Limerick manager John Kiely believes referees are having to contend with a lot in making black card/penalty calls.
Kilkenny’s Mikey Carey was sin-binned before the conclusion of this defeat to Limerick for pulling back Diarmaid Byrnes’ arm.
It was the latest in a growing number of such offences although some haven’t been among the prescribed list of a pulldown, trip and careless use of the hurley. On Saturday, Johnny Ryan was punished in Cork and Limerick’s Matthew Fitzgerald also spent 10 minutes off the field in the defeat to Waterford last Sunday week.
“I suppose we’re trying to be as aware of it as we can,” said Kiely. “I thought Matt’s was a tough one for him. But listen, it’s there at the moment.
“It’s pretty much one (black card/penalty) on average in every game at the minute. I’d like to see the clip back from Diarmaid’s even today now just to see what does that look like.
“But at the end of the day, I suppose we just have to be aware of it and be ultra-disciplined in those moments to try and get the best quality tackle we can in. And not to put ourselves in that situation.
“The rule is there. We have to live around the rule. And it is a difficult one for the referees to administer. There’s no doubt about that.
“I wouldn’t like to be in their shoes trying to administer it. Because there’s too much to take in all in one second. Because your eyes are on the ball carrier.
“And then you have all these other players in the picture as well. So, it’s hard to assess. And the speed they’re travelling is like eight, nine, 10 metres per second.”
Kiely was pleased to see his team bounce back from the Waterford reverse. “Last week, we were very disappointed with our performance. It was poor. Lacked an awful lot of what we would expect of ourselves.
“And we worked hard Tuesday and Friday for a reaction from the guys. And in fairness, the lads, they worked really hard. They led it themselves, really.
“And ultimately then that response has to be really a measure of what it looks like today. And I have to be very happy with a lot of what was out there. The intensity was reasonably good. There were occasions when it dropped off, but overall it was good.
“But I think we got our passing game going. We supported each other much better. And our shooting efficiency was quite good.”
