A Meath man supporting Kerry, there’s a first.
Allegedly.
Bernard Flynn, the two time All-Ireland winner with Meath, has criticised Mayo’s players in the past, most notably when he took aim at Aidan O’Shea for posing for selfies with supporters after a challenge game with his county earlier in the year.
He riled Mayo supporters once again in the build-up to Sunday’s game when speaking on RTÉ Radio 1, claiming Andy Moran should be used in a substitute capacity by Stephen Rochford.
“For me, Andy Moran should be coming off the bench, as a sub, in the last 20 minutes,” Flynn said.
“I would finish with Andy Moran on the field because in the big games, if you look at it last year, the couple of chances Aidan O’Shea and (Jason) Doherty and the boys had near the end…
“Andy Moran is quite accurate and I would have him in – and I’d start (Conor) Loftus.”
Moran soon gave him an answer with a cool 1-5 from play. In fairness to Flynn, Moran was being hauled off in most games so he wasn’t finishing them so perhaps, before the Kerry game, he had a point.
On Sunday, the Meath man was co-commentating for RTÉ with Marty Morrissey for the All-Ireland semi-final clash, and although there was no emergence of bias in his commentary of the game, some people were pointing to footage shared by RTÉ after Mayo hero Paddy Durcan struck a late leveller.
As Durcan’s equalising point sends the Mayo crowd into raptures, Flynn didn’t exactly look to share in the delight.
He did show great ability to compose himself in an instant and went on to portray excitement at the score.
As neutrals watching a game, we will always hope for one team over another. Something small may change our allegiances, but hope is what makes it exciting for us. As a journalist, if you’ve backed against a side or predicted they would lose or came in for criticism from their fans, who wouldn’t want a little help from the gods?
Just because you’re a commentator doesn’t mean you turn into a robot and lose all your human characteristics.
We can’t blame Flynn for supporting one team over another – if he indeed did – but let’s just marvel at his professionalism to recompose himself so quickly.
WATCH: @MartyM_RTE & @bernardflynn15's commentary as Paddy Durcan scored the equaliser to make the match level in the 74th min. #mayovkerry pic.twitter.com/dTzcJIRXbN
— RTÉ Radio 1 (@RTERadio1) August 20, 2017
Just look at that face.
‘Ah for feck sake.’
Look at his face, just look at his face 😂😂😂 #mayogaa pic.twitter.com/W7vt9adKR4
— Trevor Naughton (@trevornaughton) August 21, 2017
Flynn has defended himself and claimed that wasn’t the case.
Thanks Peter l was actually thrilled Mayo got the equalizer ,if you listen to the commentary you will hear that but banter is good 😂😂😂
— Bernard Flynn (@bernardflynn15) August 21, 2017
We’ll take his word for it.
