This article is from page 87 of the 2007-12-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 87 JPG
THE speed at which the linesman ran towards the referee at the final whistle demonstrated how much he realised his colleague was in for a tongue lashing. The Waterford of- ficial seemed to frustrate both sides over the hour but it was the con- troversial penalty decision which caused the most anger amongst the Mills players, management and sup- Oda ay
It was a bewildering decision really as it was very difficult to see what in fact the penalty was for. Eventu- ally the referee signalled that it was a foot block much to the annoyance of the Mills following. Several Mills players vented their frustration to the official at the time but he had to be escorted off the field after the game as the players and management sur- rounded him once more in an effort to get an explanation for his deci- sion.
Afterwards, the Mills players stood in a understandably trance-like state near the tunnel where manager Mike O’Brien voiced his frustration to the waiting media and inevitably referee Tommy O’Sullivan was at the top of his list.
“It was unbelieveable really. At half time, we knew we had a problem with the referee and I said it to him. We had been awarded just four frees to 16 for our opponents but he made light of it. The second half wasn’t too bad but the penalty decision was the worst I’ve seen in all my time involved in the game. From where I stood it wasn’t a penalty. I would give him O out of 10 for his perform- ance there today. At the end of the day he won it for Canovee and that shouldn’t be the case.”
It was testament to the Mills’ per- formance that the Canovee players and management all remarked that the East Clare side deserved some-
thing out of the game. That wasn’t much consolation to Mike O’Brien and his players but he did reserve special praise for his players for a superb hour’s football, arguably their best performance of the year.
“We couldn’t have asked for any- more. They really came at us in the first half. They probably settled faster but we got into the run of it and maybe we got a fortunate score with the goal. But we were unfortu- nate for a second one as well. Was it a square ball? maybe yes maybe no. Some days they are given but it was definitely as much of a goal as the penalty was but that’s the way it goes. We are very, very, very proud of what the lads have done this year and I’ll you, I couldn’t say enough in deoDumE-NZOloue
“We said we weren’t coming down to make up the numbers. We knew that we had a good team, we knew we were fit and were well capable to keep of keeping the game going for as long as it took. The defending was excellent and I think only for the penalty we had it. You can never be sure of winning but we thought we had it.”
The post-match confrontation with the referee was certainly a talking point but as the photographers rushed to take photos of the incident, Clare Champion photographer John Kelly appeared to be struck by one of the Mills players. It was a bizarre and unsavoury incident that happened in the heat of the moment but O’Brien was quick to stress that he didn’t ac- tually witness the event.
‘Well I had words with the referee after the game and I voiced my dis- pleasure with him once again. While I was talking to him, I noticed some- thing happening behind me but I didn’t see what happened. I don’t know what happened.”
Afterwards, Mr Kelly lodged an of- ficial complaint with the Gardai after
his camera was also damaged in the incident. When asked if the photog- raphers were too close to the play- ers, the Mills manager conceeded that they had been a bit too close for comfort.
“Well they were stuck in our face to be honest and there was two pho- tographers in my face straight away when I was having words with the ref. | mean you don’t have to come that close to get a photo. Now saying that, nobody deserves a belt of a fist or an assault if that’s what happened. That’s what I’m told happened but I haven’t seen it. Now if it is true, it shouldn’t have happened and I would apologise on behalf of the club if it did happen.”
It was obvious by his lowered head how much this defeat was eat- ing away at the Mills manager and O’Brien saved his final tirade for referee Tommy O’Sullivan whom he felt cost his side the Munster title by awarding the controversial penalty.
“IT don’t know how anyone could see it as a penalty but that’s the way it goes. Its gone now so we can’t do anything about it. We are county champions and we had a good run in Munster but we would have no problem being beaten by 12 point today if we were beaten fairly. Full credit to Canovee, I have no problem with them whatsoever. They played a good sporting game, they are a good team and I wish them all the very best. But as I say the performance of that ref today was an absolute dis- grace and I don’t care if I am pulled before any disciplinary committee, I will stand by what I am saying. I will take whatever punishment is going because that’s how I feel.”