Article from the Irish Times today about the square ball ruling by Jack O’Connor. I’ve made a couple of observations at the bottom:
Time to play game fair and square
Jack O’Connor’s column: Jack O’Connor says a ruling is needed on what is fast becoming the talking topic of the summer - entering the square
Legend has it that the legendary Kerry full back Joe Keohane used to come out at the start of a game and draw a line in the sod with his boot. Joe would then point to the line and kindly explain to the opposition full forward that were he to come across that line Joe would have to kill him!
The patch of ground that Joe was talking about was roughly the size of the small square. All these decades later that small patch of ground is giving rise to more dispute than it ever caused between Joe and a full forward.
Three crucial decisions on square ball issues have had a huge bearing on this year’s championship already. Donegal’s last-gasp winning goal against Armagh saw Kevin Cassidy contest the ball on the goal line with Paul Hearty. Padraig Berry’s “disallowed goal” came at a crucial juncture in Longford’s clash with Laois and had a huge bearing on the outcome. Alan Brogan’s goal for Dublin before half-time in their game with Meath looked way more “offside” than Berry’s effort, yet it was allowed.
There is a serious case to be made for concluding that all three decisions were wrong. In this day and age that just isn’t good enough. Each square ball decision had a huge bearing on the result. It has since emerged that even individual referees have different interpretations of what is a square ball and what isn’t a square ball. John Bannon has said that once a forward isn’t in the small square when the ball is kicked he gives him the benefit of the doubt.
You don’t have to look far to see that this view isn’t held by all referees. The Longford forward definitely was not in the square when the ball was kicked and he appeared to time his entry perfectly. The height and trajectory of the kick facilitated this - yet the goal was disallowed.
On the other hand Alan Brogan’s goal was definitely illegal. Conal Keaney’s delivery was at much lower trajectory and the ball was travelling much faster. Alan Brogan is quick, but he would have needed to be jet propelled to get in there after the ball had entered the small square.
This is a total grey area and it leaves far too much to the referee’s discretion. Referees, being human, have to make a split-second decision and they usually side either with the home team or the team that are expected to win.
I have more reason than most to have a hard and fast opinion on the square ball rule. I was on the receiving end of a couple of dubious decisions in Hogan Cup semi-finals with my school, Coliste na Sceilge. That was five or six years ago and it still hurts.
We have long memories in Kerry. Denis O’Dwyer punched a goal in the 1998 All-Ireland semi-final against Kildare that was subsequently disallowed for square ball. Video replays showed it to have been a perfectly good goal and the decision cost Kerry not just the game, but possibly an elusive two in a row.
Ironically, the reason that the square ball business is such a live issue this summer is that teams are kicking the ball a lot more in this year’s championship than in recent years. People always think that the side who win the All-Ireland have some sort of magic formula.
Kerry won last year with the modh dreach and a big target man. The theory is that the quicker the ball is put into the scoring zone the better the chance you have of scoring. We scored 11 goals in three matches when Kieran Donaghy went inside. We had scored no goals in four games before that.
Kieran’s brief was to stay as close to the “offside” line as possible. The closer he stayed in there the more space he gave himself to come and attack the ball. So he pulled back to the far post, the edge of the square and waited for the diagonal ball to come and he could attack the ball across the goalmouth in front of the square.
He did the job perfectly, but I bet Kieran never thought when we asked him to go in and stand at full forward that he would have such an influence, not just on last year’s championship, but on the style of play in this year’s competition also.
In the future, though, things have to change. Teams invest too much effort and money in preparation for big games and it is unfair to have this time bomb ticking away under them as a game unfolds. Goals have a critical bearing on big games and a decision on the square ball can be the difference between glory and despair.
Imagine the ruaille buaille if this happens in an All-Ireland final and decides a close game. All hell will break lose. At least the teams on the receiving end so far have all had a second chance. If it happens in September a year will seem a long time for the victims to wait for retribution.
The bottom line is that for most of the time it is impossible for a referee to judge rightly or wrongly whether a man is in the square before the ball enters the airspace above the white line which marks that square. So why not adopt the Joe Keohane method and take everyone out of their misery. No forward allowed inside the square, Good bad or indifferent. This would clear the matter up for once and for all.
Time to draw the line.
- It seems crazy that Bannon has that interpretation of the rule. No wonder there’s inconsistency if one of the referees is blatantly misapplying the rule as it stands.
- That said I do think it’s a very hard rule to police - it’s impossible to see the ball and the player at the same time and it’s impossible to tell when the ball crosses the “plane” of the square.
- Not allowing any forward in the square isn’t a good solution though. What if his momentum carries him through? What if the ball bounces off the post and lies there near the goal-line with the keeper on the ground and the forward can’t go in after it? It reminds me of playing table football/fussball when the ball goes into the corner that nobody can reach and somoeone needs to nudge it back with their hand.
- I’d favour a rule where only one man forward can be in the square at any time. You have to allow competition with the goalkeeper for hanging balls but if you’ve no rule at all then the attacking team could load the square with 3 or 4 guys in the last minute of the game and you could have guys lifting eachother or whatever. 1 man in the square allows competition but it means it’s not just a free-for-all (a gushie if you will, for those from Dublin who understand such terms).
- Completely forgot Kildare got to an All Ireland final in the 90s.