Well that’s that settled
Finally, after several days of was it or wasn’t it, the issue has been decided in favour of Paul Browne and his rocket-like strike.
We ran our own poll on Tuesday to ask our readers what they thought of the controversial goal that Limerick ‘scored on Sunday in the All-Ireland qualifier against Westmeath that has seen the GAA all tied up in knots over the last few days.
Almost two-thirds of our readers thought it was a legitimate strike, and because ye are all such an intelligent bunch, ye have been proven right.
Thanks to The Examiner, who have managed to get their hands on some alternative footage to that shown on RTE’s Sunday Game, it seems almost 100% certain that Paul Browne’s bullet like shot did indeed rattle the goal and sneak out the back of the net on Sunday in Mullingar.
The initial clip from the game suggested that the shot had flown wide, but when seen from the other stand in Cusack Park, it seems obvious that the shot does indeed head inside the post.
Here’s the original footage:
And here is the alternate angle from the other side of the pitch which proves that umpire Tommy Fitzharris and referee Paud O’Dwyer were indeed correct to allow the goal to stand
The Carlow referee is delighted that the video evidence has exonerated both men, and has said that he had never any doubt that the goal was perfectly acceptable
“It’s nice to know what we already knew. We didn’t think anything of it until we sat down to watch The Sunday Game because the Westmeath goalie made a half-hearted attempt but none of the Westmeath defenders said a word because it was obvious.”
Fergal McGill, who’s the GAA director of games administration and player welfare, has also welcomed the new video footage which shows that you cannot believe everything you see on TV:
“It just shows – and we have had this on several occasions with disputed points – that you cannot rely on TV cameras because of the angles that they’re taken from. We would just ask people to bear that in mind.”
“When an umpire or a referee makes an absolute decision, they’re there on the spot in real time looking with their own two eyes at what happened and it’s very unfair sometimes for a TV angle to be used to slate them afterwards when in fact they 100% did the right thing.
“This (footage) of all things shows that the umpire was correct but it also shows the folly and the danger of people reacting on one piece of evidence rather than having all of the evidence.”
We were as shocked as everyone else on Sunday night when we saw it initially, but thankfully the alternate angle looks to have cleared up the whole mess.
Maybe nail the nets down next time though.
