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David Gough Best Ref In Country

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After watching the Sunday Game it's safe to say that David Gough got the Keith Higgins black card call wrong. After the highlights and the analysis in the studio they played a montage of highlights in slow motion whilst playing audio from the post match interviews with the two managers. In these highlights you get a behind-the-goal camera angle of Keith Higgins putting his hand in to tackle, and Paddy McBrearty is clearly seen grabbing Keith's hand and holding on to it as he falls to the ground. This is an extremely tough decision for David Gough to make and don't blame him at all for giving the black card as he has no access to slow motion replays. It does however highlight the need for referees behind the goal and maybe also video assisted refereeing or a TMO. Referees behind the goal should be an absolute minimum and would be extremely easy to introduce, really can't see any reason for not having them. jonjon (Mayo) - Posts: 99 - 05/08/2019 09:21:24 2220983 Link
No Ref gets all decisions correct and indeed most players makes lots of mistakes. If the Refs were to blow for every free than most matches would last 2 hours+. He got the big calls correct and the Murphy penalty divided even the panel who had video analysis. Keeghan has a history in the marking department and is fond of the oppositions jersey-would be even a better player without attribute. The standard of Refs in general is poor, but I still think that Gough is the best and he tries to be fair which is indeed very important. browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 05/08/2019 10:35:17 2221007 Link
Replying To jonjon: "After watching the Sunday Game it's safe to say that David Gough got the Keith Higgins black card call wrong. After the highlights and the analysis in the studio they played a montage of highlights in slow motion whilst playing audio from the post match interviews with the two managers. In these highlights you get a behind-the-goal camera angle of Keith Higgins putting his hand in to tackle, and Paddy McBrearty is clearly seen grabbing Keith's hand and holding on to it as he falls to the ground. This is an extremely tough decision for David Gough to make and don't blame him at all for giving the black card as he has no access to slow motion replays. It does however highlight the need for referees behind the goal and maybe also video assisted refereeing or a TMO. Referees behind the goal should be an absolute minimum and would be extremely easy to introduce, really can't see any reason for not having them." It's an absolute stonewall black card. He tackles from behind with one arm around the neck and the other hand grabbing his shirt for dear life. He doesn't let go of his shirt the whole way down either. benjyyy (Donegal) - Posts: 1422 - 05/08/2019 10:53:33 2221022 Link
Replying To BoynesideBlue: "Gough will do the final. And deservedly so" Not if Dublin are in it. He is a decent ref, but too many of the games he refs end up with him being the centre of the post match debate. That is not a good sign. And that is not a slight on his county, as some posters seem very thin skinned about criticism of him.... commander (Kildare) - Posts: 225 - 05/08/2019 11:13:06 2221024 Link
Replying To commander: "Not if Dublin are in it. He is a decent ref, but too many of the games he refs end up with him being the centre of the post match debate. That is not a good sign. And that is not a slight on his county, as some posters seem very thin skinned about criticism of him...." The points being made has nothing to do with counties, or indeed being thick/thin skinned. When you do bring counties into it and decisions making by Refs your own Aldridge would have been on the higher end of the scale in terms of bias decision making and that was with little video scrutiny at that time. browncows (Meath) - Posts: 2342 - 05/08/2019 12:00:54 2221058 Link
Replying To BoynesideBlue: "Absolute stonewall black card, Higgins dragged him down not even debatable. Got the penalty right as well even though Murphy's theatrics didn't help the referee. To be fair though the penalty was awarded before Murphy flung himself to the ground. Look at it this way you don't see too many players question Goughs decisions as they know he's got them right. Even when he got that penalty award for the Dubs wrong he knew to talk to the umpires and had the bottle to reverse the decision." McBrearty clear as day has a hold of Higgins arm & throws himself to the ground bringing down Higgins on top of him. Going by your take any time a defender puts his arm in the forward should grab it and go to ground. We'd have a real useless game then wouldn't we. As I also said a Mayo player tried the same stunt but didn't even get a free. It was a free on Higgins that's all. cluichethar (Mayo) - Posts: 454 - 05/08/2019 12:24:55 2221069 Link
