26/07/10

All Ireland Hurling Quarter Final: Tipperary 3-17  -  Galway 3-16

This weekend saw one of the best games of hurling being played in Croke Park for a long while. Tipperary, last year’s Hurling All Ireland losing finalists, took on Galway, the team who lost this year’s Leinster final. Funnily enough both lost to Kilkenny in their respective finals.

Both teams have faced adversity and disappointment this season. Many predicted Galway would struggle to pick themselves up after losing by a seven point margin to the cats while Tipp were given an unmerciful 3-15 to 0-14 beating at the hands of Cork earlier on in the year. The game yesterday had it all: drama excitement and tension.

During the recent world cup, England’s footballers were regularly criticized for having an abundance of skill but not the desire or motivation to apply it. This could not be levelled at either team in Croke Park yesterday. Blood sweat and tears were shed in the hope of moving one step closer to that elusive All Ireland title. Tipp generally had the better of the play but could not pull away from the Tribesmen. To their credit Galway generally held on and played on the break, creating chances for their forward line by Portumna club man Joe Canning. The young man is increasingly looking like the finished article and he capped his afternoon with a well taken penalty in the second half.

We should have probably expected that the winning point would come in the dying moments of the game. Both teams really deserved a win. It was a fantastic day for supporters and neutrals alike.

It must have been a bittersweet evening for Galway manager John McIntyre. The Tipperary native felt deep sadness at having his side lose after putting in such a heroic shift but he may have found some solace that his own countymen march onto the Semi Final. The reward for Tipp is a mouth watering tie against Munster champions Waterford.

So after seventy minutes of exhilarating hurling, six goals and thirty three points we had a winner. I wonder how many people in Croker, and at home, would have secretly wished the game went into extra time just so we would witness more of the scintillating hurling that was on offer. In sport there is always a winner and a loser but Galway really can feel that they did themselves justice and can hold their heads up high.

The other semi final is Cork versus Kilkenny. The rest of the summer promises to be a very interesting affair for all hurling fans.

Until next time.

*Timing Ireland operates and maintains the video wall at Croke Park. You can also find us at www.timingireland.ie and on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn*

13/07/10

Leinster final: Meath 1-12 – Louth 1-10

Another Leinster final finished, another day of high drama and tension. Timing Ireland were at Croke Park to operate the video wall and we sure had a great match to watch. Trying to mix feeds from TV companies with the action on the pitch is hard enough without the controversy created by referee Martin Sludden and his umpires down the canal end making matters more difficult.

Overall Louth deserved the win. It was their first final in over 50 years so anticipation levels were high in the Wee County. They really did put it up to the Royals overcoming a three point deficit at half time to lead by a point going into the closing stages. When a high ball was floated into the box with only seconds remaining everyone knew there was more drama yet to happen. I doubt many would have predicted what happened next though with a frenetic goal mouth scramble which resulted in Meath forward Joe Sheridan bundling the ball over the line. Even from our position at the opposite end of the stadium we could see that the goal should not have stood.

The best part of sport is the unknown human element. A defender slips allowing a forward a clear route to goal or a midfielder executes an amazing cross field pass. We all watch sport for the excitement it gives us and for the possibility of seeing something we haven’t seen in years (or 53 years for Louth fans to be exact). What we can’t really accept is a blatant error from the referees. On the one hand I feel sorry for Mr. Sludden. Unlike in soccer, referees do not get paid for their services so only do it for a pure love of the game, something which we all have to admire but seriously how did he miss Joe Sheridan rolling over the line. The referee seemed unwilling to even consult his umpire until berated by Louth players and even then it wasn’t more than a two sentence conversation. A question that must be raised from this game and indeed from the soccer World Cup is whether a greater amount of technology should be introduced to remove the human element of refereeing so that games will become fairer. Should goal line technology be introduced to Gaelic to help referees make better decisions? Maybe not but there has to be an examination of whether the current set up is beneficial to all parties.

Finally the treatment of the referee by some small sections of Louth supporters was unacceptable. Everyone gets annoyed when their team loses at the hands of a referee’s mistake but violence towards officials cannot be tolerated at any level. Unfortunately the end of the match marred an otherwise excellent day. We will be back soon enough to operate the video wall at Croke Park. Meath march on to the next round while Louth go into the qualifiers.

Until next time.

*Timing Ireland operates and maintains the video wall at Croke Park. You can also find us at www.timingireland.ie and on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn*

This weekend saw Louth take on Westmeath in the Leinster semi-final. Neither team can be called successful: Louth competed to be in their first Leinster final for fifty years while Westmeath have won only one Leinster title in over 100 years. Although neither team are world beaters the contest had the potential to excite the imagination.

Before a ball was kicked in anger, there was controversy attached to the game. Some supporters were unhappy with a 5:50 pm throw in. It is unusual for championship matches to kick off so late and supporters expressed dismay at getting back to Mullingar or Drogheda around 10 o’clock on a Sunday night. The prospect of bringing tired kids back from Croke Park that late did little to build enthusiasm for either sets of travelling supporters. The match was played so late in order to accommodate the wishes of tv executives who wanted to show the Sligo/Galway match and then the Meath/Dublin one beforehand.

Unfortunately the game turned out to a bit of a damp squib after the goal fest of the Meath/Dublin. It was played at a relatively slow pace for a game of such importance. On RTÉ2 both Joe Brolly and Pat Spillane vented their frustration at the quality of the game. The two writers of this blog hail from Louth and Westmeath so there was a certain element of bragging rights being up for grabs. Unfortunately Louth won and so the man from the wee county can walk tall whenever he sees the lake county man.

Until next time sports fans.

*Timing Ireland provide the maintenance service for the video wall at Croke Park. Visit us at www.timingireland.ie for more information on our products and services*