Ben O’Connor took issue with a “stop-start” Munster final being refereed like “league hurling”. His Cork side fell one point short against a Limerick team who were overjoyed to regain their Munster title , making it seven in eight years. “Did we commit twice as many frees as the opposition? I’m a Corkman so I’m saying we didn’t,” O’Connor began. “It was back more to refereeing in the league. We’ve got up to here with championship refereeing matches, whereas that was more like league hurling.
“It was very whistle-happy. You can’t be criticising these fellas. “They’re not getting paid. There’s fierce pressure and split-second decisions, but I’m looking through red eyes, and I thought that we were harshly treated on a few of them. “Whatever about their frees, we should have got a few more frees. Is it because we’re not making enough noise over it? “We’re not throwing the hands up and throwing a few shapes? I don’t know. But we might learn yet.” When asked about an exchange
with John Kiely on the sideline, O’Connor stated: “He said during the week that he had fierce respect for referees, and I suppose he does, and that we should all leave them alone. “But he spent a lot of time having a word with them. I suppose if you can get away with it, you can get away with it.” A group of Cork players flocked to James Owens at full-time to complain about the whistle sounding while they were in possession. “They said he
didn’t tell them it was the last puck of the ball. I thought normally a referee just said, ‘This is it, lads, you should go direct’, but they said he didn’t. “When you say they surrounded him, that’s a little bit much. They were walking alongside him. He had his team of officials alongside him, stewards were walking alongside him, there was no one raised their voice. “They just said, ‘Why didn’t you tell us?’ That was the only issue the boys had.” When informed
that William O’Donoghue had heard it was last puck, O’Connor replied: “It was great that he was told, but we weren’t told when we got the free. “It was brilliant that they told him. Fair play to whoever told him.” O’Connor believed there was an imbalance between two minutes of first-half stoppage time, when Cork had the wind, against five in the second half, saying: “I thought it was kind of the same for both halves”. He also felt that Seán O’Donoghue picked up a
“soft yellow card”, which forced his substitution early in the second half, despite holding Aaron Gillane scoreless. Cork advance to a quarter-final against Offaly , although O’Connor isn’t happy that fixture plans weren’t set out in advance. “It’s great that the GAA couldn’t tell us where the fixture is on in two weeks’ time. ” Click here to sign up to our sport newsletter, bringing you the top stories and biggest headlines from Ireland and beyond .
Ben O'Connor, Cork, Limerick, Munster final, refereeing, James Owens, John Kiely, Seán O’Donoghue, William O’Donoghue, Aaron Gillane, Offaly, quarter-final