This year's All-Ireland hurling final between Clare and Cork was an all-time classic, with the two teams serving up an incredible GAA contest at Croke Park.
The game went right down to the wire, with extra-time required to separate the sides. Even then, it would come down to the final play of the match. Cork's Robbie Flynn would have a chance to level the game right at the end, only for his effort to go wide.
Of course, it soon became clear that he was fouled in the buildup to that shot and should have been awarded a free that would have levelled matters.
Clare win their fifth All-Ireland hurling title with an epic 3-29 to 1-34 extra-time victory over Cork
One of the greatest games of all-time
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It certainly looked like a mistake from the GAA officials.
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Cork were magnanimous in defeat after this game, although they may well have felt that they should have had a replay on the back of this missed decision.
You can perhaps understand why the referee missed the infringement at the time, but it is unfortunate that everyone watching at home immediately knew that a free should have been awarded.
Speaking on The Square Ball podcast, Cork star Patrick Horgan said that this incident was an example of why video reviews should be incorporated into the GAA.
If one decision has to be given then they all have to be given but something that’s going to decide the year (should be reviewed).
The year’s over, there’s no more hurling after that...
I’m not going to blame anyone. We lost the game and Clare obviously deserved to win but the last one you kind of look at it and say, ‘Well, he (O’Flynn) did get pulled.’ We would say he got pulled...
I just asked him, ‘Did you not see that?’ and he just didn’t and he didn’t, he obviously didn’t.
It’s an easy one to give but he didn’t see it and sometimes that’s the way it kind of goes sometimes and there’s a lot of other decisions in the game but that one alone kind of finishes the game.
Incorporating some sort of video review system in the GAA is something that has been suggested on numerous occasions in recent years, although it remains to be seen how such a system would work.
We have seen it be effective in other sports, although it has also severely limited the flow of games at times.
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