The hurling championship started with a bang over the weekend, and while there were some hugely intriguing clashes around the country, none proved to be more controversial than the meeting of Wexford and Galway.
The two sides would ultimately share the spoil in Wexford Park, with two late points from Lee Chin ensuring they would finish level on 1-19 apiece.
However, that ending was not without controversy.
Galway were two points up with 75 minutes played, with Conor Cooney standing over a free that could have extended that advantage further. He was not allowed to take it, with referee Thomas Walsh opting to throw the ball up after he felt the Galway man was time wasting by standing over the free for too long.
It seemed a very harsh decision at the time and would prove to be a costly one. Wexford would score directly from that resulting throw ball, with Chin going on to earn the draw a few moments later.
Henry Shefflin rightly felt aggrieved by the decision, something Liam Sheedy completely understands.
Speaking on The Sunday Game, the former Tipperary manager said he felt that the referee has gotten this one wrong, going on to show how Wexford were not punished for a similar incident a few moments later.
'I think it was crowd influenced and Thomas Walsh got it wrong'
Liam Sheedy has his say on a late free taken away from Galway in their Leinster SHC clash with Wexford #RTEGAA pic.twitter.com/ZvLHSXvszs— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) April 17, 2022
It was a big talking point, what Thomas Walsh did was very, very unusual to see. I think everyone agrees that Galway should have been out of sight and won the game, they left Wexford in it.
You see here when he places the ball, we started the clock. Generally, when people start to mess with this what you see is an add on of time at the end.
You can see the Wexford crowd are roaring 'how long', it is building. After 11.5 seconds, Thomas Walsh says 'hold on a second, I'm throwing the ball in'. Obviously Lee Chin won the break and went and got the point.
Lee Does a similar action when he leaves his ball down. Obviously this is a big free for Lee Chin, so he's going to take his time. This is the difference between sitting on no point and sitting on one point. He takes his time, we all know the outcome here and he bangs it over the bar.
You can see here, we're at 17.6 seconds when the ball goes away.
If I was standing in Henry Shefflin's shoes last night, I would be cross standing there. It's not something we generally see, it was a big moment in the match and I think it was crowd influenced.
I think Thomas Walsh got it wrong. Having said that, Wexford took full advantage of it and will be delighted to squeeze the point that they have got.
Galway will certainly feel hard done by here, although they still have plenty of time to bounce back in this year's championship.
They will face Westmeath on Saturday, while Wexford will host Dublin.
SEE ALSO: Davy Fitz Thinks Wexford/Galway Didn't Touch Munster Hurling Championship
