Pádaic Joyce sad he "couldn't get over" how Kerry were given a "crucial" late free in their All-Ireland football final victory over Galway on Sunday.
Galway had just wiped out a two-point Kerry lead to level the scoreboard at 16 points each when referee Sean Hurson awarded the Kingdom a contentious free in the 66th minute for John Daly holding the arm of Killian Spillane. David Clifford kicked the free to put Kerry a point up. They never looked back as they went on to win 0-20 to 0-16.
"Those frees are like tap-overs for the likes of Clifford. It was a two-point swing for us, we had the momentum at that stage," said Galway manager Joyce in his post-match press conference.
"My view of it was that Kerry were attacking, Damien Comer won the ball back, went down to gather the ball and he was pushed on the ground - in the back. To me, that was a free out. So, that was the first one missed.
"It came back to John Daly. He tried to go around his man, Killian Spillane tried to tackle him, his hand went up. The reason John put his hand up was to stop the Kerry fella's hand going around his neck, which is what happened. That was my view from the sideline."
24 July 2022; Killian Spillane of Kerry celebrates winning a turnover late in the GAA Football All-Ireland Senior Championship Final match between Kerry and Galway at Croke Park in Dublin. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
On The Sunday Game, Oisín McConville said he thought the decision was "harsh".
"Galway were really starting to fight for everything," said the Armagh man.
"This is a turnover, they feel as if they've won the ball, and are coming out the field.
"I thought it was quite a harsh free. Daly does wrap his hand around Spillane. It's very fleeting, he does it very quickly. Killian Spillane has left his hand in there. I thought it was a very quick decision. It still had to be kicked over the bar, and David Clifford is going to kick that over the bar all day."
Derry manager Rory Gallagher agreed with McConville.
"I thought the first one, Killian Spillane is not allowed to leave his hand in, but it's a split second decision," said Gallagher.
"It was a small bit harsh, albeit it at a very crucial time."
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