A strange evening in Drumshanbo

When the producers of RTE's Liveline are ringing the Observer Sports department on a Monday morning, you know that something unusual has happened in the world of Leitrim sport and, in fairness, the instincts of the Montrose producer in enquiring about events in Shane McGettigan Park are spot on!

Heading out to Drumshanbo with Willie Donnellan, all we were expecting was a tough, hard fought derby between two fierce rivals - as you'd expect with any local derby. It was why we headed to Leitrim Gaels Community Field and Corlough the weekend before to take in the meetings of Leitrim Gaels and St Mary's Kiltoghert and Ballinamore Sean O'Heslins and Fenagh St Caillins.

The Allen Gaels Ballinaglera rivalry is a bit different - you have all the ingredients of a town team and a rural club, players from the rural club attending post primary school in the town but  the fact that both clubs successfully combine at underage level and in Ladies football makes  this somewhat unusual although I suppose you can same the same for Aughavas and Carrigallen with St Joseph's, and Mohill, Cloone and Eslin in boys underage football.

We need both the chicken & the egg!

THE LAST POINT

Yet, there is nothing like a derby to get the anticipation going - local rivalries, past history, current form all go into making a meeting of neighbours a particularly potent mix so Drumshanbo was the destination of choice on Saturday, hoping for  an insight into how both teams are shaping up ahead of the championship and maybe a bit of fireworks into the bargain.

Boy, did we get the fireworks but not in a way anybody in their wildest dreams could ever contemplate!

First of all, let's be clear -  I'm not trying to get anyone's back up or generate controversy by writing about this but I'm over 30 years with the Observer and I never witnessed anything like what I saw in Shane McGettigan Park  - Willie Donnellan has been covering club games in the county much longer than that and Saturday's events were a new one to him as well.

First a recap - a slick  Allen Gaels sprayed the ball around in the first half,  Ballinaglera dropping back in numbers but hitting hard, as you'd expect from any team in a derby, and trying to counter on the break. Both teams lost players to injury  but the Gaels looked in command after Shane Beirne's superb goal before an intercepted pass saw Wayne Reynolds roll the ball to an empty net to leave the halftime score at 1-6 to 1-4 at the break.

That's when the real drama started!

Allen Gaels were first back out on the field, met by visiting referee Brendan Healy, the St Faithleach's clubman from Roscommon standing in for Enda Egan who originally was down on the fixture list for the game.  A few minutes passed and no sign of Ballinaglera as the referee blew his whistle several times from the middle of the field to indicate to Ballinaglera to get back out on the field of play.

Now, I've no idea of how long Ballinaglera were in the dressing room - I timed the first half, reset the watch and like I suspect most people in Shane McGettigan Park, turned to my phone to check out how the Monaghan and Armagh clash in Croke Park was going. I've honestly no idea if the halftime break was ten minutes or 20 minutes or somewhere in between but once the Gaels were out on the field and the referee started blowing on the whistle, you start to take notice.

We all grumble about teams staying too long  in the dressing room - it is a great tactic if it is pouring rain and the opposition are out there enduring it while you are warm and dry - but it is one of those quirks of the GAA we all accept as part and parcel of a game. Indeed, how many times do you see a match official wait for one straggler to get into position with both teams lined up and ready to go for the start of the second half?

Jokes about throwing the ball up without Ballinaglera on the field began,  a few supporters began to shout “throw it up” but you don't expect that to actually happen even if you think it is a good idea. The Ballinaglera designated sideline official sprinted up the ramp with flag in his hands and into the dressing room, emerging to shout to the referee that Ballinaglera were on their way.

Do we really know what we want?

THE LAST POINT

Only thing was they didn't immediately come out - time passed and referee Healy obviously lost patience, the whistle sounding, the ball going up in the air before proceeding on its way to Brian Mulvey to plant in the net despite a desperate attempt from the Ballinaglera umpire at the town end of the pitch to stop the shot.

There is a video on social media of the start of the second half. The referee, with his back to the dressing rooms, throws the ball up just as the first Ballinaglera player emerges from the dressing room complex, myself perched up above them watching incredulously on what was transpiring.

It didn't take long for  furious Ballinaglera players to sprint down the ramp and across the field to confront the referee where they were soon joined by members of their management team pointing to the clock on the scoreboard that showed the time at 19.48.

The goal came after just ten seconds, maybe less, but the game ended probably no more than two minutes after that, Ballinaglera's protests, a few skirmishes between players, the referee getting it full blast and a few unsavoury incidents that continued after the official abandoned the game and Ballinaglera were back in their dressing room.

Questions abound - what would have happened had the shot been saved by the umpire? What is the rule in the official guide about starting a half? What time exactly had elapsed between the end of the first half and the controversial start of the second?

The reaction on social media has been incredible and in online forums, talk has veered from backing to blasting the referee but what struck me most after the game was the utter bewilderment of both sets of fans - neither side was happy but there wasn't the roaring anger you'd normally expect from a contentious refereeing decision. The  desire to see the good relations between the clubs maintained was paramount but there was, it has to be said, wry amusement as well  and that's understandable too.

You wonder could it have been avoided - could the ref have waited for Ballinaglera to come out and include it in his report, a fine for not being out on the field on time? Could Ballinaglera not have come out sooner? Could Allen Gaels not have scored the goal or refused to start? Sounds fine in theory but I'm not sure many teams would have done anything differently.

I had thought of doing a forensic examination of the rules and regulations  covering last Saturday's rumpus but there is a good chance the decision has already been made by the Leitrim CCC at this point and while we can ruminate over the rulebook, it all comes down to  the referee's report. 

Harnessing the underdog mentality

There could yet  be disciplinary issues over the reaction of players and management to the referee's decision and while that may sting, lets be clear, no referee deserves to be abused no matter  the rights or wrongs of their  decisions.

Honestly, there are no winners here and I'd much rather be writing about last weekend's All-Ireland Senior Quarter-Finals, Monaghan's curious annoyance at a lack of respect they say they are not getting, the Dubs and the Kingdom turning up the heat or Derry's wayward shooting that left them vulnerable to an outclassed Cork.

Dean Clancy qualifying for the Olympics is worth a column or two, a marvellous achievement for a young fighter who might be a Sligo man but owes much to his Leitrim links and Sean McDermott Boxing Club in Manorhamilton - congratulations to all involved by the way, a truly amazing achievement.

I might even be persuaded to pen a few words on the curious rumpus at Lords in the Ashes cricket where no rules were broken in Australia catching out England's Jonny Bairstow with a play that is well within the rules but somehow outside the nebulous “spirit of the game” - you'd get loads of columns on the subject of hypocrisy and partisanship from the English media but I'm not sure if cricket would make it onto the list of must read columns of many Leitrim people!

So all I'll say is that I've never seen anything like it, it definitely was a strange day in Drumshanbo but maybe, after so long  in this job, that's not a bad thing either!