McShea's Say: What an amazing Sunday afternoon at Croke Park

I have some wonderful memories of Croke Park - 1992 and 2012 were very special for obvious reasons with Donegal bringing home Sam, while Ireland's Six Nations clash against England in 2007 was also a great occasion.

On Sunday, for the Armagh against Galway game, the atmosphere was incredible. Since the early 1990s the pace of change in the GAA has been amazing. Nothing has epitomised that change more than the decision to replace the old Croke Park with one of the most modern stadiums in the world. 

The sheer magnitude of that task for an amateur sporting organisation and the incredible efficiency regarding financing and expediting the project showed the GAA in a whole new light to that section of Irish society that had regarded it as backward, insular, and rural based. 

Media coverage of Gaelic games has also quadrupled, with the arrival of local radio stations all over the country being a major contributor. The Galway against Armagh game was wonderful entertainment, and I hope it  will not just be remembered for the two or three minutes of madness or simply “the row”. 

When two opposing players got involved in a pushing and shoving match as they approached the tunnel, mayhem followed. Players, substitutes and some officials joined in. Others were trying to break it up. It was sheer madness and something no one likes to see happening but once it was settled the game went on from there, with quite an amount of good football played. 

There will be serious repercussions of course .Sean Kelly, the Galway full-back, and Aidan Nugent, the Armagh corner-forward, were sent off andthe upcoming investigation will no doubt see more players in trouble. 

Kelly and Nugent were not serious aggressors but I would make sure that the Armagh person who was clearly identified attempting to gouge Galway’s Damien Comer would get at least a five-year suspension. This is adequate time to learn how to behave as his dreadful attempt to damage the Comer’s vision has no place on a sporting pitch of any kind.

Off the Post: For the record, Edward Molloy’s your man

In his weekly Donegal Post column, Gerry McLaughlin pays tribute to one of Donegal's most popular GAA figures, Edward Molloy

The national media and some local radio stations went to town on Monday on this incident, with much talk about GAA violence. 

Of course, it should not have happened, but it should not dominate the historic occasion. It was an incredible game of football. Punch-ups and melees have happened in the past in Gaelic football but not with the frequency that many seemed to suggest. 

Only last Sunday a brawl broke out at Headingley at a cricket match when police had to remove fans because of anti-social behaviour but there are those who seem to suggest that the GAA is prepared to tolerate negative behaviour from its players .

Their code of conduct is centred around respect both on and off the pitch .There were 70,000 spectators at Sunday's double-header and the followers from all four counties were a credit to their teams and their counties. To those who this week have labelled the GAA  a disgrace, they are widely off the mark.

The GAA is well used to criticism from many quarters and this is to be expected from any organisation of its stature and size. The criticism  that matters in the GAA is the criticism that comes from within. Mostly it is sensible enough to ignore the shouts of the crowd. There is a strong case to be made for teams to use dressing rooms on opposite sides of the pitch because tensions are high in most games and this simple solution would  make sure that no contact could or would take place at the half-time break, avoiding a repeat of last Sunday, when the row broke out before extra-time.

The game itself was wonderfully entertaining and Galway were the better team but a penalty shoot-out to conclude is not acceptable and needs to be dispensed with after this year’s championship. 

Rian O’Neill’s free to bring the game into extra-time was as good a score as I have ever witnessed in Croker and I just cannot understand why a player who is such a wonderful striker of a ball was not told to take Armagh’s first penalty.

A shoot-out is about having money in the bank early and not putting pressure on the players coming behind. Galway did not make the same mistake by putting Shane Walsh up first, followed by Comer. While the investigation will be detailed I hope that Galway are not on the receiving end of many suspensions as Galway teams have an excellent tradition of sportsmanship and none of their players would have headed to Croke Park with aggravation on their agenda. Apart from the person involved in the gouging incident, Armagh too would be regarded as a competitive but a sporting panel of players.    

RIP Fr Brian Quinn                                                                                                                                      

It was with much regret that I learned of the death of Fr Brian on Sunday. I last saw him in Clones for a Donegal match a few short weeks ago and even though he was not in great form that day, nothing was going to stop him from supporting his beloved Donegal.

The warmth of meeting him had a profound effect on those who were lucky enough to share his company and his compassionate and caring nature for others was a quality that endeared him to everyone in his community as Parish Priest at the Church of the Irish Martyrs in Letterkenny for the last 28 years. Our sympathy is extended to Fr. Brian’s family.