Brian Gavin: Red card for Galway’s David Burke was wrong and Kilkenny penalty was mystifying

Burke went to hit the Dublin man with his shoulder but mistimed it and the two helmets collided. The sound of that and the ball being passed wouldn’t have helped Burke’s cause and Colm Lyons probably had his mind made up on it before consulting with his linesman.

It seemed like Lyons was taking his time but his body language suggested he had a red card in his mind but I felt he rushed that decision. The margin between connecting shoulder with shoulder was so tight and the challenge was neither reckless nor dangerous.

To be fair to Lyons, he gave great advantage for Dublin’s second goal scored by Donal Burke and he would have to be in the running for one of the provincial final appointments coming up on Sunday week.

Liam Gordon, however, didn’t do himself a great favour awarding Kilkenny a penalty for a foul on Eoin Cody outside the square. It was a mystifying call and it really should have been a simple free-in to Kilkenny. But TJ Reid converted the penalty and the goal was the difference in the end.

Kilkenny actually had a greater shout for a penalty in the first half when Matthew O’Hanlon brought down Martin Keoghan but it wasn’t forthcoming.

Later in the afternoon, Michael Kennedy was the man in the middle for a tough assignment in TUS Gaelic Grounds. The majority of calls he’s got right and he’s a referee going in the right direction, one who doesn’t panic and I think he is going to be around in the long run.

He upset Limerick fans in the first half when Gearóid Hegarty was through on goal but the foul on him was an accidental one, not a deliberate infringement. Dónal Óg Cusack claimed on The Sunday Game that it was a black card offence but he got that completely wrong.

Kyle Hayes was fortunate not to be punished for a swinging hurl in the first half but Kennedy was right not to buy Tom Morrissey’s attempt to get Jack Prendergast in trouble. Kennedy played it cool and made the correct call to move on.

I mentioned Lyons being a live contender for a provincial final but for Munster I believe Thomas Walsh is the best placed to take charge. Munster finals have been so difficult to handle in recent years but Walsh has the temperament for an occasion like that and deserves a crack at it.

On Saturday, I read Enda McEvoy’s column in this newspaper and I found myself agreeing with a lot of what he wrote about the throws and number of steps that players are now being allowed to take in the game.

Is it time to just do away with steps totally and give players three seconds to run with the ball in hand? It might go some way towards alleviating what is a real issue in the game. Players are taking more and more chances that referees aren’t going to whistle them for it and in championship hurling few officials want to be seen as nitpickers even though they are the rules.

Unfortunately we had another ghost goal in Friday’s U20 Munster hurling final. Cork were on the receiving end of it this time and it’s hard to believe neither of the two umpires saw that the ball had hit the top of the net.

I’ve called for video technology to be used in live televised games so that for the sake of 20 seconds a referee can be informed that an error had been made. Restrict them to red card incidents and goals if you want but it should come in.

Can you have any sympathy for counties who suffer like this if they’re not prepared to bring forward a motion to Congress? After the 65 that wasn’t in 2019, Limerick, to be fair to them, did call for video technology. This is going to be a talking point again in this championship and future ones if we’re not prepared to do what is right for the game and use the technology that is already there. That is replays and slow motion. Give the referee the benefit of what we have as viewers at home.

We were able to bring in HawkEye but for some reason the GAA has refrained from doing it for goals and sendings off. It really should be a pressing matter for Cork now having felt the sting of that call.

Later in that game, a Cork player was pulled to the ground and there were shouts for a black card when it’s not active in the U20 grade. There were cries on social media about it but people simply don’t know the rules. I wouldn’t blame them completely. Not enough is being done to stress what does and what doesn’t apply in the under-age grades.