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Hello all new to the site. I was wondering if you could tell me how and who decides where the county adult finals are played and who refs them ? I was at the junior hurling final between Crinkle and edenderry last Saturday evening, I am not from either place but I was amazed at how the final was played in such a small pitch with a very large crowd in attendance. I got chatting to a few supporters and they told me that it was originally fixed for Tullamore but that it was changed because of the senior football final been on sunday they didn't want the pitch getting cut up, but from what ive heard the inter hurling final was on Saturday and the minor football final was on sunday before the senior game. The reason im bringing this up is because I was standing on the sideline and I saw a poor man in his 50s or 60s getting hit extremely hard by an edenderry player who was going for the ball and pushed out over the line by a crinkle player. I think he was later taken to hospital, for me the venue was to small to host a good size crowd and Tullamore would have been a safer venue. Also I read in the paper that the ref was alan ryan but from reading website I think he was Kieran Dooley , Crinkle were deserving winners but I thought the ref was harsh at times on edenderry , crinkles number 2 fouled edenderrys number 15, 7 or 8 times and never got a card. Crinkles free taker was the match winner scoring 11 frees! I now think crinkle go on to play Carlow or Dublin champs. Have to say I think this is a great site , all the information on games etc is excellent, keep up the good work.

Welcome aboard!

I believe it was Kieran Dooley of Drumcullen who refereed the game, and not having attended the match, I obviously wouldn't comment on individual decisions.

Just on the venue, it's a tough line to walk with regard to trying to play plenty of games in OCP, mind the pitch, and still share things around with other clubs that deserve the chance to host games now and again too. Perhaps the crowd was a bit bigger than expected, but that still seems like something of a freak accident that could have happened anywhere to me.

I for one was very surprised that the pitch in Kilurin is only 130m long; the minimum size for a GAA pitch. There is only one 65m line on the pitch and it doubles as the half way line. OCP is about 15m longer.

Bracknagh is a pitch I often wondered about too. Seems very short to me

Lone Shark wrote:Welcome aboard!

I believe it was Kieran Dooley of Drumcullen who refereed the game, and not having attended the match, I obviously wouldn't comment on individual decisions.

Just on the venue, it's a tough line to walk with regard to trying to play plenty of games in OCP, mind the pitch, and still share things around with other clubs that deserve the chance to host games now and again too. Perhaps the crowd was a bit bigger than expected, but that still seems like something of a freak accident that could have happened anywhere to me.

Thanks for the welcome , yes i would agree it could happen at any of the pitches but the crowd were standing close to the line, wouldnt happen in Tullamore because they wouldnt be on pitch. My fear was if it was a child it could have been alot worse. The picth is very short but I have to say as always the surface looked great and credit to grounds man.

Crinkill were deserving winners but I agree, alot of harsh frees went against Edenderry.

The selection of referees should be looked at more closely.

timber wrote:Crinkill were deserving winners but I agree, alot of harsh frees went against Edenderry.

The selection of referees should be looked at more closely.

Would agree , the ref for any final should not be from a club close to a club in the final. As for the pitch , maybe be ok for football but if its 15 m shorter than ocp then it wouldn't suit a hurling team that played their semi final in ocp.

kingscounty wrote:

timber wrote:Crinkill were deserving winners but I agree, alot of harsh frees went against Edenderry.

The selection of referees should be looked at more closely.

Would agree , the ref for any final should not be from a club close to a club in the final. As for the pitch , maybe be ok for football but if its 15 m shorter than ocp then it wouldn't suit a hurling team that played their semi final in ocp.

That would be a tricky one to execute though. Drumcullen doesn't even border Crinkill I'd imagine - you'd have Birr in between. Trying to pick a referee that doesn't live two clubs over from either of the finalists would be impossible to do on a regular basis, unless you gave Ciarán Groome nearly all hurling finals.

Lone Shark wrote:

kingscounty wrote:

timber wrote:Crinkill were deserving winners but I agree, alot of harsh frees went against Edenderry.

The selection of referees should be looked at more closely.

Would agree , the ref for any final should not be from a club close to a club in the final. As for the pitch , maybe be ok for football but if its 15 m shorter than ocp then it wouldn't suit a hurling team that played their semi final in ocp.

That would be a tricky one to execute though. Drumcullen doesn't even border Crinkill I'd imagine - you'd have Birr in between. Trying to pick a referee that doesn't live two clubs over from either of the finalists would be impossible to do on a regular basis, unless you gave Ciarán Groome nearly all hurling finals.

Well it wouldnt have been hard to pick a ref that does live 2 clubs over for this final as Crinkill is about an hour from Edenderry with plenty of clubs between the two places.

It is a very tricky one to execute.

In this particular case the ref would have had far more dealings with one of the team's club members and zero connection or dealings with the other. Maybe he just had a bad day and got some calls wrong. make up your own mind on that one.

What I will say is that I have played in games down through the years where referees living at one end of the county blatantly and I mean blatantly favoured the team that was from the more traditional side of the county. Some people are still quiet old school. And some refs are bitter. It's when you see and hear certain refs on a sideline involved with a team you get a good idea of their personality and you have to wonder how unfortunate you would be to play a game officiated by them.

A trivial example is lets just say a current hurling ref is still talked about in my club for some blatantly wrong decisions he made in a knock out senior championship game a number of years ago. And that had alot to do with where the two teams were from and any neutrals that were there that day say the same. Any time I see that same ref take the field it sickens me to this day. It does happen is what I am saying.

"Any time I see that same ref take the field it sickens me to this day. It does happen is what I am saying."

The Dinger I take it?

Ahlethimoutwithit wrote:"Any time I see that same ref take the field it sickens me to this day. It does happen is what I am saying."

The Dinger I take it?

Ha ha, no not the dinger. He is a decent auld skin.

Tis a matter of opinion Timber!!