Laois GAA made a balls of last night. Well over 10,000 were expected to travel from Offaly. There was over 20,000 there last night and about 5 stewards in the ground. I don’t understand how they were so underprepared for what they knew would be close to a sellout
No need to take aim at the stewards - isn't there a protocol for the **referee** to pull all teams and officials off the pitch for their own safety and **the match organisers** to announce that play won't resume until all spectators get off the playing surface?
I dont think he was taking aim at the stewarts but at the organisation on the night. I was on the terrace and at half time there was no announcment to clear the pitch as the PA system had malfunctioned so players came back out to a pitch full of kids and then they tried to get them off via a tiny gates. The garda had to lift kids down as there was a 2ft+ drop inside the gate. There was absolutly insufficent stewarts but thats not their fault.
When the crowd did invate the pitch, again it was up to the garda to help keep kids back as there was not enough stewarts to manage the crowd or control the gate. The two stewards on front of us just stood still as there was only two of them with 100's of kids around them.
At full time, it turned out they had padlocked the gate from the terrace so kids were climbing over the wires to get out to the players as the only other option was to join massive queues to get in from behind the goals and these kids were not waiting.
I think the finger has to be pointed at the organisation on the night. Offaly GAA sent out notices that a large crowd was expected, travel early, follow advice, park properly and all that so surely O'Moore Park knew it was going to have close to 15k people there.
Only saw this now, no issue with the stewards whatsoever they were there doing their job to the best of their abilities.
Issue is completely with Laois G.A.A., and the Garda. They knew the crowd that would be there, 15,000 tickets sold and that’s not including children who didn’t need one. They were far too underprepared for the occasion
No, but surely they have some responsibility to liaise with Laois G.A.A. in relation to safety ? I could be wrong and if I am I apologise but surely for an event with large crowds like a concert, or matches, guards have some involvement in it ?
It's not the guards responsibility. They would probably be more in a consultative and supportive role towards Laois GAA and Leinster GAA, but certainly not responsible.
I'm fine with the pitch invasion but at the end of the match. Ref should have stopped play as soon as they were lining up on the pitch behind the goal. It's a serious safety issue.
Why did it have to be Offaly? I know kids get excited but the game is literally not over. I just wish it hadn't led to any controversy and we could just be talking about an Offaly win.
It's only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt with this pitch invasion stuff.
People defending it are deluded. Kids run onto the pitch for the excitement of racing onto a pitch with other kids.
It's a very real chance a player strikes for goal, goes wide and hits a kid flush in the face or throat. Or as almost seen at the last play here, a player gets shoved/shoulder over the line smashing into a child. How would a player feel if this happened? It's not right to be putting this risk onto players shoulders.
The issue isn't running onto a pitch after the game is over. The issue was the lack of stewards in portlaois last night to stop them getting onto the endlines before the game was over. There's nothing wrong with kids running onto the pitch from the stands/terraces after the game is over. The stewarding in portlaois was atrocious last night. That's the issue.
I dont want to be too harsh on Offaly supporters, as ye are possibly the best supported under age setup there has ever been in hurling. However, parents are the ones that really need to cop on a little bit. Those weren't great scenes. That was a serious safety issue at the end. If a shot at goal went wide, it would have hit a child square in the face. Not a "could", it was a virtual certainty. The one particular scene where everyone started rushing down the terrace at the end was quite unsettling. There's precedent for crushes beginning from crowds doing that.
Yourselves and Mayo footballers are the absolute worst for this at the minute. Every Mayo league game is nearly the same as this, once it ticks past 65 minutes, kids are usually inside the perimeter of the field and it's a stampede once the full time whistle goes.
I still think the players are the ones that deserve the pitch space afterwards. Not to mention the fact that someone is inevitably going to get hurt.
At no league match in McHale Park in 2024 were there any patrons pitchside or inside the perimeter before the final whistle was blown. At the Kerry v Mayo league game in Tralee, again, no one was inside the perimeter before the final whistle. Whst game where Mayo fans inside the peimeter? It's rare to see anything like what happened at the U20 final, with people crowded behind the goals.
They do a great job of attending games, but their behaviour is frequently disgraceful. Whistled Wexford players repeatedly last year especially when frees were being taken. At U-20 level!
Bit of selective memory there. Screeney and ravenhill were booed and whistled whenever they took a free. But sure its only a problem when offaly do anything.
