All Ireland Club Hurling Championship 2012-2013

[the veteran]

from d bitter cold of carlow to a likely defeat in tulamore then on to kilkenny where d favourites had become the underdogs {9/4} .next up sars in portlaoise and the 5/1 no hopers onge again prevailed .tomoro d road stops on d sacred turf of croker and kk a true team in all sense of d word has arrived .ive been there every step of d way and ive enjoyed d ride bet of luck tomoro kk ps 9/4 get on

[joe bloggs]

Best of luck to KK. Hope they give it a good lash a come out on top.
It is great to be watching an Offaly team in an All Ireland final. It would be even better to be welcoming home a winning one

[Kevin]

Hard luck K/K.

Russell and Ryan are raging about Sexton.

Will be interested to hear what people say.

[DAF]

First sending off was very harsh a yellow at most.Second yellow card for the second sending off was correct in my opinion.Dan Currams was a big loss.

[joe bloggs]

They gave as good as they got until the first red. If that is a straight red then why was the St, Thomas player who had done the same not sent off. I felt that no6 done his best to do influence the refs decision, and it did not take him long to bounce back up and hit the free once their card was produced.

On Currams he was obviously a major loss as KK struggled to score from open play, and that may have been the difference between winning and losing, but we will never know.

[timber]

Firstly hard luck to KK. And it was hard luck. Fair play to them, a brave display againt all the odds and a bloody brutal display of refereeing from Sexton.

First sending off was ridiculous. Most refs would not have given a yellow.

The second sending off was probably a yellow for timing of the challenge but he shouldnt have got the first yellow. I think all yellows given in the first half were very soft. Bad referee. It was a fairly timid game. No real niggle. Two very commited teams but no nonsense in the game and Sexton made the stats look like a vicious battle.

One thing I did'nt like from Thomas's was that the number 6 and David Burke (who was very poor for his reputation) were pleading with the ref for cards to be issued. Something we dont want to see in the game.

[Toxicity234]

Conrgt's To St. Thomas. They are a great team

Kicormac Killoughey were up aginist today, Losing Dan C was a blow.
But having to beat John Sexton what a F**ker.
The list of abuse that John Sexton has comment again Offaly Grow's.
The man should be ashamed.

[sadtimes2012]

I hope there was an assessor in croke park today . That ref was a total joke . The St Thomas captains speech was very down to earth the bit about Dinny Cahill was surprising seeing that Banagher got rid of him after failing in the county final.Hard luck to kk today we had two great years following offaly hurling all the way to Croke Park .Now Ollie Baker over to you .

[jimbob17]

funny, I thought Sexton was giving KK everything for the 1st 20 minutes. Numerous frees that were harsh on thomases but that was as far as it went. He was shocking for both sides after this and the the 2 sendings off were no more than yellows..... If an assessor looks at that there is no way he should be reffing McCarthy cup this year....he was atrocious. That aside, serious performance from KK and could have snuck a draw if Mahon had got that point near the end with a minute to go. Currams was a loss but the lads really gave their all and can be well proud of themselves especially given the circumstances that went against them.....Thought Ger Healion was outstanding again at full back. Definitely an option for Offaly there!!!!

[joe bloggs]

funny, I thought Sexton was giving KK everything for the 1st 20 minutes. Numerous frees that were harsh on thomases but that was as far as it went. He was shocking for both sides after this and the the 2 sendings off were no more than yellows..... If an assessor looks at that there is no way he should be reffing McCarthy cup this year....he was atrocious. That aside, serious performance from KK and could have snuck a draw if Mahon had got that point near the end with a minute to go. Currams was a loss but the lads really gave their all and can be well proud of themselves especially given the circumstances that went against them.....Thought Ger Healion was outstanding again at full back. Definitely an option for Offaly there!!!!

The second sending off was for a second yellow that in itself was ok, but the earlier yellow given to him was very harsh

[Plain of the Herbs]

In this, the era of referees assessors and visual recordings, it defies belief as to how john Sexton gets appointed to referee matches. Like, anyone can make a mistake betimes, but John Sexton gets so much wrong in every single game he officiates that he just isn’t cut out for refereeing.

I feared the worst when I heard he was appointed, but for 45 minutes he gave most marginal calls K-K’s way, most notably a free out following a side-on challenge by the fat lad of the Burkes as K-K tried desperately to clear their lines.

The linesmen and umpires made up for it during that time though, a line-ball incorrectly awarded to St Thomas’ on the Hogan Stand side in front of the K-K support. K-K should have had a ’65 late in the game too.

