Wexford's Katriona Parrock dejected at the final whistle last Saturday in Nowlan Park Donall Farmer / INPHO
Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO
WEXFORD MANAGER COLM McGee has insisted that there are legitimate grounds behind the appeal of last weekend’s All-Ireland senior camogie semi-final defeat to Galway.
McGee, his backroom team and players have been informed that their case will be heard at a forthcoming hearing, after the Model County fell to an agonising one-point defeat against Galway.
Wexford are appealing on two grounds – the amount of injury-time played at the end of the game and video evidence suggesting that a Kate Kelly 45 was incorrectly ruled wide.
And McGee confirmed: “Our objection is gone past the first hurdle, it’s going to a hearing now.
“We don’t have a time for that just yet, but it is going to a hearing.
First Step
“It’s a positive first step and there must be some merit in our argument being lodged. At times this week, you’d be asking did we do the right thing but the only thing we go back to is our gut.
“After the match, people in the ground, Galway people and sporting people, said it was not right.
“We don’t care about the winning and losing, we just felt deprived of the right to get that extra time, that chance to see could we do enough to get to an All-Ireland.”
Galway scored their winning point deep, a Niamh McGrath 45, deep in stoppage time and over two minutes past the additional four allocated by referee Cathal Egan.
McGee explained: “A minimum of four minutes is what the referee signalled.
“The word ‘minimum’ is said for a reason. If anything happened to merit additional time, that of course applies but we studied the footage and there was no injury or anything in that four minutes that justified the addition of another two and a half minutes.
Draw
“The game was still a draw at 63 minutes and 33 seconds and there were two clear opportunities where the ref could have called a halt and there wouldn’t have been a word about it.
“Everybody would have accepted that as a fair outcome but Galway scored their winner at 66 minutes and 35 seconds.”
Galway players celebrating their win over Wexford Donall Farmer / INPHO
Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO
That left Wexford with no time to respond and McGee added: “It’s hard to accept. If you look back at last Sunday, and to put this into context, in the Tipp and Galway All-Ireland semi-final, Barry Kelly notified three extra minutes.
“Nothing happened in those three minutes and he blew the game up ten seconds later.
Angry
“We’re fairly angry about it but it’s not about Galway. It’s just that we didn’t get the opportunity to play on in that game.
“Kate Kelly had that effort in the first half and if you look at the video, and Kate is a legend in the game, an unbelievable leader, her reaction after that score tells me that it was definitely a point.
Kate Kelly in action for Wexford against Galway's Shauna Healy Donall Farmer / INPHO
Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO
“Initially the two umpires seemed to agree but for whatever reason, the referee overruled that.
“Ursula Jacob was inside in the square too and between her and Kate, they’re not the types to say it’s a point when it’s not.”
Sour Grapes
McGee continued: “I don’t want this to come across as sour grapes.
“If Galway beat us in the allotted injury-time, I’d shake their hands and say well done but Galway people were apologetic.
“Players are held accountable to the highest standards in the game, scrutinised over and over again in the media but referees need to be as well.
Wexford's Louise O'Leary dejected at the final whistle of the Galway game Donall Farmer / INPHO
Donall Farmer / INPHO / INPHO
“We went away from that game talking about the referee. Maybe we won’t see Kate Kelly or Mary Leacy on a hurling field again and if that’s the way their intercounty careers are left, it’s a huge disappointment.
“In the quarter-final, we played Dublin and the main talking point that day too was the referee.
Referee Rant
“We don’t want this to come across as a referee rant because we have two specific objections.
“The easiest thing would have been to walk away and say nothing but until someone stands up and starts talking about the real issues, it’s going to turn players from the game.”
'We’re fairly angry about it but it’s not about Galway' - Wexford explain reason for camogie appeal
WEXFORD MANAGER COLM McGee has insisted that there are legitimate grounds behind the appeal of last weekend’s All-Ireland senior camogie semi-final defeat to Galway.
McGee, his backroom team and players have been informed that their case will be heard at a forthcoming hearing, after the Model County fell to an agonising one-point defeat against Galway.
Wexford are appealing on two grounds – the amount of injury-time played at the end of the game and video evidence suggesting that a Kate Kelly 45 was incorrectly ruled wide.
And McGee confirmed: “Our objection is gone past the first hurdle, it’s going to a hearing now.
“We don’t have a time for that just yet, but it is going to a hearing.
First Step
“It’s a positive first step and there must be some merit in our argument being lodged. At times this week, you’d be asking did we do the right thing but the only thing we go back to is our gut.
“After the match, people in the ground, Galway people and sporting people, said it was not right.
“We don’t care about the winning and losing, we just felt deprived of the right to get that extra time, that chance to see could we do enough to get to an All-Ireland.”
Galway scored their winning point deep, a Niamh McGrath 45, deep in stoppage time and over two minutes past the additional four allocated by referee Cathal Egan.
McGee explained: “A minimum of four minutes is what the referee signalled.
“The word ‘minimum’ is said for a reason. If anything happened to merit additional time, that of course applies but we studied the footage and there was no injury or anything in that four minutes that justified the addition of another two and a half minutes.
Draw
“The game was still a draw at 63 minutes and 33 seconds and there were two clear opportunities where the ref could have called a halt and there wouldn’t have been a word about it.
“Everybody would have accepted that as a fair outcome but Galway scored their winner at 66 minutes and 35 seconds.”
That left Wexford with no time to respond and McGee added: “It’s hard to accept. If you look back at last Sunday, and to put this into context, in the Tipp and Galway All-Ireland semi-final, Barry Kelly notified three extra minutes.
“Nothing happened in those three minutes and he blew the game up ten seconds later.
Angry
“We’re fairly angry about it but it’s not about Galway. It’s just that we didn’t get the opportunity to play on in that game.
“Kate Kelly had that effort in the first half and if you look at the video, and Kate is a legend in the game, an unbelievable leader, her reaction after that score tells me that it was definitely a point.
“Initially the two umpires seemed to agree but for whatever reason, the referee overruled that.
“Ursula Jacob was inside in the square too and between her and Kate, they’re not the types to say it’s a point when it’s not.”
Sour Grapes
McGee continued: “I don’t want this to come across as sour grapes.
“If Galway beat us in the allotted injury-time, I’d shake their hands and say well done but Galway people were apologetic.
“Players are held accountable to the highest standards in the game, scrutinised over and over again in the media but referees need to be as well.
“We went away from that game talking about the referee. Maybe we won’t see Kate Kelly or Mary Leacy on a hurling field again and if that’s the way their intercounty careers are left, it’s a huge disappointment.
“In the quarter-final, we played Dublin and the main talking point that day too was the referee.
Referee Rant
“We don’t want this to come across as a referee rant because we have two specific objections.
“The easiest thing would have been to walk away and say nothing but until someone stands up and starts talking about the real issues, it’s going to turn players from the game.”
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