Kilkenny are through to the All-Ireland final, and you can't say they don't deserve it. They outclassed Limerick, coming out of the traps with incredible intensity in the opening period. When Limerick came back at them late on, they held out.
But the result could have been different. Darragh O'Donovan had a late opportunity to level the game from a sideline cut, and it seemed a poor effort. Limerick would appeal for a 65, claiming the ball had touched a Kilkenny player before going over the end line.
It wasn't given, but after reviewing the footage it seems clear that a 65 should have been awarded.
Speaking after the game, the panel on RTÉ were perplexed how the linesman, who was standing only a few metres away, could have missed it.
Were Limerick denied a late equalising chance? Cillian Buckley got a touch to Darragh O'Donovan's last minute sideline cut pic.twitter.com/Ce2WAQxAoj
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 27, 2019
Donal Óg Cusack: You'd have to seriously question what's the umpire doing, what's the linesman doing, and what's the referee doing?
Kilkenny were deserving victors, but lets call a spade a spade there, that should have been a 65...
This highlights serious question marks over the officials. Players do not deserve this, the game does not deserve this.
We should be talking about a fantastic Kilkenny performance and all the fantastic skill we seen out there. Again, you had referees, you had linesmen, you had umpires, and you probably had technology up there that if you took a minute to go back they could have easily clarified the situation.
Limerick will certainly feel very hard done by, and you would have fancied them to level the game from the resulting 65. They may not have deserved to get a draw, but they probably should have.
It seems strange that the linesmen could have missed the touch from such a close distance. There was a clear change in the trajectory of the ball and it was not spotted by any of the officials.
We expect to hear more about this one in the coming days.