When players mess up people throw up the excuse "these guys are amateurs who have to get up for work Monday morning and have families to go home to " well guess what so are refs and they have families too the only difference is that a ref is an isolated figure who needs to put up with all the abuse himself where when players mess up teams close ranks.......who in God's name would want to be a ref these days I see abuse been thrown at them from underage level and it goes up in intensity 100 fold at intercounty level ..if people want professional refs well then pay them to be so......but even that will not rule out mistakes in two sports where the tackle is so contentious and the interpretation of the flow of the game is again so subjective........I say leave refs alone walk a mile in their shoes and decisions over the course of a championship level out in either case Hitnhurl (Cork) - Posts: 92 - 05/08/2019 12:33:08 2221076 Link
Replying To commander: "Not if Dublin are in it. He is a decent ref, but too many of the games he refs end up with him being the centre of the post match debate. That is not a good sign. And that is not a slight on his county, as some posters seem very thin skinned about criticism of him...." I agree completely, Hes made some awful decisions like the Crowley hit in 16. I reckon he'll get the final too and he'll drop a clanger there too. westkerry (Kerry) - Posts: 1250 - 05/08/2019 12:40:26 2221080 Link
Keegan was pulling Murphy's jersey, how was it a controversial penalty? Gough is pretty good, most of the refs are ok imo, no need to put them on pedastals either. suckvalleypaddy (Galway) - Posts: 1669 - 05/08/2019 13:12:52 2221096 Link
Replying To suckvalleypaddy: "Keegan was pulling Murphy's jersey, how was it a controversial penalty? Gough is pretty good, most of the refs are ok imo, no need to put them on pedastals either." Murphy was pulling Keegan's Jersey at the same time. Ball should have been thrown up. Both players was guilty of the same offense. Murphy has been at this for years, Donaghy was also a master at this stunt. Then he threw himself to the ground. Everyone was quick to tar AOS when he went to ground a few years ago. cluichethar (Mayo) - Posts: 454 - 05/08/2019 13:28:23 2221099 Link
Replying To benjyyy: "It's an absolute stonewall black card. He tackles from behind with one arm around the neck and the other hand grabbing his shirt for dear life. He doesn't let go of his shirt the whole way down either." Few points to make here: Where he tackles from makes absolutely no difference to the colour of any card. There is no rule in Gaelic Football that states you need to be in front of a player to make a tackle. You also state he has 'one arm around the neck' which isn't true. Higgins put in a fist over McBreartys shoulder in an attempted tackle, note that he did not grab his shoulder at any point. McBrearty can then clearly be seen grabbing Higgins' arm and falling to the floor. The fact that Keith Higgins had a fist full of jersey is irrelevant. Higgins 100% fouled McBrearty, but he didn't drag McBrearty to the ground, it was McBrearty who dragged Higgins down. Therefore a black card is not the correct call. jonjon (Mayo) - Posts: 99 - 05/08/2019 14:50:31 2221149 Link
Replying To westkerry: "I agree completely, Hes made some awful decisions like the Crowley hit in 16. I reckon he'll get the final too and he'll drop a clanger there too." Some point by Connolly in that game all the same :) Dubsfan28 (Dublin) - Posts: 2509 - 05/08/2019 14:52:15 2221152 Link
Replying To westkerry: "I agree completely, Hes made some awful decisions like the Crowley hit in 16. I reckon he'll get the final too and he'll drop a clanger there too." Firstly, I think David Gough is a good referee and a man of the the highest character. However, David is a Meath man living and working in Dublin and, accordingly, I do not think he should be reffing a big Dublin game. Let's turn this on its head: If Kerry and Dublin were to meet in the All Ireland Final do you think it would be acceptable to Dublin to have a Limerick referee living and working in Tralee do the job? Not only must justice be done, it must be seen to be done. Aibrean (Kerry) - Posts: 263 - 05/08/2019 15:12:22 2221165 Link
Replying To Dubsfan28: "Some point by Connolly in that game all the same :)" Yep a peach of a point. westkerry (Kerry) - Posts: 1250 - 05/08/2019 15:14:44 2221167 Link
