Sunday afternoon saw the Cats robbed of redemption.
Cork beat Kilkenny in the senior final on Sunday to maintain their title as All-Ireland Camogie champs two years running in spectacular fashion at Croke Park.
With just one point in it 60 minutes in, Orla Cotter of the Cork side managed to swing the win by nailing a free to ensure a 0-14 to 0-13 win for the Rebel County.
The game-defining free, however, was taken up controversially – with The Sunday Game panel feeling that the referee was far more lenient on the Cork team than their Leinster rivals.
They felt that a number of decisions went against Kilkenny, including a potential penalty. Fans, too, were very critical of the officials after the game.
Many took to social media after the whistle blew to share their views on a contentious game.
I would challenge anyone to come up with a more inconsistent, clueless, limelight-craving display of refereeing. These are 2 great teams and a potentially thrilling finale was reduced to a stuttering shambles. The free for Cork's last score was ridiculous. #camogie #RTEgaa
— Jas Masterson (@JasMasterson) September 9, 2018
Awful to read through tweets from players and viewers bemoanimg all the frees in the #Camogie. It's time to change the rules and listen to the players. They train too hard to put up with such fussy officiating. It's literally the opposite of what makes hurling great.
— Cormac O'Malley (@cormacpro) September 9, 2018
Had no preference for a winner today but that didn’t feel right. #camogie
— Sinéad O'Carroll (@SineadOCarroll) September 9, 2018
Actual picture of the Camogie Ref and his officials leaving Croke Park today… #Shocking #Camogie #GAA #AllIrelandFinal pic.twitter.com/MBwtdDTmrC
— Conor Brennan (@RealConorB90) September 9, 2018
Will someone in Croke Park please go in and take that whistle off Eamon Cassidy 🤬🤬 #Camogie #Ref
Ruining the game!!!!!— Molly Dunne (@md_camog) September 9, 2018
The situation, of course, brought back memories of déjà vu for Kilkenny, who lost last year’s final following injury-time scores from Gemma O’Connor and Julia White – furthering their ongoing rivalry with Cork.
Eight-time All-Ireland winner with Kilkenny Richie Power also felt strongly about referee Eamon Cassidy’s performance, branding it ‘disgraceful’ while also condemning the timekeeping at the end of the match.
https://twitter.com/power_richie/status/1038830538218504194
https://twitter.com/power_richie/status/1038832952409513985
Power, never one to shy away from social commentary, recently wrote about his wish for the GAA to sample video refereeing.
“I know we’re an amateur organisation but at this stage, we surely have enough refs in the country that they can be the umpires rather than associates of the match referee,” he wrote in a recent piece for RTÉ.