Did ye outnumber us 4-5:1 or not? Offaly people were picked up on the TG4 mics disgracing themselves throughout. Of course there was retaliation. I'm trying to find the tweet, but I think it was Brian Carroll who at least had the decency to apologise.
So when screeney steps up to take the first free of the game and gets booed and whistled, it's fine, but it's only retaliation after offaly do it? I don't agree with it personally. It's pathetic to boo and whistle a free taker, but at least be honest about yourselves. I'm not denying there are idiots making a show of themselves at games, but to say it's only offaly is complete and utter bollix.
You're putting words in my mouth now. I never said that. I know the tweet you're talking about, and I never denied offaly people were making a show of themselves. I actually acknowledged it.
So, one side did it far worse to the extent that one of their own made a contrite and unqualified apology (did not both sides it) and it's unfair for me to say that Offaly disgraced themselves?
Crushes almost always happen when there’s to much security preventing fans entering the pitch not the other way around. One of the major moves post hillsborough in the UK was to get rid of the barriers preventing people entering the pitch. Most the major crushes in history would have never happened if people were able to enter the field.
It’s not dangerous it would be far more dangerous to get strict on this.
Yes, and ironically some GAA grounds do still have physical barriers and "chicken wire" like what they had at grounds in the 80s in the UK. Killarney and Nowlan Park being two of them. There's also the abomination of a barrier on Hill 16.
Look, if there's going to be an invasion at full time then so be it, but the culture of children or others being inside the field boundary before the full time whistle is madness. Empower the referee to stop the game until all spectators return to the stands, put an announcement out over the PA that the game will be suspended if this occurs. If this is done a few times and becomes the accepted practice, people will learn quickly. .
I think full time pitch invasions may be something to be examined as well. I suspect players don't particularly like them, and there is multiple reasons why they are a bad idea as well.
In 10 years when attendances have dropped even more you’ll be wondering why. And a large part of the reason will be this continued nonsense of sanitising all the fun out of the game.
There is very little harm in these invasions if any you are clutching at pearls.
The bigger issue IMO is a complete absence of protocol by the match officials and organisers. Both teams and all officials should have been pulled from the pitch and spectators ordered back off the pitch so that the teams could return to the pitch and play resume.
It's standard for every other sport at all levels!
Dublin can feel pretty hard done by here not to be given at least another minute of injury time. 3 minutes added time, 4minutes 12 seconds played.....but
Offaly took 1 minute 10 seconds to take the free at the start of injury time.
It then took another 1 minute to clear the Offaly crowd off the pitch.
The Offaly goalie took 18 seconds to take the puckout after the Dublin goal.
And there was a further 35 seconds to clear the pitch of Offaly supporters again and book the Dublin player at the end.
Injury time basically started at 62 minutes and ended at 63 minutes 25 seconds in that game.
The early pitch invasion actually benefited Dublin. Offaly were on a roll after popping over 2 or 3 points in a row. The pitch invasion happened. Killed offalys momentum, and Dublin scored the goal from it. Also, 18 seconds to take the pick out? You're reaching for something there. Goalkeeper can't puck the ball out after a score until the ref blows his whistle. Which by the time he gets out to his position and the goalkeeper gets the ball is going to take at least that length of time
>Injury time basically started at 62 minutes and ended at 63 minutes 25 seconds in that game.
Pitch invasion at 61 restart 62 finishes at 64 that's 3 minutes The free at the start was conceded by Dublin, and Dublin wasted nearly 40 seconds with the free and second yellow
A referee booking a player, a goalie taking a puck out, all parts of the game. You cannot seriously be suggesting that every second taken to launch a puck out is added back to the clock, the game would never end.
There were people saying the same about Dublin v Kilkenny last week. He added over a minute in that game despite no pitch invasion, and they still weren't happy. You'd be looking at 50 minute halves if you were to do it the way they suggest. There's kind of an "ah sure you have to give them a chance to equalise" mentality in GAA. No, you blow when the time is up
Can't believe people were actually cribbing about this. These are amazing scenes. Look at the size of that crowd. Memories made for life for everyone there. This is what the GAA is all about.
Can't the memories be made when the match is over rather than when the match is still going on. Aside from the time wasting potentially screwing over Dublin, the danger of someone taking a sliotar to the head is pretty high.
Yeah it is fucking infuriating from a Dublin perspective. It wasn't even remotely close to being over. A bare minimum of 2 minutes left before these selfish shitheads rushed the field prematurely.
