Ciaran Carey and John Meyler reflect on the ending of the Munster final between Limerick and Clare where Liam Gordon did not give The Banner a free.
Limerick legend Ciaran Carey believes that referee Liam Gordon got caught up in the excitement of the final moments of the Munster hurling final.
Treaty supporters rushed onto the field before the game was over, and had to be hushed off by manager John Kiely and the stewards to allow one more puckout.
Clare gathered possession through Tony Kelly, who was bundled over by Peter Casey in what seemed an obvious free for the visitors.
Moments later, defender Adam Hogan got the ball and, though he may have over carried, was also thrown to the ground by a couple of would-be Limerick tacklers.
“It was a very frantic kind of finish and I wouldn’t wish that for any referee because he was in a tough situation,” says Carey.
“(Gordon) was emotionally kidnapped the moment he saw the crowd coming on and it was all Limerick.
“Psychologically, without him realising it, he wasn’t going to disrupt the party and that could have been on his mind.
“The Tony Kelly one, it was a crystal clear as the water is in Ballyheigue that it was a free, so that was pretty obvious.
“Sport is sport, and we saw that with the last few seconds of the Leinster final which I was watching here with my wife.
“She made a comment about feeling very sorry for Henry (Shefflin) and for Clare and all that goes with it, so I had to pleasantly remind her ‘do you remember 1994 when we were five points up with five minutes to go, that’s sport’ so that knocked that on the head.
“But that’s sport, anything can happen on any given day,” he chuckles. “You have to take the good with the bad.
“But if I was Clare… if it is a free, you need to give it.
“There was two frees there and I’d say the referee was kidnapped emotionally by the whole thing.
“Limerick were nearly across the line, it was in the Gaelic Grounds, I’d say that probably played a part in it.”
LIAM MacCARTHY CUP
LEINSTER
- Round 1: April 22: Antrim 1-19 Dublin 1-19, Corrigan Park; Galway 0-24 Wexford 2-12,
Pearse Stadium; Kilkenny 0-29 Westmeath 0-7, UPMC Nowlan Park. - Round 2: April 29: Wexford 1-30 Antrim 1-26, Chadwicks Wexford Park; Dublin 2-23
Westmeath 1-14, Parnell Park; April 30: Kilkenny 0-28 Galway 1-25, UPMC Nowlan Park. - Round 3: May 6: Dublin 1-22 Wexford 0-23, Croke Park; Galway 6-33 Westmeath 0-17,
TEG Cusack Park; May 7: Kilkenny 5-31 Antrim 3-20 Corrigan Park. - Round 4: May 20: Kilkenny 0-27 Dublin 0-21, UPMC Nowlan Park; May 21: Galway 5-29
Antrim 1-22, Pearse Stadium; Westmeath 4-18, Wexford 2-22, Chadwicks Wexford Park. - Round 5: May 28: Wexford 4-23 Kilkenny 5-18, Chadwicks Wexford Park; Dublin 2-22
Galway 1-25, Croke Park; Antrim 4-24 Westmeath 1-19, TEG Cusack Park. - Final: June 11: Kilkenny 4-21 Galway 2-26, Croke Park
MUNSTER
- Round 1: April 23: Limerick 1-18 Waterford 0-19, FBD Semple Stadium; Tipperary 5-22
Clare 3-23, Ennis. - Round 2: April 29: Clare 1-24 Limerick 2-20 TUS Gaelic Grounds; April 30: Cork 0-27
Waterford 0-18, Pairc Ui Chaoimh. - Round 3: May 6: Cork 4-19 Tipperary 2-25, Pairc Ui Chaoimh; May 13: Clare 2-22
Waterford 0-16, FBD Semple Stadium. - Round 4: May 21: Clare 2-22 Cork 3-18, Ennis; Tipperary 0-25 Limerick 0-25, FBD Semple
Stadium. - Round 5: May 28: Limerick 3-25 Cork 1-30, TUS Gaelic Grounds; Waterford 1-24 Tipperary
0-21, FBD Semple Stadium. - Final: June 11: Limerick 1-23 Clare 1-22, TUS Gaelic Grounds
ALL-IRELAND CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Preliminary quarter-finals: June 17: Carlow v Dublin, Netwatch Cullen Park; Offaly v
Tipperary, Glenisk O’Connor Park. - Quarter-finals: June 24: Galway v Offaly/Tipperary; Clare v Carlow/Dublin.
- Semi-finals: July 8: Limerick v quarter-final winners; July 9; Kilkenny v quarter-final
winners. Both in Croke Park. - Final: July 23, Croke Park.
