BIN THE SIN BIN
TIPPERARY v LIMERICK PAIRC UI CHAOIMH, SUNDAY, 4.15PM Sheedy: Penalty award is enough punishment without teams having to go down to 14 men as well for 10 minutes
LIAM Sheedy believes the sin bin should be dumped as an unnecessary “double-whammy” punishment – despite his Tipp side cashing in last week.
The Premier men capitalised on the controversial decision by ref James Owens to award a penalty – and leave Clare down to 14 men for 10 minutes when Aidan Mccarthy was sin-binned in the Munster SHC semi-final.
Tipp pounced to score 2-4 to put the game beyond the Banner’s reach before Mccarthy’s return.
Ahead of Sunday’s provincial decider against Limerick at Pairc Ui Chaoimh, Sheedy believes the reward for his side was too great – regardless of the controversy over where the foul on Jake Morris was committed.
“I wouldn’t have the sin bin,” declared Sheedy. “I think a penalty is the reward, especially if it’s a foul.
“I see some guy on social media was saying he was closer to the Ennis Road than he was to the goal the last day – in that instance it’s very harsh for somebody to be sent off.
“The penalty is a harsh enough call – and it is a reward for the team that is attacking.
“The one thing we found in Hurling 2020 is that the game is best played when it’s 15 on 15, so we should be trying to facilitate that without having dirty or cynical play.
“If you get a penalty for somebody that is fouled inside the 21 or out near the sideline, that’s a nice reward But (at the moment) it’s a bit of a double whammy.”
Tipp will face defending champions Limerick in Sunday’s provincial decider at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
Sheedy accepts that his side’s victory in the semi-final was overshadowed by Owen’s 39th minute decision, but he is strong in his defence of the official in the circumstances.
And he’s pleased with how his players made hay as Clare struggled to re-organise when a man down.
“Look, it’s a really, really difficult job, you get that split second so it’s very easy afterwards to sit down and replay it 10, 15 times,” he said.
“I’ve said it to my lads, once it’s inside that 21 it’s open to interpretation and it’s a high risk area, so you’re trying to avoid any minimal contact because it is a risk.
“But it was a break that we got and the most pleasing aspect is that we took full advantage of the break.
“There were a lot of teams that maybe didn’t get it right with that extra man, so I was certainly very pleased with how we used the extra man and the impact we had over that time.
“We scored three goals and one of them might have been a little bit fortuitous, but we could have had two or three more as well.
“So we do see ourselves as being a goalscoring threat in this competition. That’s a big part of our play – and luckily during that 10-minute period we managed to get two of them.”
Tipp turned it around from going six points behind in the first half, a deficit they can’t afford to repeat against Limerick, to cruising into a nine-point lead with 10 minutes remaining.
Disappointed that Clare weren’t put away from there, Sheedy insists there’s “loads of areas” to work on.
“But it gets us into a Munster final and these are the days you want to be involved in,” he added.