Too many head-high tackles were left unpunished in Páirc Uí Chaoimh: What we learned from the GAA weekend
Too many head-high tackles were left unpunished in Páirc Uí ChaoimhEvery so often in hurling there needs to be a reset on infringements that are creeping back in. This weekend’s hurling games will be reviewed over the next couple of days, and in that context, attention must be paid to the head-high tackles that were missed or not properly punished in Páirc Uí Chaoimh.Barry Walsh took a dangerous shoulder to the head in the first half under the North Stand, Tommy O’Connell was slapped on the faceguard while he had possession in the corner in front of the Blackrock End and Brian Hayes took a slap to the helmet before he shot a wide about 10 minutes before half-time. Only the tackle on Walsh resulted in a free but the Limerick player wasn’t booked.In the incident involving O’Connell, the linesman was only yards away. He immediately seemed to press his communication device to make contact with the referee and a few seconds later he pointed to his head. Cork were awarded a free for a foul on William Buckley in the ensuing play but no action was taken on the faceguard contact.James Owens is an extremely experienced referee at a time when elite hurling referees are worryingly thin on the ground. He has been applauded in some quarters for only awarding 16 frees on Sunday in a game where the number of infringements would have been a multiple of that.READ MORETailteann Cup draw: Clare to play Offaly in round oneLimerick’s lack of depth was badly exposed against Cork as their bench boost has disappearedCork’s Ciarán Joyce out for season after ACL injury with Rob Downey out for six weeksFree-taking could be the key to Galway’s Sam Maguire bidIn that sense it was a classic championship performance from a referee: the players are conditioned to absorb any amount of foul contact, and the crowd is psyched up for a gladiatorial contest. As always, that’s all very well until your team is gasping for a free and you’re wondering why the referee hasn’t blown his whistle.Owens made a big call in sending off Cian Lynch and was absolutely correct, but it is not satisfactory for a referee of his experience to miss head-high tackles. – Denis WalshRoscommon show strength in depth against MayoRoscommon’s Daire Cregg was suspended for game against Mayo. Photograph: Ed Mulholland/Inpho Roscommon’s 10-point win over Mayo in Castlebar is all the more impressive when you consider the players not on the field.Brian Stack, Ruaidhrí Fallon and Daire Cregg would almost certainly all be starting if fit and available to manager Mark Dowd – but Roscommon beat their neighbours at MacHale Park without the trio, a sign of the squad’s strength in depth. To come away from Castlebar with a double-digits victory, while minus three key players, says much about this Roscommon panel.Cregg, the third highest scorer in Division One of the National League, was suspended for the Connacht semi-final against Mayo but he will be available for the provincial decider against Galway at Dr Hyde Park.Fallon (ankle) and Stack (rib) are both returning to full fitness and were freed to play for St Brigid’s on Friday night, with the duo now likely to be in contention for the Connacht final.“In fairness to the boys, Stacky and Ruaidhrí, they’ve made great strides in getting themselves back,” said Dowd. “There were conversations we had with them during the week to say how far on advanced were they.“We were happy between us all that we said, ‘get a game with the club, get that under ye.’ No matter what happened today, there were always going to be other games coming down the track, they are now in a better position for those.“I think the lads will know themselves, there’s opportunities there to get on the match 26. I’m sure there won’t be too many that won’t be looking to tog out now next Wednesday night for training. But that’s what we want, isn’t it? It’s the competition that we’re looking for within the squad, and in fairness to those guys that didn’t make that 26 at all, they’re driving standards as well within the group.”Ben O’Carroll also played with St Brigid’s last weekend but it’s unclear if the talented forward will be part of the Roscommon squad for the championship. – Gordon Manning Waterford, and hurling in general, are lucky to have Stephen BennettWaterford's Stephen Bennett and Tipperary's Michael Breen. Photograph: Inpho If the season ended this morning, would there be many candidates out there to beat Stephen Bennett to Hurler of the Year? Hard to think of more than one or two. He was exceptional again for Waterford during their comeback against Tipperary on Sunday, scoring 1-9 in the second half alone. The land of Dan, Ken and Mullane has never struggled for cult heroes – Bennett is right up there now with any of them.