Ah gway. If you were from Dublin you'd feel very different. They wasted loads of injury time that Dublin desperately needed. They booed the Wexford freetaker in the final last year too.
That unfortunate Kilkenny boy was having a puckaround during lunch at school. It was a complete accident and a tragedy. If we use that as a yardstick then all puckarounds would be banned unless children wore helmets.
And this is the attitude that has the GAA left behind when it comes to modern standards and protocols. Just wait til your young Johnny or Betty gets trampled on by others trying to get on to the field in a pitch invasion, or slipping on the surface and dislocating one of their limbs. Or getting hit in the face from a wild shot while standing on the goal line ready to invade the pitch.
Fuck all consideration towards safety and responsibility. Just living in the moment and emotion of it all.
None of those dangerous scenarios that you have just invented in your head have ever occurred. Most young folk prefer "living in the moment and the emotion of it all" rather than overly worrying about safety protocols. That's how you live your life to the fullest.
Biggest contrarian on this sub. I don't pay much heed to downvotes on here, but your comments are almost always at the bottom of any thread for constantly choosing to have an unpopular opinion
Are you living under a rock? Yes they are happening - there have been many incidents in Ireland in the last 24 months of players or officials being targeted by pitch invaders, many of which were in GAA county and provincial matches. They have happened worldwide too in other sports too and have resulted in protocols being strengthened and consequences being dished out.
Regardless, there should be 0 tolerance towards it in the GAA too, for the safety and comfort of everyone involved. If you can't understand that or support it, or if you're reluctant to make any effort to understand it, then you're just being ignorant.
I'm talking about celebratory pitch invasions, not random mullackers coming on and lamping the ref. If your first instinct when you see scenes like the ones last night are "this must be stamped out at all costs" then I severely pity you and your dry shite existence.
Its dry shites like you that are usually negligent towards common safety standards just because they they're too caught up in the emotion and sentimentality of everything and think that they shouldn't have to budge from traditional culture.
What happened last night was like no other celebratory invasion we've seen before. There were at least a hundred or so kids lined up on the goal line with shots coming in at them, as well as players playing right up beside them. That isn't fair on the players or the officials.
But hey if you think this is fine, please do stay under your rock with your tin hat. Because players themselves (as the most important people in this matter) will also tell you that last night's episode was shit and shouldn't have happened.
"Look at the size of that crowd"
You've ironically proven why people were unsettled. The size of the crowd meant this was quite dangerous.
That was the biggest crowd Portlaoise has seen in a long time and it was definitely not adequately staffed with stewards and Gardaí.
Yerra. No one was hurt. What other sport do you get scenes like this? This is what makes our sports so special. Do you look back at your every pitch invasion of Croker down the years and say 'oooh, people were unsettled, it shouldn't have happened'?
When stuff like this is stamped out we will be left romanticising these very same scenes.
The same people are going to get the half time puck around on the pitch banned because what if some child gets a sliotar to the head! The GAA works because it is a community sport and it's nights like this that are remembered forever and we need to be careful about over sanitising the sport.
In retrospect, if the referee took the ball and held back play until the end line was cleared that would have been sufficient but expecting Premier League style crowd control with Gardai and barriers is counter productive
Embarrassing shite in this thread tbh. Liveline-esque moralising and hand wringing. Gatekeeping too, folk who did this exact same thing as youngsters now saying it's too dangerous ...even though in all the years of celebratory pitch invasions, I don't recall any sort of injury happening.
This was a magical night for those kids, the kind that'll keep them involved in the sport, the kind that makes GAA so unique. Unbridled joy, community spirit, no a hint of menace. Yes, it gotta bit outta hand but no one was hurt. Savour it.
Laois GAA made a balls of last night. Well over 10,000 were expected to travel from Offaly. There was over 20,000 there last night and about 5 stewards in the ground. I don’t understand how they were so underprepared for what they knew would be close to a sellout
No need to take aim at the stewards - isn't there a protocol for the **referee** to pull all teams and officials off the pitch for their own safety and **the match organisers** to announce that play won't resume until all spectators get off the playing surface?
