27 August 1998 Edition
Sportsview; The ref's asleep as the West's awake
The main talking point of the two GAA semi-finals held at the weekend was undoubtedly the blowing up early by the referee (he admitted in his match report that he ``erred in terminating the game'') of the Clare vs Offaly hurling decider. A nightmare scenario for all concerned.
Outraged Offaly supporters streamed onto the pitch as the referee finished the encounter two minutes before time, leaving roughily three to four minutes left to play, including injury time. The decision took everyone by surprise, and Offaly fans felt numb as their team was in the middle of a comeback after trailing the Claremen for much of the game.
They were ten points behind at one stage but had narrowed the gap to three points when the whistle was blown. Cue for pandemonium and the Faithful County fans flowed onto the Croke Park pitch to show their anger at the decision.
Justice was done however by the Games Administration Committee who met on Sunday to discuss the matter. They released a statement refixing the game for Semple Stadium next Saturday at 3.30pm.
On the Sunday the Tribesmen of Galway made it through to the All-Ireland Football Final for the first time since the infamous 1983 final against Dublin. It is the third year in a row a Connacht side has qualified for the final, all without success.
Galway blazed away emphatically from the start, scoring four points without reply from the Derry men. Derry were poor at all levels, failing to inspire any sort of credible response to Galway's forays into their half. A particular trait to Sunday's peformance by Galway was their excellent marksmanship up front, an improvement from their 20-odd wides in the Connacht Final in July. As for Brian Mullin's Derry they just failed to play and big questions now occupy the minds of their older players. Is this the end of their inter-county careers?
Galway owe much to the influence of much travelled Mayo man John O'Mahoney, an inspiration to this young Galway team. In recent years the Ulster counties have triumphed in the all-Ireland series, but now Connacht's day looks to have come. The competitive nature and evenness of the Ulster championship obviously helped them in later matches against other opposition in the semis and finals. Connacht football looks to have blossomed with a real competitive nature coming to the game in the Western province, so long the butt of jokes and dismissed every year in the championship.
Mayo, Roscommom or Sligo could have come out of the province this year. With Mayo reaching all-Ireland finals in recent years Galway now look like serious title contenders.
Celtic
Celtic seem to have found a new star, and they didn't even have to spend a penny. Mark Burchill saved Celtic's blushes against Dundee Utd last Saturday after coming on for Brattbakk. Following on from the disastrous defeats by Aberdeen and Airdrie the Celts were lucky to claim the points against Dundee Utd with two late goals.
On another point, a big thumbs down to the pair of clowns who were thrown out of Parkhead on Saturday for shouting IRA slogans during the minute's silence for the Omagh dead. Their `republicanism' and contribution to the struggle probably consists of drinking and singing rebel songs in bars for Ireland.
BY CIARAN HEAPHEY
Outraged Offaly supporters streamed onto the pitch as the referee finished the encounter two minutes before time, leaving roughily three to four minutes left to play, including injury time. The decision took everyone by surprise, and Offaly fans felt numb as their team was in the middle of a comeback after trailing the Claremen for much of the game.
They were ten points behind at one stage but had narrowed the gap to three points when the whistle was blown. Cue for pandemonium and the Faithful County fans flowed onto the Croke Park pitch to show their anger at the decision.
Justice was done however by the Games Administration Committee who met on Sunday to discuss the matter. They released a statement refixing the game for Semple Stadium next Saturday at 3.30pm.
On the Sunday the Tribesmen of Galway made it through to the All-Ireland Football Final for the first time since the infamous 1983 final against Dublin. It is the third year in a row a Connacht side has qualified for the final, all without success.
Galway blazed away emphatically from the start, scoring four points without reply from the Derry men. Derry were poor at all levels, failing to inspire any sort of credible response to Galway's forays into their half. A particular trait to Sunday's peformance by Galway was their excellent marksmanship up front, an improvement from their 20-odd wides in the Connacht Final in July. As for Brian Mullin's Derry they just failed to play and big questions now occupy the minds of their older players. Is this the end of their inter-county careers?
Galway owe much to the influence of much travelled Mayo man John O'Mahoney, an inspiration to this young Galway team. In recent years the Ulster counties have triumphed in the all-Ireland series, but now Connacht's day looks to have come. The competitive nature and evenness of the Ulster championship obviously helped them in later matches against other opposition in the semis and finals. Connacht football looks to have blossomed with a real competitive nature coming to the game in the Western province, so long the butt of jokes and dismissed every year in the championship.
Mayo, Roscommom or Sligo could have come out of the province this year. With Mayo reaching all-Ireland finals in recent years Galway now look like serious title contenders.
Celtic
Celtic seem to have found a new star, and they didn't even have to spend a penny. Mark Burchill saved Celtic's blushes against Dundee Utd last Saturday after coming on for Brattbakk. Following on from the disastrous defeats by Aberdeen and Airdrie the Celts were lucky to claim the points against Dundee Utd with two late goals.
On another point, a big thumbs down to the pair of clowns who were thrown out of Parkhead on Saturday for shouting IRA slogans during the minute's silence for the Omagh dead. Their `republicanism' and contribution to the struggle probably consists of drinking and singing rebel songs in bars for Ireland.
BY CIARAN HEAPHEY