Waterford and Tipperary played out an absorbing Munster Senior Hurling Championship draw on Saturday, but there was a moment of controversy which has prompted plenty of post-match debate.
The sides could not be separated come the final whistle with the game finishing 3-21 to 1-27 after Tipp mounted a late comeback at Walsh Park.
However, Waterford's opening goal - which came from an early Stephen Bennett penalty - proved controversial with referee James Owens appearing to inadvertently distract Tipp goalkeeper Barry Hogan.
GOAL! Stephen Bennett from the spot for @WaterfordGAA pic.twitter.com/XYlOLHsAWX
— The GAA (@officialgaa) May 4, 2024
As Bennett began to lift the puck and take his penalty, Owens sprinted across the goal mouth in an attempt to get out of the way of the shot.
Bennett buried the penalty in the bottom left corner, but you'd have to imagine the moving ref was some sort of a distraction for Hogan, who gestured in the direction of Owens immediately after the goal was scored.
Donal Og Cusack claims ref James Owens should have admitted mistake
Former Cork goalkeeper Donal Og Cusack has weighed in on the debate and believes the referee should have taken action after his apparent error.
Speaking on RTE's The Sunday Game, the pundit argued that Owens was wrong not to admit his error and have the penalty retaken.
"There was one bizarre incident at the start of the Waterford game with (referee) James Owens - and we gave him praise for giving a good advantage.
"There used to be a game before called 'spot the ball' and I think if you were going to say 'spot the referee' nobody would pick him (to be where he was).
"It was a mistake. You could see Barry Hogan rightly questioning, 'James, what were you doing going across me?'. It is the kind of thing goalkeepers do in practice.
"He should have just admitted to making a mistake and taken it again. Everybody makes mistakes."
'You'd want to be a very brave person to be a hurling referee.. but they need their umpires and linesmen on the ball' - the panel assess some of the refereeing incidents on Saturday
📺 Watch The Sunday Game on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player#TheSundayGame #GAA pic.twitter.com/Q3LMD0XOHD— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) May 5, 2024
Cusack did offer his sympathy for hurling referees, acknowledging the difficulty of the job in the modern game while calling on their assistants to offer more help.
"You would want to be a very brave person to be a hurling referee,' he said.
"But because of the challenges they have - there is so much going on - they need umpires to be on the ball; which they are not in general.
"And also their linesmen helping them, which they are not doing very often."
