Andy McEntee responds with a laugh.
“100% correct,” he says, when asked if the saga he and Robbie Brennan went through in 2005 was similar to what Watty Grahams Glen and Kilmacud Crokes are going through now.
McEntee and Brennan won a county senior title that year, as St Peter’s Dunboyne team-mates, but the cup was only lifted after a similar, albeit smaller-scale of a controversy.
In some ways, as far as Robbie Brennan’s concerned, the shoe is on the other foot this time around.
Back then he was part of a team that appealed a rule-breach, with the aim of getting a result over-turned. This time, as Kilmacud Crokes manager, he’ll surely be hoping the result stays as is.
McEntee takes up the story from the Meath semi-final between St Peter’s Dunboyne and Navan O’Mahonys in 2005.
“100% correct. Robbie was playing that day,” McEntee tells SportsJOE.
“Well, for a short while, he was sent off in the first 10 minutes of the game. It ended up in a draw, and Navan O’Mahonys brought on too many subs in extra time.
“Now what I’m led to believe is that Navan O’Mahonys were informed at the time that they already made three subs, and they continued to make the fourth.
“But the outcome and the procedure afterwards,” continued McEntee, “was following a very similar line to what we’re seeing now, for Glen and Kilmacud.”
McEntee disagreed with it then, and he disagrees with it now too. He thinks it’s wrong that the onus is being put on clubs, rather than the association itself, to make appeals and offers and so forth.
“Governing bodies are there to govern and make sure that the rules are carried out.
“But it was up to us and likewise with the Meath-Louth famous one, it was up to Meath to offer a replay at the time.
“I disagreed with that too.
“Because the truth of the matter is that if the Leinster council turned around and said ‘we’re replaying this game,’ I’ve no doubt that Meath would have turned up to play the game.
“Why are you asking teams to govern the sport? That’s not their job.”
The former Meath manager takes us back to that infamous game in 2005 and the days, and the team meetings that followed.
“It’s very clear how I felt about it! I had a very definite view on it, as all my team-mates would have told me at the time.
“My question to everybody was ‘well, why was Robbie Brennan sent off?’ The answer to that was because he broke the rules.
“My question then was ‘what is the rule here?’ The rule here is you can’t bring on extra subs.
“What is the sanction? The sanction is you lose the game. Well, there you go. They’re the rules, you play by the rules.”
“We had a team-meeting about that.
“There were differing views on it. Some guys thought we should have offered a replay. Other lads thought ‘well it’s not up to us to offer a replay.’
“It’s up to the governing body. There were different opinions.
“There were some guys, and I think there’s probably still fellas who think we should have offered a replay.
“I wouldn’t be one of them…We went on and won the final and absolutely (I value that medal as much as the one in won in ’98.)”
The Glen-Kilmacud saga has split opinions in a similar manner and McEntee can see both sides of the argument.
He says the 45 should have been re-taken when Glen asked for it to be re-taken. That would have put a stop to this before it started.
With all this controversy swirling around them, he also feels for the Kilmacud Crokes players, however.
“It’s a difficult situation for both Glen and Kilmacud,” McEntee, the current Antrim senior football manager tells SportsJOE.
“I think it’s unfair to leave it up to the two clubs involved.
“Governing bodies are there and they have to make decisions, but it’s not the first time they’ve abdicated responsibility. That’s what they should be doing.”
“I’m very friendly with Robbie, I played with him for long enough you know. So it is a tough one for those guys to have to deal with too.
“But I genuinely can see both sides of it.
“Glen asked for the 45 to be re-taken because there were 16 players, and it should have been re-taken.
“Chances are the result would be the same, but who’s to say the last shot couldn’t have been passed to somebody if there was one less player there. It’s very complicated.
“It’s ifs and ands. But if the 45 was re-taken that we’d be avoiding all this. So there is culpability on the officials on the day.”
“Realistically, a soccer game won’t start until the sub’s off the pitch, same with soccer, rugby and basketball.
“Having said that, the rule was obviously broken, and the sanctions for the rule are pretty clear.”
