Corkery accuses White of 'disrespect'

Cork captain Colin Corkery has accused All-Ireland semi-final match referee Brian White of showing him "total and utter disrespect".

Corkery was sent off in Sunday's traumatic, 15-point defeat by Munster rivals Kerry after receiving two yellow cards.

Throughout the match, he had engaged in repeated remonstrations with Wexford referee White, in protest at the decisions going against his team.

It was a terribly frustrating afternoon for the top scorer in this year's championship who ultimately received his marching orders for a second yellow card after kicking the ball at White in the 60th minute.

Corkery's clash with Kerry full back Séamus Moynihan was seen in advance as one of the decisive factors in the match.

In the event, Corkery received poor service and saw Moynihan come out on top. In the course of the match, the Cork full forward protested a number of the refereeing decisions.

"Well I asked him when he said I fouled Séamus, about 15 minutes into the game, I asked him to go to the umpires and have a chat with them. He said he would.

"I asked him repeatedly to do so but he didn't. I felt that was really disrespectful. Some of those decisions were out of this world, but no matter what he did we would have lost. I accept that, but I'm accountable if I do anything wrong. Are referees accountable?

"This matter has to be looked at. We train 12 months a year. I've two kids at home and I thought how little I'd seen them in that time. He promised me he'd do something about it and showed total and utter disrespect. It was one of the worst things I'd seen in a long time."

Corkery was at pains to point out that he didn't blame the referee - "I think he's a good referee, one of the top two in my opinion" - for the outcome.

"We didn't play well and we didn't get the breaks. The performance came out of the blue. We couldn't blame the referee for the result because Kerry were awesome. But I'm the captain of the team and if I can't ask questions, who can?

"Then when I reminded him after he said that he would talk to the umpires - and if they saw nothing, fair enough - he said nothing, took the ball off me and penalised me 10 yards."

He denied that he had become distracted by the ongoing feud to the detriment of the team.

"I never leave things like that get to me, but this was so disrespectful. There was nothing else to it. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Things went against us, not just the referee, the breaks of the ball. Our passing was off and we were giving it away."

Omitted from the panel when Cork last reached the All-Ireland stages, Corkery has overcome ill health to return to the county scene in the past three years.

In the aftermath of what was a hugely disappointing conclusion to such a promising season, he said that he wouldn't be jumping to any rash decisions about his future.

"These things happen. You have good and bad days. Yesterday (Sunday) was a bad day. There'll be no rushed decisions. I'll just get back to the club and try and win some more silverware there."

Nonetheless, Corkery may find himself in hot water with the Games Administration Committee, which will be taking a close look at the match video.

Corkery was involved in a number of incidents for which he wasn't shown yellow cards. Mostly these involved haranguing the referee, but at one stage he kicked the ball at a Kerry player.

But there will be others with a more urgent interest in the GAC's dealings. Kerry's Tomás Ó Sé was seen hitting an opponent during the course of one of the brawls that developed in the second half.

The GAC aren't scheduled to meet this week, but given the urgency of sorting out the situation in advance of the All-Ireland final, a meeting may be convened.

Ó Sé would be unlikely to get more than four weeks for the offence, which would leave him free to play in the final.

He was sent off in last year's All-Ireland quarter-final against Dublin, but the four-week suspension earned on that occasion was for dangerous play, rather than for striking. Committing the same offence within a two-year period incurs a doubling of suspension.

It is actually due to a recent decision that Ó Sé's case can be reviewed at all as he was shown a yellow card by the match referee.

Previous practice was that once the match referee had taken action, no further review was possible. That was reversed by Central Council earlier this month.

Meanwhile, both Dublin and Armagh may wait until Thursday to announce their teams for the second All-Ireland semi-final next Sunday.

There remains an outside chance that the sides could be released this evening, but, whereas Armagh have no injury problems, Dublin have two.

The players whose fitness is concerning Dublin's manager Tommy Lyons are Dessie Farrell and Colin Moran.

Farrell injured his shoulder in an incident involving Donegal full back Eamonn Doherty in the replayed quarter-final last Saturday week and Moran suffered a dead leg in the same match.

Both are expected to be available, but a decision may be deferred until later in the week.