Laois All-Ireland Final ref flags American Football rule as he weighs in on Kilmacud controversy
Stradbally man has reffed many big games in Croke Park
Recently retired All-Ireland final ref and Stradbally man Maurice Deegan this morning weighed in on the biggest talking point in GAA at the moment.
That is of course the incident that occurred in last Sunday's All-Ireland club final when at a vital stage of the match, winners Kilmacud had 17 players on the pitch when the final whistle went in the match versus Ulster Champs the Glen.
The incident has been widely covered including a now infamous photo. More below tweet
The Stradbally man, who reffed the 2016 All Ireland final replay between Mayo and Dublin, was on Newstalk's off the ball to discuss one of the most controversial incidents in the GAA in recent times. He began by discussing the officials that were on duty.
"You would have to feel sorry for the referee. It states in the rules that it is Kilmacud's responsibility to ensure that they have 15 men on the field. To be fair it's the referee's and the linesmen's job to control that. It's an unfortunate situation for everyone," he said.
Deegan ran through what the normal process is for substitutes for a game of that magnitude before explaining why the final would have been quite manic and difficult to control when the incident occurred
"Generally in a game like last Sunday, the referee wouldn't have been involved at all really. He would have been told when the substitutes would be coming on and he would stop the game and that's really it. The secretary of either club would give the substitute slips to the fourth official.
"Last Sunday though, there was so much going on, It was in injury time, there were only 2 points in it, The linesman was standing on the 45, and The fourth official would have been getting surrounded left right, and centre by both teams, one getting on about the time, the other trying to get in the subs, It was just a very unfortunate situation. Though someone should have come out after the game and made a decision quicker," he said.
Deegan gave his opinion on what the GAA could do to ensure this never happens again.
"I think the GAA could look at something to what the NFL does. In the NFL, when there is an extra player on the pitch there is a penalty given straight away. Or maybe something where a player entering the pitch has to wait till the replaced player leaves. That's the way it should be really. All these options will have to be looked at to ensure this never happens again," he said.
He concluded by giving a view on what should happen next. READ it BELOW TWEET.
"The fairest outcome is probably a replay, without a doubt. Maybe it's not ideal for either team, but I think everyone will agree that it's the fairest outcome to this," he said.
Derry kingpins Glen submitted an objection after saying that the GAA had informed them the Central Competitions Control Committee would not independently review the incident. The rule governing having more than 15 players on the field [6.44] provides for penalties which include the awarding of the game to the opposing team, for the game to be replayed or a fine.