The GAA Social: Derry victim of wrong ref call late in Kerry loss - McConville
- Published
Stephen O'Brien won a controversial 65th-minute free to end a 17-minute scoreless period for Kerry and then kicked the Kingdom into the lead as they finished strongly to defeat heartbroken Derry in Sunday's All-Ireland Football semi-final
Oisin McConville says Derry were the victim of a "definitively wrong" call by referee Joe McQuillan late in Kerry's All-Ireland Football semi-final comeback victory on Sunday.
Derry led 1-14 to 1-12 on 65 minutes when the referee adjudged that Kerry sub Stephen O'Brien had been fouled.
Sean O'Shea slotted the free and four more straight Kerry points followed as they snatched a 1-17 to 1-15 win.
"It was the wrong decision," McConville told BBC Sounds' The GAA Social Extra.
"We're not here criticising refs. All weekend we got a real indication of how difficult it is to do that job.
"Difficult or not, that's a massive decision in the game and that was probably the one that you could say definitively [was wrong].
"We were arguing in the studio at half-time about different decisions but that was the one that was definitively wrong.
"With the other decisions, there's conjecture there and there's a discussion to be had about them."
O'Brien was attempting to run through the Derry defence in the 65th minute before falling to the turf after seemingly no contact from his nearest opponent Gareth McKinless.
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RTE pundit and former Dublin player Ciaran Whelan described the awarding of the free, which led to the All-Ireland champions' first score in 18 minutes, and another free three minutes later for a tug by Chrissy McKaigue on David Clifford when the Kingdom drew level, as "momentum changers" in a contest where Derry had looked in position to triumph for most of the game.
BBC GAA pundit McConville, however, added that the Oak Leafers should already have put the game to bed by the 65th minute after missing a host of second-half chances.
After producing an astonishingly shooting efficiency rate of over 80% in the first half, Derry's second-period profligacy saw that statistic drop to just over 50% which included missed goal opportunities by McKinless and Niall Toner.
"Their efficiency in the first half was off the charts. I think they had one wide and one into the keeper's hands and the drop in those stats gives you an indication of how many chances Derry did have in the second half," added 2002 Armagh All-Ireland winner and current Wicklow manager McConville.
"Derry had [missed] a lot of fairly simple chances [in addition to the two goal opportunities]. The wrong option was taken at times."
The misses includes wides from Ciaran McFaul and Niall Loughlin when the Oak Leafers led 1-13 to 1-12 and after Shane McGuigan extended their advantage to 1-14 to 1-12 in the 60th minute, Ethan Doherty was off target with a 62nd-minute opportunity as Kerry appeared to be there for the taking.
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"I'd be harsher on Derry for the reason that I felt they looked ready [to reach the All-Ireland Final]," continued McConville.
"They didn't look ready last year [in the All-Ireland semi-final against Galway] and sometimes that has to happen.
"I've been there. I played on a team [Armagh] that had two years of coming up here [to Croke Park], winning Ulster titles [1999 and 2000] and not being able to move that situation on to win an All-Ireland.
"Derry looked as if they were primed. They looked like a team that was ready to take that next step. It just feels as if they had taken the next step and just couldn't see it out."
McConville added that he felt Derry's three successive lost kickouts in the closing stages of the contest, when all three subsequent plays ended with Kerry scores, came after keeper Odhran Lynch felt compelled to go long because "nobody showed [for the ball]".
"He was trying to thread through the eye of a needle at times.
"I think they lost four kickouts in the whole game but those were massive at the end as they lost three of the last five. It's on those small little things that games turn.
"But at the start of the second half, they had enough chances to win the game. They dominated the ball for 15 or 16 minutes of the second half and had nothing to show for it."