Clares former inter-county referee Seánie McMahon says the sin bin/penalty rule should not have been introduced to hurling.As referee officials believe James Owenss decision to send Aidan McCarthy to the sin bin on Sunday was wrong, 2004 Munster SHC final referee McMahon considers the new rule to have done more harm than good based on events in LIT Gaelic Grounds and Croke Park this past weekend.I know why the rule was brought in, to cut out the cynical stuff like the Eoin Murphy foul on Saturday, but sometimes youre better off to leave the game as it was.
Id be an old style, conservative hurling man and personally I think they should be introducing other things like puck-outs having to travel 45 metres and getting rid of short puck-outs to the corner-backs.
Unfortunately, this new rule ties the refereess hands, really. It was inside the 21-yard line, there is no doubt about that, but I dont think it was a goalscoring opportunity. Clare then had the double whammy of the sin bin and penalty.
It was a history-making decision. I can sympathise with James Owens or any referee making that decision with the rules that are there and it was his interpretation that they could have scored a goal.
Newmarket-on-Fergus man McMahon also wonders just how penalising Murphys sin bin was in the Leinster semi-final compared to if the rule wasnt in place.
Would Eoin Murphy have been sent off had the sin bin not been in operation? I know he went off for 10 minutes but he could have gone altogether and it would have meant Darren Brennan would have had to replace him, Kilkenny would be down to 14 for the rest of extra-time and it would have been more to Wexfords benefit.
Wexford official Owens is expected to speak about his decision when referees and administrators meet on Thursday to discuss the opening two weekends of the Championship. It is the opinion of leading officials that Owenss call was incorrect as McCarthys foul on Jake Morris did not deny a goalscoring opportunity.
The meeting is the first for hurling referees in the Championship where they will also discuss the other three sin bin incidents across the opening two weekends Colm Lyons choosing to punish Shane Fives for a foul on Aron Shanagher in last Sunday weeks Munster SHC quarter-final in Thurles, Murphys cynical tackle on Conall Flood on Saturday last and later that day Peter Caseys foul on Conor Cahalane in Semple Stadium.
It is expected the Kilkenny goalkeepers infringement will be held up as a textbook sin bin foul, although there is a strong belief among officials that Lyons was also right to punish Waterford defender Fives as Shanagher was heading towards goal inside the 20-metre line and was prevented from shooting at goal.
Despite a clamour from some pundits to have the sin bin scrapped immediately, there are no plans to change it in this Championship although there may be a clarification provided.
The rule, which narrowly passed at Congress in February with 61% support, is currently in operation on an experimental basis in the senior inter-county season only and will be reviewed later in the year.
Owens has also been criticised for not awarding Clare a sin bin/penalty in second half additional time in Limerick yesterday when Barry Heffernan was entangled with Shanagher.
However, officials believe while there were grounds for a penalty, the Tipperary defender did not take down the Clare attacker and therefore there was no basis for him to leave the field for 10 minutes.
According to the rulebook, a player shall be sin-binned in hurling should he commit one of three cynical fouls a pulldown, a trip or careless use of the hurley inside the 20m line or the semi-circle that prevents a goalscoring opportunity.
In football, the number of cynical fouls extends to five deliberate pulldown, deliberate trip, deliberate collision with an opponent after he played the ball away or for the purpose of taking him out of the movement of play, remonstration in an aggressive manner with a match official and threatening or using abusive or provocative language or gestures to an opponent or team-mate.