Paul Grimley pulled no punches in his anger at the introduction of the black card rule yesterday. When speaking to RTÉ after Armagh's win over QUB, Grimley said
'I think it absolutely makes a cod of our game. As I said, people are on about cynical play. For the five or six instances there was, did it require a rule change? The answer is no in my mind anyway.'
The Orchard County's Robbie Tasker was the only player to receive a black card during the match; one of 19 handed out over the 20 games played across the weekend.
Grimley told RTÉ that fans will become disillusioned and frustrated at the rule, and added 'If you look at the highlights of last year, there was maybe four or five challenges that were regarded as outright cynical. If that is why the rule was changed I think it is a fairly poor judgement on everybody’s behalf.'
Whether the black card is the solution or not, I'd say if you look at the injury time period in the All Ireland final you would have seen four or five cynical tackles, never mind the entirety of the football championship.
Elsewhere Eamon Fitmaurice was giving out about it too, saying:
'Look, we are all going to have to be patient. I was annoyed enough with the black card, because Stephen O'Brien was going well, and we were anxious to see him over 70 minutes. The referee said it was a deliberate body check, but it looked to me as if the ball was in the area and he made contact with his opponent slightly late but it was a genuine enough effort at a tackle.'
Dublin manager Jim Gavin on the other hand, was very much in favour of its introduction:
'The Dublin County Board were supportive of the black card and Dublin football team management support the black card, and I think it's good for the game.'
hat-tip: rte.ie
