur in the coming weeks with the Intermediate and under 16 teams playing in All-Ireland semi finals and hopefully finals, they have organised a table quiz for this evening (August 8) in Lawlor’s Hotel at 8-30pm. Teams of four cost €40 and even if you cant make it to the quiz tonight and would like to get involved any of the county board or the players will take whatever you can afford and put it with what is taken up on the night.

Meanwhile the ladies footballers have also have a fundraiser. They are selling tickets which have some worthwhile prizes. Waterford have had a team in an Under 14 All-Ireland Final earlier this year, have an under 16 team in an All-Ireland semi final this weekend and the intermediates are in an up coming All-Ireland quarter final. Reaching these stages of competition does not come cheap and your support would be much appreciated.

 

 

A rethink in needed before new rules on cynical fouling are brought in next January.

G.A.A. officials should act immediately to ensure that the move coming into operation next year whereby a player found guilty of committing a cynical foul and is sent from the field of play, only to be replaced by another player will never happen.

I know I am going to get messages reminding me that I never played hurling or football in my life and that I should butt of interfering and commenting on something that will not affect me. I may be told that I don’t know what I am talking about. But such comments will not cause me to loose any sleep. They will go in one ear and out the other.

To me there is nothing like a good game of hurling. A good game of hurling to me is a fine art. Football can also be a good game to watch when it is played the way it should. It can be a beautiful game, much more so than another code of football that its supporters call ‘the beautiful game’.

However in recent years, Gaelic Football had become a very cynical game. It has become a horrible game to watch at times. The way it is played is turning people off playing and watching it and if G.A.A. Officials are not careful, many will give up on the game completely, especially with the younger generations.

I don’t know what way any county voted in respect of the new rules coming into play in 2014, and to be honest I don’t really care. I would however, love to hear why especially from counties that voted for the moves as to why they voted the way they did.

I have attended enough County Board Meetings to know how some decisions are taken. Usually the same people debate a topic. There is an unofficial competition to see who can speak the longest and more importantly as to who will speak last before the chairman calls time on the debate. A vote is often called for, a show of hands will often to do carry or reject a proposal. Some of those that have not taken part in the earlier debate have begun to nod off, often out of boredom and someone notice that some people are raising their hands, so they decide to do the same, sometimes I suspect without fully understanding what they are voting for or against.

Voting for the introduction of a Black Card into the G.A.A. has to be one of the biggest joke in the association’s long history. I am sure that right now, there are players and coaches out there who are rubbing their hands and secretly laughing at those that made the new rules. They like me, know that the new rule will solve nothing, and will if anything only lead to more cynical play than we see right now.

Next year we could see a full back for example, just outside the penalty area cynically foul an incoming player. He will be prepared to pay the consequences, and be sent to the stand, knowing that he can be replaced for his actions. He will feel it is better to pull down a player and allow someone to put over a free rather than maybe let him have the chance to shoot for goal. A few minutes later, the player that replaces the player already dismissed finds himself in the same situation and will be prepared to do the same thing.

The G.A.A. at times likes to look at the way other sports do things, and to see if what these other sports do things can help improve (or otherwise) the G.A.A. and the way it does things.

Take the Ladies Football Association as an example. They were allowing five subs to be used for some time before the G.A.A. allowed five replacements to be used.

The name Finbar O’Driscoll won’t mean anything to most I am sure reading this. To those that remember the name will remember him as a leading referee in Ladies Football in the 1990’s. He refereed the 1997 (I stand to be corrected on that) final between Waterford and Monaghan. Most people in Croke Park that day were in agreement that there was an amount of stoppage time to be played at the end of the second half. Most would have said between five and six minutes. However, again standing to be corrected on it, there was in the region of twelve minutes added. Most could not understand where this time came from. Naturally, after the game, it was the main topic of conversation. The Ladies Football Association had to act and the following year they had the count down clock in operation and everyone could see what time was left to play. Ever since, the clock is in use for most major games at National level.

We are told that the clock is coming to the G.A.A. Will it remains to be seen. We were told it was coming before and it never came.

Hawk-eye is in use in other sports. It was introduced into the G.A.A. this year, but only at games played at Croke Park. Will the G.A.A. take it up full time and install the technology at all grounds. I hope not. I know of no team of officials that go out to deliberately do any team. They might make mistakes. They won’t get everything right. The day we take human error out of the game is a major mistake. Do we make the same furore about mistakes made by players and management teams as when match officials make them? Mistakes made by the formers are more likely to have an effect on the game than the latter.

If the G.A.A. is serious however about cutting the cynical fouling out of our games, they have to look at other games and how they do things. Maybe they could look at Ladies Football for the way they do things.

Ladies football was and is supposed to be a non contact sport, but you can’t have that. You have to have some physical contact, otherwise you won’t have people playing or watching. You can’t have a game where you allow a team in procession of the ball to waltz through the oppositions defence and not to be stopped.   

However, a while back the game may have been getting a little too physical, and it was decided to bring in the sin bin rule. Does it work, yes it does, and it works well.

In Ladies football, when a player is found guilty of a cynical foul, they are ordered off the field for ten minutes. If the foul happens inside the last ten minutes of the first half, the watch is stopped at the break and the player has to finish their ten minutes off the field at the start of the second half.

In the run up to last years All-Ireland Intermediate Final between Waterford and Armagh in Croke Park, I got to speak to a number of the players and the management team for previews in the Munster Express and on this blog. I asked some if they felt that discipline was key in Ladies Football. All agreed that it was. The feeling was that a player standing on the side line or sitting in the stand is no good to you, and that they would have to think carefully before doing something stupid. You have to have 15 on the field at all times. Having less was putting the players on the field under pressure.

Could the same work in the men’s game? I think it could and would. If teams were cut to have their numbers temporally cut to fourteen or even more, as there is no reason why you cant have more than one player in the stands at any one time, players and more over coaches will have to change the way they do things and be successful.

Football in particular has become hard and painful to watch in the last few years. If it is not the dreadful blanket defence, it’s the cynical fouling. The G.A.A. has to act and act quickly if it wants people to be playing and attending its games.  Failure to act will result that championships from next year becoming a bigger joke and a bigger turn off that they have become over the past few years.