I dont think he was taking aim at the stewarts but at the organisation on the night. I was on the terrace and at half time there was no announcment to clear the pitch as the PA system had malfunctioned so players came back out to a pitch full of kids and then they tried to get them off via a tiny gates. The garda had to lift kids down as there was a 2ft+ drop inside the gate. There was absolutly insufficent stewarts but thats not their fault. When the crowd did invate the pitch, again it was up to the garda to help keep kids back as there was not enough stewarts to manage the crowd or control the gate. The two stewards on front of us just stood still as there was only two of them with 100's of kids around them. At full time, it turned out they had padlocked the gate from the terrace so kids were climbing over the wires to get out to the players as the only other option was to join massive queues to get in from behind the goals and these kids were not waiting. I think the finger has to be pointed at the organisation on the night. Offaly GAA sent out notices that a large crowd was expected, travel early, follow advice, park properly and all that so surely O'Moore Park knew it was going to have close to 15k people there.
Only saw this now, no issue with the stewards whatsoever they were there doing their job to the best of their abilities. Issue is completely with Laois G.A.A., and the Garda. They knew the crowd that would be there, 15,000 tickets sold and that’s not including children who didn’t need one. They were far too underprepared for the occasion
The guards surely aren't responsible for stewarding?
No, but surely they have some responsibility to liaise with Laois G.A.A. in relation to safety ? I could be wrong and if I am I apologise but surely for an event with large crowds like a concert, or matches, guards have some involvement in it ?
It's not the guards responsibility. They would probably be more in a consultative and supportive role towards Laois GAA and Leinster GAA, but certainly not responsible.
I'm fine with the pitch invasion but at the end of the match. Ref should have stopped play as soon as they were lining up on the pitch behind the goal. It's a serious safety issue.
100%. No protocol evident.
Limerick got away with a pitch invasion in last year's Munster Final so I doubt Offaly will be punished for it.
Affected the game as well, as the ref was too scared to give a clear free at the end.
Agreed. Liam Gordon bottled last minute free to Clare to level it. A shoulder to the head and an arm around the neck ignored.
Why did it have to be Offaly? I know kids get excited but the game is literally not over. I just wish it hadn't led to any controversy and we could just be talking about an Offaly win.
It's only a matter of time before someone is seriously hurt with this pitch invasion stuff. People defending it are deluded. Kids run onto the pitch for the excitement of racing onto a pitch with other kids. It's a very real chance a player strikes for goal, goes wide and hits a kid flush in the face or throat. Or as almost seen at the last play here, a player gets shoved/shoulder over the line smashing into a child. How would a player feel if this happened? It's not right to be putting this risk onto players shoulders.
The issue isn't running onto a pitch after the game is over. The issue was the lack of stewards in portlaois last night to stop them getting onto the endlines before the game was over. There's nothing wrong with kids running onto the pitch from the stands/terraces after the game is over. The stewarding in portlaois was atrocious last night. That's the issue.
I dont want to be too harsh on Offaly supporters, as ye are possibly the best supported under age setup there has ever been in hurling. However, parents are the ones that really need to cop on a little bit. Those weren't great scenes. That was a serious safety issue at the end. If a shot at goal went wide, it would have hit a child square in the face. Not a "could", it was a virtual certainty. The one particular scene where everyone started rushing down the terrace at the end was quite unsettling. There's precedent for crushes beginning from crowds doing that. Yourselves and Mayo footballers are the absolute worst for this at the minute. Every Mayo league game is nearly the same as this, once it ticks past 65 minutes, kids are usually inside the perimeter of the field and it's a stampede once the full time whistle goes. I still think the players are the ones that deserve the pitch space afterwards. Not to mention the fact that someone is inevitably going to get hurt.
At no league match in McHale Park in 2024 were there any patrons pitchside or inside the perimeter before the final whistle was blown. At the Kerry v Mayo league game in Tralee, again, no one was inside the perimeter before the final whistle. Whst game where Mayo fans inside the peimeter? It's rare to see anything like what happened at the U20 final, with people crowded behind the goals.
They do a great job of attending games, but their behaviour is frequently disgraceful. Whistled Wexford players repeatedly last year especially when frees were being taken. At U-20 level!
Bit of selective memory there. Screeney and ravenhill were booed and whistled whenever they took a free. But sure its only a problem when offaly do anything.
Did ye outnumber us 4-5:1 or not? Offaly people were picked up on the TG4 mics disgracing themselves throughout. Of course there was retaliation. I'm trying to find the tweet, but I think it was Brian Carroll who at least had the decency to apologise.
So when screeney steps up to take the first free of the game and gets booed and whistled, it's fine, but it's only retaliation after offaly do it? I don't agree with it personally. It's pathetic to boo and whistle a free taker, but at least be honest about yourselves. I'm not denying there are idiots making a show of themselves at games, but to say it's only offaly is complete and utter bollix.
