Brogan lauds referee for his courage

GAELIC GAMES:BERNARD BROGAN has praised Cormac Reilly's courage in awarding the match-winning free near the end of last Sunday's Leinster football final. And the Dublin forward, in his first public comments on the controversy, is adamant he was fouled.

Following his Tuesday evening tweet,“I was impeded running for the ball in a one on one, that’s a free in my book, end of,” Brogan explained in greater detail what happened in his weekly column that was posted on Dublin GAA’s official website Hill16.ie yesterday.

Kildare corner-back Aindriú Mac Lochlainn, who was shadowing Brogan, was clearly incensed by the decision of the referee to penalise him for fouling the footballer of the year so late in the contest as both men sprinted towards the ball. In contrast, Brogan commended Reilly’s decision despite heavy criticism from RTÉ analyst Kevin McStay.

“Fair play to the referee as he showed courage to make the call. There’s been a lot of talk about it because of the time of the game where it happened – but if it had happened 10 minutes earlier it would still be a free and there would have been nothing made of it,” said Brogan.

“I was held back and was fouled four times for scoreable frees on the day. That’s it over with and it’s not something I’m going to dwell on.

“As footballer of the year I’m getting more attention off defenders and I have to accept that,” Brogan continued. “The Kildare defence did well and I didn’t get many opportunities on the ball.

“I didn’t personally shoot the lights out, but I know it’s not about individuals in this Dublin team, but rather about hard work instead. I was happy that I won frees and made assists and put Paul Flynn through for his goal – but I know there is a big improvement needed for the next day.”

Brogan seems to be referring to the number of times he was impeded while attempting to get into scoring positions last Sunday, a viewpoint also voiced by Dublin manager Pat Gilroy in the immediate aftermath of the game.

“Pat Gilroy was pretty clear about what his view of the incident was afterwards and I agree with him,” said Brogan.

However, Brogan also seemed to exonerate Mac Lochlann of any cynical play when committing the foul.“I was just running for a ball and the defender got too close to me and my feet and his got caught up and tangled and I couldn’t run freely and my way was being impeded.”