Cork GAA officials sought clarity from referee over controversial hurling final moment

In his annual report ahead of next Tuesday’s Cork convention, county board CEO Kevin O’Donovan said Cork officials approached and spoke with referee Johnny Murphy after the game.

“To attend the Clare dressing room afterwards and hear our own manager address the victors, once again proved that the right values will continue to underpin our ongoing voyage,” O’Donovan wrote of manager Pat Ryan.

“This was evident in the same man’s response to questions regarding the performance of the referee. While, no doubt, we all wear the red goggles at times, if one was to focus on individual calls made in the heat of battle, we may be minded to revisit decisions in other games this year when perhaps we ourselves benefited from the ‘rub of the green’.

“For the record, we spoke to referee Johnny Murphy twice after the match; firstly, to clarify the circumstances around one particular incident late on which we believe he did not see at the same angle as ourselves and secondly to sincerely congratulate him and his team on playing a central role in facilitating one of the great, free-flowing All-Ireland finals by his proper approach.” 

In a year where Cork’s team spend rose by 20% to €2.386m, O’Donovan said that whether sustainable or not, the costs associated with the inter-county game are a fraction of the voluntary input and social capital created by inter-county players.

“It is hard to convey the debt we owe to players and management for putting Cork hurling back on the map this year. It has been decades since the connection between player and supporter has been this vibrant, a lasting tribute to all those in the set-up who stuck at it when skies were gloomy in early May. And perhaps, as conveyed at the post-final banquet, we may never again wail about the cost of the inter-county game without first highlighting the bottomless reservoir of voluntary, unpaid commitment given by all those in our inter-county set-ups.” 

Elsewhere in his report, O’Donovan floated the idea of a four-point goal in hurling, while lamenting the decision to do away with the trialed four-point goal in football.

“Perhaps silently, we continue to mourn the loss of the potential four-point goal that didn’t make it to Congress. A minor quibble, of course, but it may have brought the balance pursued by the committee originally in terms of one-point, two-point and four-point scores.

“And perhaps even more silently, we wonder if the 'hands off our hurling' devotees would have then considered a four-point goal in the sister code. Did the iconic scores by Robert Downey and Tony Kelly in Croke Park in July really only merit three points each in a game that now regularly sees between 50 and 60 one-pointers?” 

The Cork GAA CEO hailed the suite of rules passed at last weekend’s Special Congress as a “giant leap forward” for Gaelic football and called for the new rules pertaining to cynicism and dissent to be immediately applied to hurling also.

“While the proof will be in the eating over the next twelve months, it’s hard to see things unravel so much so that we won’t see a major improvement by year end. Indeed, one wonders as to the benefits that would accrue if a similar, relentless focus was brought to bear on other issues of similar importance such as integration, infrastructure and amateur status. What was learned over the last few months is that a visionary approach combined with a corresponding attention to detail was enough to provoke the masses into engagement. More of the same please.” 

On local football matters, O’Donovan welcomed the fact that the resources are finally in place in terms of coaching staff numbers to achieve increased football standards, particularly in schools.

Reflecting on Cork's narrow All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final defeat away to Louth, he said the collective devastation in the dressing-room afterwards was an indicator of how it was not lost on anyone that “a significant opportunity had passed”.

“The promise of the All Ireland Minor and U20 Football wins of 2019 continues to fade. Despite some green shoots in the Corn Uí Mhuirí recently, football continues to play the poor relation in contrast to other codes. That said, there are enough committed people in the county with a love of football that we must support in a more targeted manner.”