Perspective needed on match result

A little bit of perspective needs to be brought to the furore surrounding Sunday's Leinster Final result. At around the time people in Meath and Louth were starting to huddle around their television sets to watch the 'Sunday Game' highlights and analysis on Sunday night, eight lives were being snuffed out in the worst single road crash ever to occur in this country. There's nothing like a dose of the harsh realities of life to make people realise there are more important things in this world than the result of a football match. While the north-east has been convulsed this week by the aftermath of the Meath v Louth game almost being treated like a life and death issue, the horrific events on the Inishowen Peninsula in Co Donegal must serve as a reminder that what happened on Sunday afternoon was, after all, a football game, albeit an important one, particularly for Louth who were looking for their first provincial title in 50 years, but also for Meath who were going in search of the Delaney Cup for the first time since 2001. And while Louth fans can claim to be justifiably angry over the result of the game, and regardless of what happens in relation to appeals for a replay, life will inevitably move on and, in time, the controversial events of Sunday will be nothing but a distant, if sour-tasting memory. Mention of the Thierry Henry handball incident in the World Cup qualifying game late last year is now usually met with a shrug of the shoulders, an acceptance that sometimes sport is not fair and everybody moves on. France's ignominious exit from the World Cup in South Africa was enough to satisfy most Irish people's lingering resentment over that particular injustice. In an imperfect world, results sometimes do not happen the way they should, no matter how unjust they appear. Sometimes, you just have to roll with the punches and chalk it down to life's experiences. Yes, the Joe Sheridan 'goal' was illegal, it should not have been awarded by the referee and the ref, Martin Sludden, has already admitted he made a mistake in giving it. Louth were undoubtedly the better team in the second half and their supporters have reason to be aggrieved, sickened and hurt. However, the error that was made does not extend to the right to attack the referee, assault a Meath player and rain bottles and other missiles down from the stands onto the pitch after the final whistle. A minority of Louth's supporters tarnished all the good and decent folk from the Wee County who turned up in huge numbers at Croke Park on Sunday, bringing a great sense of occasion, colour and vibrancy to what should have been a great GAA occasion. Instead, both counties have been left with something of a hollow feeling after what had been an exciting and tense encounter. There was a great deal of sympathy for Louth immediately after the game with many Meath fans voicing the opinion that a replay might be a fair way to resolve the situation. However, that generosity has dissipated somewhat over the following couple of days as stories emerged not only of the disgraceful scenes which occurred on the Croke Park pitch following the final whistle in which the referee was set up several times by irate Louth fans, Meath player Mark Ward was assaulted and a steward was struck on the head by a plastic bottle flung from the stands, but also the verbal abuse some Meath fans had to endure in the immediate aftermath of the game and the unsportsmanlike conduct of booing and jeering from Wee County supporters every time Meath were awarded a free kick. Attitudes in Meath concerning the offer of a replay were hardening yesterday (Tuesday) and though we closed for press before last night's Meath County Board meeting where a replay decision was expected, it was becoming clear that there would be no such offer. Meath officials and players should not have been put in a posiition in the first place that they had to make such a decision. The GAA authorities, such as the Leinster Council, is the body which should be charged with making such calls and perhaps, in the aftermath of this debacle, the GAA's rulebook will be revised to allow it to give binding rulings on controversial decisions and mistakes made by referees which affect the outcomes of games.