There was an intermediate final in Derry a few years back and the referee had already lost any hope of being able to walk off at the end without a steward’s escort.
A few dodgy decisions mixed with unnecessary involvement at other times and shaken well with a one-point game between two clubs who had never won a championship title meant there was blood being sought from the gallery. There was just too much at stake, the pressure was too much and the game was being rocked back and forwards on the unpredictable whims of one man.
Eventually, it overwhelmed the assistant manager of one of the teams. With the game all square and his side being hit on the break after being denied what they thought was a sure-fire free at the other end, opposition players were running loose and fast and in behind. He was roaring and screaming, pointing to the freest man of them all, pleading with someone to get back and pick him up. In the end, he couldn’t contain his energy any longer and decided to seek justice himself. So, whilst he had already edged way in off the line, now he changed his sly demeanour and all-out sprinted on in towards the player and tripped him up from behind and brought an end to the danger.
Naturally, it caused a full-scale physical investigation and, amazingly, at the end of it all, our good friend in black with the whistle in his hand deemed the crime fitting of just a talking to – followed by a bloody hop ball.
Encouraged by the leniency, the same coach on the sideline made his way back across the white lines one more time before the game was out. So, with time nearing its conclusion and the decisions still not to his liking, he took action. Another counter attack, another perilous situation, only one man for the job. Rather than attack the man this time, he had eyes only for the ball and ran in and hit the O’Neill’s one almighty thump with his fist as it was hurtling upfield. The second offence finally drew a red card.
Intervening from the sideline is the darkest of arts to dabble in but, if you’re going to – at least if you’re going to be good at it – you should be trying to do it under the nose of the referee.
In Cavan, some coaches have that process down.
Laragh United lost a home game to Ballinagh on Sunday in the first round of the Cavan football league but it wasn’t through any lack of effort from the sideline.
A seriously intense high press from Ballinagh, in yellow, saw the Laragh backline forced down an inescapable tunnel but, as the ball bobbled out to cross the white line and reward the defending team for good pressure and tough tackling, the boot of a selector was there to keep the thing in play and keep the move going.
Play on. Nothing to see here@LaraghUnitedGAA pic.twitter.com/L4a5Sd6pEo
— Ballinagh GAA Club (@Ballinagh) April 2, 2019
The trick is to be so blatant about it that the ref will have to honestly deliberate on whether that genuinely could’ve happened or not. And, of course, one of the most important elements to it all is to stick your hands in your pockets and stand up straight immediately afterwards as if nothing ever happened.
Ballinagh actually got the ball from the intervention but kicked it away in the open-play panic and Laragh were better off.
Not all heroes wear capes.
Still, the away side came out of the Division One clash with a 3-14 to 2-14 win in the end.
