Square dance must stop and hat tip for Tipp

The square ball rule is going to cause a big problem soon and Tipp’s day is coming.

The unending confusion over the square ball rule

We, like most GAA fans, rejoiced when the square ball rule was tweaked this year. The old rule still applies from sidelines, frees and 45s but in open play a player can go into the square after the ball is played, in contrast to before when they had to enter the square after the ball.

Simples, eh? Well you would think so but we have heard commentators on national television stations calling it wrong and it seems the umpires at the Munster Football final could do with a quick brush up too.

Watch the video below, which shows Nicholas Murphy palming the third goal home for the Rebels. Paul Kerrigan plays the ball in but by the time he does Murphy must be in the square unless he is very, very fast over the Limerick surface. Cork’s two earlier goals also have also been criticised by some as potentially breaking the new rules but none of the TV angles are conclusive.

Ultimately it didn’t matter as Cork romped to a 12-point win but teams like Clare don’t need to have rulings like this go against them and while the ‘goal’ gets little to no coverage in today’s papers, incidents like this have a habit of occurring again.

It is only a matter of time until a goal is awarded, or disallowed incorrectly, in a game that matters more to the general public, or general media. Then the issue of correct implementation of the new square ball rule will be widely discussed. Let’s try and sort it out before it gets that far.

Premier leagues ahead

Another almost unremarked matter from yesterday was Tipp’s win in the Minor football final in the Gaelic Grounds. Tipp won the Minor All-Ireland last year so that is not a shock in any sense but this was their first back-to-back Munster titles since 1935. That’s longer than even Britain have waited for a men's singles winner at Wimbledon, in case you hadn’t heard over the weekend.

It is noteworthy too that it was Kerry they beat in the final. They beat the Kingdom earlier in the year and they beat them in last year’s semi-final before beating Cork in the final. The tide may be turning in Munster and we can’t wait to see it.