Unravelling the Result of the 16th Man for Kilmacud Crokes

It shouldn’t have happened but it did. It might not have impacted the result but it could have.

In fan engagement, it is often spoken of the impact of the 16th man in a big game. Normally that is the crowd, on Sunday it was the actual presence of a 16th man at a key moment of the game.

Now we have to wait to see if the result of Sunday’s AIB GAA All Ireland Football Championship final will be allowed to stand or whether Kilmacud Crokes will pay a penalty for having too many players on the field as the game reached its tense conclusion.

The GAA Rule 6.44 is clear that Kilmacud Crokes were at fault for making two substitutions but failing to ensure that the players being replaced had left the field.

Paul Mannion was out towards the side of the pitch and not in any position to alter the games final moment but Dara Mullin, who was named the AIB Player of the Match and who had collected a similar dangerous ball into the box at the end of the semi-final against Kerrins O’Rahilly’s was in the thick of it, alongside 15 of his teammates.

The fourth official and the referee should have held the play until the players were off the pitch but in the heat of the moment what should happen does not always.

The second best alternative should have been to recognise the mistake was made and replay the final play of the game and 45 and subsequent shot on goal. There is precedent for this having happened in the All Ireland Senior Championship Final between Dublin and Mayo in 2021.

With neither of those having happened, it now goes to the committee rooms. The penalty can be one of three, forfeiture of the game by the side at fault, a replay of the match, or a fine.

Forfeiture would be too harsh in the circumstances and a fine would be meaningless so the question now is of a replay.

A kink in the system is that for such a breach there has to be a proven objection. Watty Grahams Glen are in a difficult position. the GAA is an amateur organisation and they are probably feeling that it goes against the ethos to cry foul after the event.

They have until today to decide on an objection and the world of Gaelic games is waiting.

If you have never coached on the sideline of a tense final you will not be able to understand how this came about.

It is interesting to explore the motivations of the Kilmacud Crokes bench in making the substitutions when the game was in the final seconds.

First, it has to be said there is no likelihood they intended to pack the goal with more players than were permitted. To suggest that would be pure nonsense.

There is the possibility that Robbie Brennan wanted to reward squad players by letting them play a part in the biggest games of their lives. That would be likely if the result was done and dusted, less so in these circumstances.

In American Football there is a phrase to ‘ice’ the opposition. Coaches can call a time-out to disrupt a key moment in the opposition playbook and play with their heads.

The substitutions should have meant the Glen players standing over the ball and waiting for a moment longer than adrenaline would otherwise have forced. It is the one percent difference that could have made all the difference. An instinctive rather than a deliberate tactic but one which certainly could have made a difference.

If Kilmacud had not lost the 2022 Final to a goal in the last play of the game this would not have the same sharp resonance but these things can happen and did happen.

Nobody wants to win an All Ireland title in the committee room and that sense of the result on the day will be the anchor weighing down the Derry club’s appetite to object.

There should be an alternative that the Ulster GAA Council could object on their behalf and allow the process to play out.

If having listened to all parties, including the management of both clubs and the officials, it is deemed that a replay is the fairest way then that’s what should happen. It’s another huge ask of amateur players who have already put their lives on hold but nobody likes an asterisk against their achievement and there is likely to be an acceptance from both sides.