http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UY-jxdbxn0
The clash of Davy Fitzgerald’s current team, Clare, with his old team, Waterford, was always going to be spicy. RTE made sure they captured the touchline atmosphere. Warning, contains some swears.
If you have ever been to a GAA match, at any level, you will know that industrial language is part and parcel of the game, rightly or wrongly.
Players, supporters, backroom staff, even referees, get caught up in the intensity of matches and the odd word or two that you wouldn’t utter in front of your granny might slip out.
As far as intense matches go, the meeting of Clare and Waterford yesterday was up there. A Munster hurling championship semi-final, in Semple Stadium, was high stakes enough. Add in the return of former Déise boss Davy Fitzgerald, now in charge of his native Clare, and this was always going to be a cracker.
On the pitch things bubbled but never boiled over and even though Waterford’s John Mullane and Eoin Kelly celebrated their team’s narrow 2-17 to 1-18 win right in front of the Clare bench, we thought that was the beginning and the end of the controversy.
Instead The Sunday Game highlighted another incident. According to the lads on the show a complaint led them to an ‘investigation’ of what Davy Fitz said during the game. The RTE cameras caught the former Clare keeper swearing and then he directed the classic line “I’ve got two All-Irelands and you’ve got f*** all” at an unseen other individual.
Initial speculation was that Fitzgerald directed it at his former player Kelly, while others suggest it was aimed at linesman Barry Kelly for a bad call. Fitzgerald’s comments were factually correct for both, of course. Whether he should have uttered them is another manner but it is a classic GAA put down. We expect t-shirts with the phrase on it are already being printed somewhere.
After the game Fitzgerald had to come out and deny that he had said anything pre-game about Mullane.
“I think John Mullane was told something that was untrue. Listen, I have no problem whatsoever and let me say this 100 per cent on the record – John Mullane is one of the best players I’ve ever seen, and John Mullane has another two or three years in him, big time, if he wants.
“Sometimes people tell players things to get them riled up and to perform in a game. I have a lot of respect for those guys in there .”
We await the result of RTE’s investigation and we wonder will other sideline indiscretions be as exposed as Fitzgerald’s was last night?
Video courtesy of YouTube/Ballsdotie
