Phew!!!

What an incredible weekend of action from the drama of Croke Park and the debacle of Meath-Louth to  Clare celebrating their first minor title since 1989.

The Gaa this weekend showed all that was good and bad about its structure and playing ethos by highlighting the sacrifice and joy and drama that it can generate but also how issues such as refereeing and disipline and safety are somewhat neglected.

Firstly to the scenes in Croke Park and how the referee was left down by his umpires.

Simply put the men in the "white Coats " are probably one of the gaa's enduring mysteries....who are they....how do they get selected for these big games and what is their knowledge of the rules of the game?

Clearly not a lot is the answer to the thrid question if Sunday is to go by.

How a man could miss a ball being thrown to the net from 3 feet away is beyond me but unfortunatly sport is like that and Louth must face the horrible fact that they literally kicked the game away with some awful wides,especially from their midfielder and free taker.

They aren't going to get a replay and that is unfortunate but if anything comes from this it should be the fact that fans cannot be alowed interfere with a referee in any instance,whether be a bad decision in the first or last minute.

The gaa should also ensure that at inter county level all officals on the field be qualifed referees to make sure that when a ref does consult with his white coated umpire or linesman  they are on the same level of understanding.

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While the drama was unfolding in Croke Park Clare were celebrating just their third ever Munster minor title.

The character shown by this group of players has been an inspiration and in a weekend when their senior counterparts showed a lack of leadership the 17 and 18 year olds drawn from all across the county gave an exhibition of all that was good for Clare hurling.

Davy O Halloran will rightly be celebrated as a hero for his goal but there can be little doubt that the men and women who have nurtured this group of players upto this point also cannot be forgotten.

Crucially however Clare have been in this position before and back slapping cannot be allowed to deter from that fact that the 1997 All Ireland win brought no success at senior level and that one win cannot be taken for granted.

Clearly this Clare team are special but keeping them focused and level headed will be tougher than any challenge the management will face on the field in the coming months.

Well done for now but the hard work begins here!

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