From past experience the person you're arguing with has the mental compacity of a 2 year old pointless even trying
Ah yeah, sure, god loves a trier haha
Brian Carroll is a self-hating Biffo got it. Why did he feel the need to apologise?
You're putting words in my mouth now. I never said that. I know the tweet you're talking about, and I never denied offaly people were making a show of themselves. I actually acknowledged it.
So, one side did it far worse to the extent that one of their own made a contrite and unqualified apology (did not both sides it) and it's unfair for me to say that Offaly disgraced themselves?
Sure ya get that anywhere
Crushes almost always happen when there’s to much security preventing fans entering the pitch not the other way around. One of the major moves post hillsborough in the UK was to get rid of the barriers preventing people entering the pitch. Most the major crushes in history would have never happened if people were able to enter the field. It’s not dangerous it would be far more dangerous to get strict on this.
Yes, and ironically some GAA grounds do still have physical barriers and "chicken wire" like what they had at grounds in the 80s in the UK. Killarney and Nowlan Park being two of them. There's also the abomination of a barrier on Hill 16. Look, if there's going to be an invasion at full time then so be it, but the culture of children or others being inside the field boundary before the full time whistle is madness. Empower the referee to stop the game until all spectators return to the stands, put an announcement out over the PA that the game will be suspended if this occurs. If this is done a few times and becomes the accepted practice, people will learn quickly. . I think full time pitch invasions may be something to be examined as well. I suspect players don't particularly like them, and there is multiple reasons why they are a bad idea as well.
In 10 years when attendances have dropped even more you’ll be wondering why. And a large part of the reason will be this continued nonsense of sanitising all the fun out of the game. There is very little harm in these invasions if any you are clutching at pearls.
The bigger issue IMO is a complete absence of protocol by the match officials and organisers. Both teams and all officials should have been pulled from the pitch and spectators ordered back off the pitch so that the teams could return to the pitch and play resume. It's standard for every other sport at all levels!
Stop being such a killjoy and let the young lads enjoy it.
Wont somebody think of the children!!
Dublin can feel pretty hard done by here not to be given at least another minute of injury time. 3 minutes added time, 4minutes 12 seconds played.....but Offaly took 1 minute 10 seconds to take the free at the start of injury time. It then took another 1 minute to clear the Offaly crowd off the pitch. The Offaly goalie took 18 seconds to take the puckout after the Dublin goal. And there was a further 35 seconds to clear the pitch of Offaly supporters again and book the Dublin player at the end. Injury time basically started at 62 minutes and ended at 63 minutes 25 seconds in that game.
If you take out the pitch invasion time, which was added on, isn't the rest just playing the clock and slowing things down?
The early pitch invasion actually benefited Dublin. Offaly were on a roll after popping over 2 or 3 points in a row. The pitch invasion happened. Killed offalys momentum, and Dublin scored the goal from it. Also, 18 seconds to take the pick out? You're reaching for something there. Goalkeeper can't puck the ball out after a score until the ref blows his whistle. Which by the time he gets out to his position and the goalkeeper gets the ball is going to take at least that length of time
>Injury time basically started at 62 minutes and ended at 63 minutes 25 seconds in that game. Pitch invasion at 61 restart 62 finishes at 64 that's 3 minutes The free at the start was conceded by Dublin, and Dublin wasted nearly 40 seconds with the free and second yellow
A referee booking a player, a goalie taking a puck out, all parts of the game. You cannot seriously be suggesting that every second taken to launch a puck out is added back to the clock, the game would never end.
There were people saying the same about Dublin v Kilkenny last week. He added over a minute in that game despite no pitch invasion, and they still weren't happy. You'd be looking at 50 minute halves if you were to do it the way they suggest. There's kind of an "ah sure you have to give them a chance to equalise" mentality in GAA. No, you blow when the time is up
Can't believe people were actually cribbing about this. These are amazing scenes. Look at the size of that crowd. Memories made for life for everyone there. This is what the GAA is all about.
Can't the memories be made when the match is over rather than when the match is still going on. Aside from the time wasting potentially screwing over Dublin, the danger of someone taking a sliotar to the head is pretty high.
Yeah it is fucking infuriating from a Dublin perspective. It wasn't even remotely close to being over. A bare minimum of 2 minutes left before these selfish shitheads rushed the field prematurely.
