Disgrace
 By
Graham Clifford
The GAA’s hopes of turning the International Rules into a meaningful
sporting code lie shattered and broken with the bones of some of Ireland’s
top footballers following a horrific Second Test at Croke Park.
Instead of basking in the glow of two sell-out games the GAA are facing
calls to abandon the International Rules concept in light of some of the
most violent scenes ever witnessed on an Irish sportsfield.
Before the whistle had officially been blown varied fisticuffs erupted
on the field. By the time Australia scored their goal in the third minute
the brawling had turned into brutality and Graham Geraghty was lying unconscious
on the Croke Park turf he had graced so many times with distinction.
Such was Ireland manager Sean Boylan’s disgust at the level of violence
meted out to his team in the first quarter that the former Meath boss,
who has always ensured his teams were combative, threatened to withdraw
Ireland from the match.
Only the insistence of the players that they wanted to play on ensured
the match continued until the end. The Australians seemed to have picked
out their targets in the first quarter as the match became a little more
presentable during the rest of a game played in the shadow of the violence
which seemed capable of erupting at any moment.
GAA President Nicky Brennan said before the series got under way that
any repeat of the violence which has marred this competition in recent
years could see the International Rules abandoned.
A relatively trouble-free first Test played in front of a capacity crowd
in Galway seemed to bode well for Sunday’s showdown but the sound
of the National Anthems in Croke Park had hardly dimmed before the calls
for the series to end after this year were reverberating throughout the
GAA community.
The details of the actual match pale into quick insignificance for the
Australians were comfortable winners of both the match and the series
— their 61-39 victory on Sunday easily eclipsing Ireland’s
eight-point victory of the previous week. Ireland didn’t play well
enough to win, seeming to possess much less technique on the ball than
the Aussies.
The Australian team and mentors were engulfed with joy as soon as the
final whistle blew but it looks increasingly likely this week that the
International Rules matches will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
In the wake of the disgraceful scenes at Croke Park GAA President Nicky
Brennan issued an apology to all those who attended Sunday’s match.
Over 80,000 people including 20,000 children paid to watch the game which
Brennan described as “a major embarrassment to the organisation”.
“I’m 27 years as a manager I have never seen anything like
that and it’s not acceptable in sport or on the street.”
Sean Boylan (Irish Manager)
“If you want to box we’ll put on our gloves or we’ll
go bare knuckle. Or we play football.”
Kieran McGeeney (Ireland Captain)
“I strongly condemn this violence. The series now is hanging by
the thinnest of threads.”
Nicky Brennan (GAA President)
|
