There is a recognisable shudder in the press box when something like Sunday happens. The immediate post-match realisation that something was wrong began with the jumpy confab between match officials on the field just after the full-time whistle.
If there’s a problem, it means anything from shifting the entire focus of the coverage to not being able to leave until after sunset.
The issue was quickly narrowed down to the status of Noel McGrath’s shot in the 70th minute, which was signalled wide but somehow registered on the scoreboard.
As the match went on for the four minutes of injury time, it was noted that Kilkenny appeared to be under the impression that they were four points behind rather than three. After Jordan Molloy’s 72nd-minute point cut the perceived deficit to three (actually, two), it was clear that his team were trying to engineer a goal.
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Had they been aware of the actual situation, would they not have taken their points? Labouring under an illusion was certainly a disadvantage for Kilkenny in how they executed their final plays. The forensic process of itemising every opening that they had for a point, but choosing instead to try to construct a goal, indicated as much.
When Clare-Offaly was inadvertently whistled up two minutes early in 1998, Clare led by three. There were some demands that they should start the re-fixture three points ahead of their opponents. Yet that failed to take into account what might have happened to Offaly’s advantage during that time.
Similarly, the idea that Kilkenny would have enjoyed exactly the same possessions does not weigh up how Tipperary might have defended differently had they been trying to keep out points rather than goals. Nobody really knows.
Should Kilkenny have known the real score? After all, players tend to have a mental note of where they are in any given match. That is probably a bit demanding an assumption given that the scoreboard looms high over the pitch at either end, beaming out the wrong information.
In the heat of a breathless finish like Sunday’s it is easy to lose concentration and with the amount of scoring and speed of puckouts in hurling, any uncertainty about the score will realistically be resolved by glancing at the big display.
After all, both managers, Liam Cahill and Derek Lyng, said that they had believed the scoreboard in the frantic closing stages – despite their accompanying retinues of statistics keepers and number crunchers.
There is an underlying question as to why there was such a push to confirm 4-21 to 0-30 as the final score before a later reversion to the actual result, 4-20 to 0-30 – possibly when McGrath’s attempt was seen on television to be clearly wide.
Had it in fact been a score, the Hawk-Eye official would have communicated that to the referee, who would have made an instant referral for clarification.
Referee James Owens initially indicated 4-21 but he too amended that to 4-20 – understandably when that is what was recorded in his notebook. The dithering and ambiguity surrounding the final score is surprising when it is taken into consideration that none of the match officials, including Owens, actually made a mistake during the semi-final.
The mistake was on the part of the scoreboard operator. Under match protocols at Croke Park, the person in charge of that function is based in the control centre at the northern end (Hill 16) of the stadium but there is another person on the sideline, who radios in confirmation of each score.
Whatever happened, the McGrath shot was put up as a score. There was some – but not a lot of – confusion at the time. One umpire (left-hand side) emphatically signals a wide but the other sticks a hand up to catch the dropping ball.
Ger Canning’s television commentary on RTÉ announced it as a wide.
The match played out and there was little immediate talk about the final score or any associated problems.
There are likely to be changes made to protocols to tighten up situations like those which unfolded on Sunday but, overall, it was just human error.
The whole imbroglio was a very regrettable distraction from a riveting match and a great step forward for Tipperary.
There is no question of remedy for situations like this any more than there is for an officiating error. A referee’s decision is final and their report is also the last word on anything that arises.
Kilkenny have behaved very reasonably in the aftermath. Even those not officially involved in the county GAA, such as former All-Ireland winner John Henderson on Monday’s Drivetime on RTÉ Radio 1, have been models of restraint and graciousness. Nobody has been looking for a re-fixture, just some steps towards ensuring the problem doesn’t recur.
The Central Competitions Control Committee (CCCC) is finalising its inquiry into the matter, and it is expected that it will be communicated to Kilkenny (and presumably, Tipperary) with an acknowledgment of the error and an apology.
One thing that could be learned is to address these matters immediately. There is no reason why the situation, having been assessed, should not have led to a statement from Croke Park accepting that a mistake had been made and apologising to both Kilkenny and Tipperary.
Kilkenny would then have been in a position to accept the apology that night.
The decks cleared, the rest of us could get back to looking forward to an exciting pair of football semi-finals this coming weekend.
There could also have been an expression of gratitude to Tipp defender Robert Doyle, who blocked John Donnelly’s shot for goal in the last minute. The implications of its going in – extra time instead of Kilkenny being declared winners and God knows what else – caused GAA officials to blanch.
sean.moran@irishtimes.com