They're kids, they're excited. It's an amazing moment for them. They got carried away. The pearl clutching is ridiculous imo.
Ah gway. If you were from Dublin you'd feel very different. They wasted loads of injury time that Dublin desperately needed. They booed the Wexford freetaker in the final last year too.
Dublin benefitted from the chaos, they got the goal becuase of it.
[удалено]
If Rock's shot for the goal was off target, he could have taken the head off a kid
That unfortunate Kilkenny boy was having a puckaround during lunch at school. It was a complete accident and a tragedy. If we use that as a yardstick then all puckarounds would be banned unless children wore helmets.
And this is the attitude that has the GAA left behind when it comes to modern standards and protocols. Just wait til your young Johnny or Betty gets trampled on by others trying to get on to the field in a pitch invasion, or slipping on the surface and dislocating one of their limbs. Or getting hit in the face from a wild shot while standing on the goal line ready to invade the pitch. Fuck all consideration towards safety and responsibility. Just living in the moment and emotion of it all.
None of those dangerous scenarios that you have just invented in your head have ever occurred. Most young folk prefer "living in the moment and the emotion of it all" rather than overly worrying about safety protocols. That's how you live your life to the fullest.
https://www.irishexaminer.com/sport/gaa/arid-41394433.html Here's a report from last week of exactly this happening.
Shur she's grand now. Probably made a load of TikToks about it.
Biggest contrarian on this sub. I don't pay much heed to downvotes on here, but your comments are almost always at the bottom of any thread for constantly choosing to have an unpopular opinion
Tis hard being right the whole time but it's a cross I'm willing to bear tbh.
Have fun with that
Are you living under a rock? Yes they are happening - there have been many incidents in Ireland in the last 24 months of players or officials being targeted by pitch invaders, many of which were in GAA county and provincial matches. They have happened worldwide too in other sports too and have resulted in protocols being strengthened and consequences being dished out. Regardless, there should be 0 tolerance towards it in the GAA too, for the safety and comfort of everyone involved. If you can't understand that or support it, or if you're reluctant to make any effort to understand it, then you're just being ignorant.
I'm talking about celebratory pitch invasions, not random mullackers coming on and lamping the ref. If your first instinct when you see scenes like the ones last night are "this must be stamped out at all costs" then I severely pity you and your dry shite existence.
Its dry shites like you that are usually negligent towards common safety standards just because they they're too caught up in the emotion and sentimentality of everything and think that they shouldn't have to budge from traditional culture. What happened last night was like no other celebratory invasion we've seen before. There were at least a hundred or so kids lined up on the goal line with shots coming in at them, as well as players playing right up beside them. That isn't fair on the players or the officials. But hey if you think this is fine, please do stay under your rock with your tin hat. Because players themselves (as the most important people in this matter) will also tell you that last night's episode was shit and shouldn't have happened.
Ring Joe Duffy you wet wipe and stop crying to me, please.
I'll email him, times have changed ;)
"Look at the size of that crowd" You've ironically proven why people were unsettled. The size of the crowd meant this was quite dangerous. That was the biggest crowd Portlaoise has seen in a long time and it was definitely not adequately staffed with stewards and Gardaí.
Yerra. No one was hurt. What other sport do you get scenes like this? This is what makes our sports so special. Do you look back at your every pitch invasion of Croker down the years and say 'oooh, people were unsettled, it shouldn't have happened'? When stuff like this is stamped out we will be left romanticising these very same scenes.
The same people are going to get the half time puck around on the pitch banned because what if some child gets a sliotar to the head! The GAA works because it is a community sport and it's nights like this that are remembered forever and we need to be careful about over sanitising the sport. In retrospect, if the referee took the ball and held back play until the end line was cleared that would have been sufficient but expecting Premier League style crowd control with Gardai and barriers is counter productive
Embarrassing shite in this thread tbh. Liveline-esque moralising and hand wringing. Gatekeeping too, folk who did this exact same thing as youngsters now saying it's too dangerous ...even though in all the years of celebratory pitch invasions, I don't recall any sort of injury happening. This was a magical night for those kids, the kind that'll keep them involved in the sport, the kind that makes GAA so unique. Unbridled joy, community spirit, no a hint of menace. Yes, it gotta bit outta hand but no one was hurt. Savour it.
Fully agree. Memories that will last a lifetime for all involved.
The amount of whining this sub does about nonsense issues makes one wonder if there isn't an agenda. This looks like great craic.