“As the game goes on he gets better,” said Peter Queally afterwards. “You’re on the sideline and you’re close to him and you see this ball coming up between three Tipperary fellas and Stevie and he has this uncanny knack of being able to bring it down to himself, secure it, lose them and score. It’s phenomenal what he can do really.”Everyone knows his body is creaking and his injuries mean he can’t really train between matches, etc. Even if you didn’t, you might guess it from the way he is leading the line for Waterford. It felt like every time he got the ball on Sunday, his first thought was whether there was a goal on. It was often his second and third thought too, as if he’s conscious that every possession might be his last.He tries outrageous things, understanding that half the battle with Waterford is getting the blood pumping in the crowd and using that as a power source. His goal on Sunday was ludicrous – as the ball came in, there were four Tipp players between him and Rhys Shelly and still he was able to beat Mikey Breen to the ball, round Brian O’Mara and finish across his body on an angle from the 20-metre line. Anyone else would have taken his point three times before he went for goal.Waterford are lucky to have him. Hurling is too. – Malachy ClerkinThree teams face Tailteann Cup waitDown’s Ryan McEvoy celebrates with Daniel Guinness at the final whistle. Photograph: Lorcan Doherty/Inpho The draw for the Tailteann Cup takes place at 1pm on Monday but Down’s victory over Donegal on Sunday has thrown another curveball towards the eventual make-up of the competition.Cavan are now in jeopardy of slipping out of the All-Ireland series. Despite the draw for round one taking place today, everything will hinge on what happens next weekend in two games: Down v Armagh in the Ulster SFC and Westmeath v Kildare in the Leinster SFC.If both Down and Westmeath win, by advancing to their respective provincial finals they are automatically guaranteed a position in the Sam Maguire competition as that supersedes league standings. In that scenario Cavan, because of their sixth-place finish in Division Two, would be pushed out of the top 16 teams eligible for the All-Ireland SFC. Kildare, despite finishing below Cavan in the league, are already certain of a place in the Sam Maguire competition because they won the Tailteann Cup last year.If Westmeath lose, then the Lake County would be in the Tailteann Cup. But if Westmeath win and Down lose, then the Mourne County would be in the Tailteann Cup. By Sunday evening Down could be preparing for an Ulster final or a Tailteann Cup campaign. Likewise for Westmeath in Leinster. It’s a tightrope. But while those teams at least get to try solve the problem on the field, Dermot McCabe and Cavan can only watch and wait. – Gordon ManningTJ Reid was not aware of record-breaking achievementKilkenny’s TJ Reid scores a free. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho In the dearth of interesting “takeaways” from Kilkenny on Saturday evening, the fact that TJ Reid set a new mark for championship scoring was at least one historic outcome.If it felt in some way short of epochal, that was because Reid and Cork’s Pat Horgan have in recent years been locked together in an elaborate pas de deux, vying for ever-higher totals.Horgan retired after last year’s All-Ireland final as the top scorer in championship history with 32-683 ahead of Reid on 39-641. Once the latter had indicated he was staying on, he was always likely to make up the leeway of 22 points.Even in the smoke of the Salthill thrashing by Galway, he scored 1-8 and it was noted before last weekend that a similar score last Saturday would see him regain the record. Going into injury-time he had managed 0-7 and four wides from placed balls could, if converted, have seen him claim the record.In the eighth minute of seven minutes’ injury-time (there had been substitutions during that time) Reid got his goal.Paddy Deegan intervened with a neat interception of Seán Rowley’s pass and disdained the handy point by playing the ball over to Reid, still with work to do. He stepped Shane Reck to the right of goal and placed his shot into the left corner of the net.In the 80th minute, a tap-over free claimed the record – something Reid himself said he had not been aware of after the match.It was noted on the GAA+ commentary by Séamus Hickey that the goal was the old “Kilkenny ruthlessness”.To an extent but if that ruthlessness referred to the county’s insistence on getting goals long after the verdict had been unsealed, this was different in that the scores were consequential.Manager Derek Lyng placed Reid’s achievement in a more familiar context.“TJ would say himself, today wasn’t about that. It was about getting the win. That was the most important thing. It’s a credit to him. He’s not finished yet.”Whenever he is, whoever’s next in line will have more work to do. – Seán Moran
