Kerry boss Jack O’Connor is still none too happy with how his team lost the 2011 All-Ireland final to Dublin, pointing the finger at ref Joe McQuillan.
Everybody knows Kerry don’t like losing. They really don’t like losing All-Ireland finals and when they are lost to Dublin, well, it takes a while to get over.
Christy O’Connor interviews Kerry manager Jack O’Connor in today’s Sunday Times and just as we are all getting geared up for the 2012 Championship, O’Connor is still preoccupied with last year, and the All-Ireland defeat to Dublin.
Dublin, famously, won it via a late Stephen Cluxton free but O’Connor has questions about just how many frees Dublin got that day and the man who awarded them, referee Joe McQuillan
“I have to admit that Dublin deserved it for the way they came back from the hammering we gave them in 2009,” said O’Connor. “Still, we thought the authorities made a mistake by appointing the same referee for five Dublin matches. It was very unusual.
“It’s a massive advantage to have a referee that knows your style and your style of tackling,” he continues. “We thought that his interpretation of our tackling and their tackling was different during the game. We certainly weren’t happy. Referees aren’t that scarce now.”
The Cavan whistler refereed four of Dublin’s Championship games, and their League final loss to Cork, which is a bit strange but surely it just poor planning and not a scheme by HQ to help the Dubs get back to the top of football’s ladder, right?
O’Connor says no more thasn that but ahead of today’s League semi-final with Mayo, it’s clear that the Kingdom are certainly a very motivated team in 2012, which is probably very bad news for everyone else.
The final line of the interview is telling. “At the end of the day it all comes back to one thing. Winning an All-Ireland is the only aim in Kerry,” says O’Connor. They definitely mean business this year.
Still, it will be interesting to see if McQuillan gets another Kerry game after this though, won’t it?
