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ONE of the big talking points coming out of Croke Park yesterday was an incident deep in stoppage where Dublin’s Kevin McManamon shouldered Peter Crowley in the chest and no free was given.
Referee, David Gough, came in for a lot of criticism from Kerry supporters after the final whistle, but perhaps the decision was not as easy as it first looks.
While it’s clear that it was a foul, looking at the incident again, frame by frame, it appears Gough’s line of vision could be partially blocked by a Dublin player right at the moment of impact.
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In the first frame the ref has a clear view, but in the next two frames, at the point of impact and a millisecond after, his view may have been obscured to a large extent.
It certainly can’t be said that the referee had a clear look at the incident, so maybe the Meath man didn’t give the free because of this uncertainty.
The incident took place in the 74th minute with Kerry trailing by a point. The resulting free would have been taken 40 yards out from goal with Bryan Sheehan ready to take it and level up the match. Of course there is no guarantee Sheehan would have nailed the kick either.
Unfortunately for Kerry, these are the breaks that can swing matches, sometimes they fall for you and sometimes they don’t. That’s football, that’s sport.
I agree that the ref cannot/does not see everything but he does go on the field as part of a team.
All members of that team need to work together and bring him up to speed on what he doesn’t see.
How often do we see the ref approaching his team for clarification? Very seldom.