Cork edged Monaghan in their Ladies Football Senior Championship qualifier at O’Connor Park in Tullamore on Monday.
The sides played out a thrilling game in the Offaly grounds, and eventually it was the Rebels who prevailed largely due to a truly phenomenal second half showing from their all-conquering corner forward Eimear Scally.
The scintillating Scally scored five sumptuous points to tip the scales in Cork’s favour, but what this titanic encounter will be remembered for is Monaghan’s Ciara McAnespie goal with eight minutes of the game remaining – which was confirmed by the Ladies Gaelic Football Association’s new ‘score assistant.’
McAnespie’s shot hit the crossbar and bounced down, and it would have been extremely difficult for the umpires to adjudicate on whether it had actually crossed the line.
The new technology revealed that it had.
The LGFA have now set a precedent, that sets a marker for the men to follow.
Cork’s win now sets them up for a quarter-final with Galway.
Video technology used to rule on goal in @LadiesFootball championship for first time. More on @morningireland sport. Ladies leading way 👏🎥🏐 pic.twitter.com/t3mvXd6QPa
— Darren Frehill (@Darrenfrehill) August 8, 2017
The technology took less than a minute to prove that the ball had crossed the line.
It’s great to see that the technology available to us is finally being used to our advantage, because it really can be the difference between winning and losing.
