Oh for the love of GAA rules.
Moorefield went to some depths to win that Kildare senior county football final last weekend. They trawled deep into their reserves of will and hunger, playing with only 13 men for 40 minutes against Celbridge in the decider.
Somehow, despite the numerical hindrance, they ground it out to win by two and raise their first Dermot Bourke cup since 2014.
Their two culprits, red card recipients Daryl Flynn and David White, the captain and vice-captain of the side, will wish that they never put their hands on the trophy, as a result of what has to be the most ridiculous of the long list of ridiculous GAA rules.
The two took part in the celebrations, as any player with any kind of common human characteristics would.
Come on, they were sent off early on in the game. They were surely ridden with guilt and regret as they sat on the sideline watching their teammates, their own brothers having to face a disadvantage they wouldn’t have had to face only for their indiscretion.
Their teammates went to the well and back, and then came back again to do it for them. At the final whistle they must have been so proud to be a part of it all, to represent the lads that saved them.
Remember how emotional John Mullane was after being sent off in the Munster final in 2004, before his teammates scraped a victory for him and the “people of Waterford.”
Now the two boys might be suspended for it. The most bizarre GAA rule prohibits players dismissed in a final from participating in the presentation ceremony.
The penalty is “An additional one-match suspension in the same competition in the following year’s competition,” according to the GAA rulebook.
The pair are already suspended for their Leinster quarter final clash with Rhode or Portlaoise, because of their straight red cards, but now they could be facing one in the first round of next year’s county senior competition.
The topic came up for discussion on Thursday’s GAA Hour, and needless to say, host Colm Parkinson, and contributors Conan Doherty and Conor Heneghan were aghast.
“This was David White and Daryl Flynn. Daryl Flynn has a habit of getting sent off, I can only remember one against us in a Leinster final. He’s a bit short-fused, because he does get sent-off a bit,” began the Laois man.
“Him and David White got sent off in the Kildare county final. Moorefield down to 13 men, brilliant character was shown to hold off Celbridge and win the county title, but they went up to celebrate and lifted the cup after the game,” he added.
“There is a rule that if you are sent off in a Championship match, you are precluded from going up and celebrating with the cup. These lads could be facing a one-game ban because there’s a picture of them holding the cup,” he said to lads’ amazement.
Doherty and Heneghan’s reaction sums up how we all feel.
“It’s the most stupid rule I’ve ever heard in my life,” said the Derry man.
“It’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard,” added Heneghan.
Hear, hear.
We’ve heard it all now.
You can listen to this discussion (31″00′) and much more, including a brilliant pair of interviews from Mark McHugh and Stephen O’Keeffe here.
