Mayhem reigns at O'Moore Park

O'BYRNE CUP/Kildare 0-11 Laois 0-8:IT HASN'T gone away you know. Instead of the new playing rules causing all the noise in O'Moore Park yesterday, it was good old discipline – or rather the complete breakdown in it. Seven red cards, five of which resulted from a single incident of near mayhem, would suggest the GAA may have called a halt to their disciplinary revisions a little prematurely.

Anyone who thought the mass brawl – complete with punching, wrestling, etc – was a thing of the past at this level would have been deeply disturbed by what unfolded after 30 minutes, in a game which wasn’t been played in a particularly aggressive manner.

Nevertheless, the sight of both teams going at each other with real vengeance may force the GAA to think again about their disciplinary rules, in the meantime the fallout from this will see several first-choice players miss the start of the National Football League.

Any number of players could have walked. But, after consulting with his linesman, referee Syl Doyle picked Billy Sheehan, Kevin Meaney and Peter O’Leary from Laois, and Morgan O’Flaherty and John Doyle from Kildare. He flashed each of them the red card in one swift movement, and there wasn’t a single objection.

The sad part was the indiscipline didn’t end there. Laois lost a fourth man 21 minutes into the second half when defender Denis Booth was shown a straight red for wrestling with Kildare’s Dermot Earley, and two minutes from time, Kildare were reduced to 12 men when substitute Pádraig O’Neill, who was only on the field 10 minutes, managed to pick up two yellow cards.

Naturally, all this supersedes some of the other talking points, Kildare’s obvious bulk and fitness for this time of year, which earned the deserving three-point win and the failure of Laois to record a score from play – relying instead on one man’s boot, MJ Tierney’s, to keep them in the game. But any game that produces seven red cards is going to be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

Kildare manager Kieran McGeeney didn’t shy away from the big issue. He didn’t believe the teams had allowed their rivalry to spill over, although he did think the whole thing could have been avoided if the referee had dealt with a preceding incident – when a Kildare player went to ground – with a little more authority.

“With Laois and Kildare there will always be that local derby, like Armagh and Tyrone, or Dublin and Meath,” he said. “But that’s no reason for a brawl. I’m disappointed, and I would apologise to the fans out there. But I just think it could have been stopped. This is where yourselves come in. It’s beyond our control to comment on games, but you can . . . But to lose three players is disappointing, in a game I wouldn’t consider tough or aggressive.”

It may have been a little premature for the referee to throw-up the ball to restart play when a Kildare player was still on the ground, but in no way does that invite a free-for-all. “But still it’s hard to put your finger on exactly what happened out there,” added McGeeney. “I can’t speak for the Laois men, but Morgan O’Flaherty, I would be shocked if he lifted his hands in that way . . . his only words coming off the pitch was he never lifted his hands. Johnny Doyle’s reputation speaks for itself. I don’t think he’s ever been sent off. And Paudie O’Neill is in the same boat as well.”

The question arises as to whether the GAA were wrong to forget about reviewing disciplinary matters, having gone to such great lengths to get new rules introduced during last year’s league. “Well I don’t think those rules last year made much of a difference,” said McGeeney. “It depends on what intentions the teams go out with. As I said, I don’t think either of the teams went out with that. But it happened, the referee has to discipline somebody. But this is the important thing about keeping up with play, things being noticed, things being stopped, on both sides.”

Laois manager Seán Dempsey had other issues to worry about beyond the lack of discipline, as relying on Tierney was never going to give them a chance. They started brightly but were soon outclassed in practically all areas, particularly at midfield. Kildare also had the far greater range of scorers, with O’Flaherty, Earley, Doyle, David Whyte and Robert Kelly scoring in the first half to leave them 07 to 0-5 in front – and while Kelly turned chief free-taker for the second half, newcomers Ronan Walsh and Keith Cribbin showed up for a lot of ball, which can only auger well for the league.

KILDARE: S McCormack; A MacLochlainn, G White, E Bolton; A Rainbow, B Flanagan, M O’Flaherty (0-1); D Flynn, D Earley (0-1); R Kelly (0-4, three frees), J Doyle (0-3, all frees), D Whyte (0-2); K Cribbin, R Sweeney, R Walsh. Subs: P O’Neill for Sweeney (49 mins), K Brennan for Flynn (65 mins), D Lyons for Rainbow (66 mins).

LAOIS: C Gorman; J Scully, D Booth, P McMahon; D Strong, C Ryan, N Donoher; B Quigley, C Óg Greene; K Meaney, C Bergin, B Sheehan; MJ Tierney (0-8, seven frees, one 45), D Lowry, C Coss. Subs: P O’Leary for Lowry (25 mins), C Begley for Bergin (half time), K Smith for Strong, D Murphy for Coss (both 53 mins), D Miller for Greene (65 mins).

Referee: S Doyle (Wexford).