O'Byrne Cup: On the second weekend of the GAA calendar the experimental rules of the football task force were again widely criticised. This time the most vocal voice was that of Meath manager Seán Boylan, who felt highly aggrieved by the hand his team were dealt regarding the sin bin.
After trailing for most of the afternoon, Boylan's men looked to have engineered an unassailable position in yesterday's O'Byrne Cup match at St Conleth's Park only for referee Maurice Deegan, who was following the new template designed for match officials, handed the initiative back to Kildare by sin-binning two Meath players for minor indiscretions.
Six successive second-half points from the visitors left them leading by 0-10 to 1-5 but in less than a minute they lost Kevin Reilly and Peadar Byrne.
As with the majority of the other six sin-binning's over the course of the afternoon, the punishment did not merit the crime. With David Crimmins already in the bin, Meath faced a scenario of 12 men against 15.
Remarkably, lone attacker Ollie Murphy cancelled out a John Doyle free within seconds but thereafter, even with the return of Crimmins, it was obvious the numerical imbalance would ultimately spoil an enthralling contest.
When asked for his reaction afterwards Boylan was utterly dismayed: "I'd love to go out and play a game of Gaelic football, that's my first reaction. Kevin Reilly and Peadar Byrne were sent off in the second-half. Kevin never touched yer man. It will show it, you will see it later on telly. Peadar Byrne put his two hands out like that," he motioned, with outstretched arms, "and was sent off. In the old rules it would've been a free (to Meath) for charging. You end up with 12 on your team so what dominates the game? Is it the scores? No, it's the sin bin."
Both teams suffered in this regard. Kildare lost three players, the first being Andrew McLoughlin after 13 minutes, three minutes after Meath's Joe Sheridan. Both walked for over-zealous play. No malicious intent was evident.
Before the break Kildare lost midfielder Willie Heffernan for misbehaving in the air. Still, they led at the turn by 1-4 to 0-4 due to Ross Galvin's goal, after a speculative shot from Morgan O'Sullivan came off the uprights on 15 minutes, but it was the loss of Pádraig Donnelly five minutes into the second period that looked set to kill off Pádraig Nolan's team.
With the extra man, Meath began to flow forward. Nigel Crawford spurned a shot at goal for a point. Stephen Bray added two more delightful scores and by the time Donnelly returned and Crimmins departed Byrne had put them in front.
Niall Kelly kicked another before Deegan dismissed the two Meath men one after the other.
Boylan was exasperated by the decisions made by his peers and former players on the task force.
"Micko (Laois manager Mick O'Dwyer) was complaining himself about it and he is one of the people on the committee. The other people that were on the committee all played themselves whilst their memories aren't that long or that short - they are forgetting what it is like. Gaelic football is a physical contact sport, whether you like it or not."
The match went sour after the double dismissal as a decent looking Kildare side eventually turned the tide with a wonderful goal from Ronan Sweeney.
Doyle and O'Sullivan then appeared to add insurance points but an injury-time goal from Byrne, now back on the field, ensured every one stayed to the finish. And yet, the game will not be remembered for the host of quality scores or even the tender return of Graham Geraghty.
"All I know is congress said there would not be another rule change for 10 years and suddenly we are faced with all of this. I just think you can try it out and so on but think of the confusion it has on the players. That was not a dirty game and how many players were sent off?"
Seven Seán, about five too many.
KILDARE: E Murphy; D Hendy, P Mullarkey, A McLoughlin; E Callaghan (0-1), M Foley (0-1), K Ennis; K Brennan, W Heffernan; D Lyons (0-1), J Doyle (0-5, four frees), M O'Sullivan (0-2); R Glavin (1-0), R Sweeney (1-0), P Donnelly (0-1). Subs: T Archibald for W Heffernan (44 mins), M Wright for D Hendy (51 mins), E Fitzpatrick for P Mullarkey (60 mins).
MEATH: B Murphy; B O'Reilly, K Reilly, S MacGabhainn; C King, D Crimmins, T O'Connor; N Crawford (0-1), A Moyles; P Byrne (1-2), G Geraghty (0-1), N Kelly (0-1); S Bray (0-2), J Sheridan (0-2, one free), O Murphy (0-2, one free). Subs: N McLoughlin for A Moyles (44-46 mins), R Magee for J Sheridan (65 mins), J Cullinane for Moyles (67 mins).
Referee: M Deegan (Laois).