Replying To jonjon: "Few points to make here: Where he tackles from makes absolutely no difference to the colour of any card. There is no rule in Gaelic Football that states you need to be in front of a player to make a tackle. You also state he has 'one arm around the neck' which isn't true. Higgins put in a fist over McBreartys shoulder in an attempted tackle, note that he did not grab his shoulder at any point. McBrearty can then clearly be seen grabbing Higgins' arm and falling to the floor. The fact that Keith Higgins had a fist full of jersey is irrelevant. Higgins 100% fouled McBrearty, but he didn't drag McBrearty to the ground, it was McBrearty who dragged Higgins down. Therefore a black card is not the correct call." Hard to expect a referee to spot 'who's who' on the Higgins McBrearty pull down. It 'looked like' the defender pulled him down. I can see why Gough black carded. I'd assume you've pored over the video, before making the 'correct call' on it, or did you manage to spot McBrearty's manoeuvre in real time? What was less excusable imo was missing the blatant pick off the ground by Seamie O'Shea, or 'shamyshay' as Tomás O'Sé irritatingly calls him. It'll be 'shawnyshay' and shamyshay' next weekend, looking forward to that 'analysis' already! That was an unbelievable no call from Gough, very poor. Probably cost Donegal a point, at a critical late stage in the proceedings. Pope_Benedict (Galway) - Posts: 3423 - 05/08/2019 15:26:46 2221173 Link
Replying To jonjon: "Few points to make here: Where he tackles from makes absolutely no difference to the colour of any card. There is no rule in Gaelic Football that states you need to be in front of a player to make a tackle. You also state he has 'one arm around the neck' which isn't true. Higgins put in a fist over McBreartys shoulder in an attempted tackle, note that he did not grab his shoulder at any point. McBrearty can then clearly be seen grabbing Higgins' arm and falling to the floor. The fact that Keith Higgins had a fist full of jersey is irrelevant. Higgins 100% fouled McBrearty, but he didn't drag McBrearty to the ground, it was McBrearty who dragged Higgins down. Therefore a black card is not the correct call." It was as clear a black card as you'll see, yes mcbrearty did attempt to grab his hand but higgins feet were off the ground before he did so..higgins didn't even complain about it, says alot achara (Monaghan) - Posts: 562 - 05/08/2019 15:47:01 2221179 Link
Replying To Aibrean: "Firstly, I think David Gough is a good referee and a man of the the highest character. However, David is a Meath man living and working in Dublin and, accordingly, I do not think he should be reffing a big Dublin game. Let's turn this on its head: If Kerry and Dublin were to meet in the All Ireland Final do you think it would be acceptable to Dublin to have a Limerick referee living and working in Tralee do the job? Not only must justice be done, it must be seen to be done." That argument is null and void, because they already gave him a Dublin game, v Cork, specifically so nobody could complain about him getting one later in the championship. And in that match he over ruled himself and reversed a call on a Dublin penalty in front of the Hill, so whatever else he does he doesn't favour the Dubs. It looks like the choice for the final is down to two referees now, Gough and Barry Cassidy BoynesideBlue (Meath) - Posts: 130 - 05/08/2019 16:07:51 2221193 Link
Replying To BoynesideBlue: "That argument is null and void, because they already gave him a Dublin game, v Cork, specifically so nobody could complain about him getting one later in the championship. And in that match he over ruled himself and reversed a call on a Dublin penalty in front of the Hill, so whatever else he does he doesn't favour the Dubs. It looks like the choice for the final is down to two referees now, Gough and Barry Cassidy" Yeah right. westkerry (Kerry) - Posts: 1250 - 05/08/2019 16:25:51 2221201 Link
In hindsight you could audit an entire match in slow motion and/or ask for replays. if you miss something as ref and neither the umpire nor the linesmen dray your attention to it how are you supposed to make a correct call? You simply cant be close to the action and have the best view the entire 70 minutes. Gough was as good as you could have hoped for on Saturday. he missed a few calls, some bigger than others. The conditions were ugly and the stakes were high. Donegalman (None) - Posts: 3830 - 05/08/2019 18:37:57 2221254 Link
I think David Golderick will referee the final regardless of who is in IT. I think there needs to be a huge shake up on umpires. I mean some of the stuff that they don't see is unforgiving. I think that they need to be specifically trained for the job. They should be able to help the ref with decisions about penalties, square balls etc.. They seem to have no problem calling the refs attention when there's a bit of niggling going on, however when a player is getting dragged out off constantly they don't seem to see that. The same applies to the linesman and the fourth official. The 4th official should be able to call the refs attention if he's not dealing with items that everyone else can see. border Gael (Monaghan) - Posts: 894 - 05/08/2019 18:58:49 2221267 Link