On Sexton’s CV are the Offaly v Wexford SHC match in Tullamore last June, the Coolderry v Gort semi-final last year when he got so many calls wrong I was admiring Coolderry’s discipline for not losing the rag with him altogether. And there was the sending off of Brian Whelahan in the 2008 club All-Ireland.

Much of refereeing is a matter of instinct, of knowing instinctively what constitutes what. Stexot’s instructs are evidently lacking on a grand scale and for this reason he shouldn’t be refereeing.

Sexton was wrong to flash a red card at Killian Leonard. That doesn’t hide from the fact that the root of Killian Leonard’s difficulty lay with the ‘Offaly tackle’ which came back to bite K-K with disastrous consequences. In club hurling in Offaly, a significant proportion of fouls are as a result of a ‘slap’ of a hurl on a player carrying the ball in hand. It is illegal, it is a foul and it carries a yellow card with it.

Offaly hurling needs to draw a line in the sand regarding coaching of how to tackle.

Kilmartin’s frontal charge was correctly dealt with by a yellow card. However, a ‘tick’ was the correct punishment for his first offence unless, that is, he already was on a ‘tick’.

K-K’s backs were to the wall once Daniel Currams broke his arm a week ago, yet they might have snatched a draw – Sexton would have given them a free to make a draw of it if there was just a point in it. Classy at St Thomas’ are, they never put K-K away, never threatened to pull away, and could have been caught late in the game. They endured a terrible third quarter and sent a load of ball ‘route 1’ style down on top of the two Healions.

It’s just a few hours after the event, but I think K-K will be back. They will likely win three of the next five Offaly Senior titles, though possibly not 2013 as the long winter takes a toll (the county semi-finals were exactly six months ago today). They are plenty doughty and will generally do well in Leinster. Their biggest handicap would be the possibility of being drawn away to the Wexford champions.

They will likely be angry and bitter at the way events beyond their control turned out today. This contrasts with Coolderry who left their best form behind them last year, which happens and you move on. If K-K can harness their anger, they can return to Croke Park and attempt to make amends.

[ryot]

Think Saints give edged it with a little bit more in attack and Congrats & Well done to them.

Now if Mr Sexton never again refs an Offaly team it would help but his sending - offs were off the wall. OK maybe the first one but not long before there had been a very nasty chop on a K/K wrist ( Slevin ??). So he gave the free but did not even book the culprit so I assume he must already have been on a Card. Sexton chickened out on that one. Then he dumps on Leonard but a hefty shoulder, even if the opponent ended up on his ass, is not a Card and certainly not a Red.

Both Healion's impressed, defended strongly and showed their hurling ability as well, Kilmartin did well as did Conor Mahon & Ciaran Slevin but the full line not just strong enough.

Great day for K/K played brilliantly and just missed. Thanks for a great day.

Hope Daniel makes an early recovery.

[ryot]

Plain of...........

There were in fact 2 wrong line ball calls, the one off the Thomas number 2 boot & the one off lads hand as well as the late 65 when the defender drove the ball over the end line ( but those watching TV: was it already wide and defender just wasting time hitting the ball away ? I was in the Hogan at the oppisate 45 line).

The "slap of the hurley" of but the "Chop" on the wrist earlier was far more dangerous & he just ignored.

Was near a "Cat" at the game &b their respect for Sexton equals ours !!!!

[old yellar]

Firstly hard luck to kk. Fought v hard all the way through. I suppose it comes down to not being sble to get the spread of the scores too as well as the cards. Its great credit to them how the reacted at the final whistle. No surrounding the ref etc and took defeat with class and dignity. A few soccer players could learn a lesson from them. I know the say diving is coming into the gaa but today it was evident in both games. Not good.

[Bord na Mona man]

Unlucky K-K today. The game probably hinged on the harsh call for the first sending off. Although St Thomas' looked that bit more fluid in their hurling, they never looked likely to open a gap of any sort.
As for the ref, everyone can make mistakes but Sexton doesn't mind making himself the centre of attention. The fury in the stadium was palpable when a replay of the red card offence was accidentally replayed on the big screen and it showed that theatrics from Darragh Burke had helped get Leonard sent off.
All that said, and has been mentioned previously, Offaly teams need to learn that swiping towards a player with the ball in his hand is now seen as over the line. You leave yourself open to such calls.

A great year for K-K, even if they didn't clear the final hurdle. They can push on, or keep looking back. Other clubs in Offaly should be encouraged too.