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03rd Apr 2016

PIC: Umpire in Carlow spotted kicking sliotar into the net during hurling match in blatant case of GAA bias

Conor Heneghan

Don’t worry, it’s not as shocking as it sounds.

Neutral umpires aren’t always available for duty in the world of club GAA and locals have been known to show a slight bit of bias towards their own side if asked to fill in at the last minute.

One of the most blatant cases of bias you’ll ever see occurred in Netwatch Cullen Park (also known as Dr. Cullen Park) in Carlow yesterday during a hurling clash between Laois outfit Graiguecullen and Bagenalstown of Carlow.

During the second half of the game, former Laois footballer Tom ‘Chops’ Scully, a Graiguecullen native who was acting as umpire on the day, was clearly seen helping Michael ‘The Lord’ Lawler bury a high dropping ball into the back of net with the help of a big kick, as can be seen in the quite brilliant photo below.

umpirekick

As you may have suspected from the get-up being worn by both sides, however, this was no ordinary game but a re-enactment of the 1916 county hurling and football finals that were played in Dr. Cullen Park yesterday as part of Carlow’s 1916 commemorations.

Back in 1916, Graiguecullen played hurling in Carlow as Carlow-Graigue and over time they ended up playing hurling and football in Laois, as they still do today.

graiguecullen

We’re told that both games were played in a great spirit and nothing was taken too seriously, including the intervention of ‘Chops’ Scully, a well-respected and honourable gentleman with a great passion for the GAA.

You can check out more photos from what sounded like a memorable event on the Graiguecullen GAA Facebook page.

Cheers to Paul Dargan for sending this our way. If you have something you would like to share with us, send it to our WhatsApp number 087-4001102, [email protected] or hit us up on Facebook or Twitter.

Topics:

Carlow,GAA,Laois