GAA club sees red over ref ’s nom-de-fume
IT’S AN occupational hazard for GAA club-match referees. You’re booking a player who’s not known to you and he comes up with a name with which you’re not familiar. Is he attempting to pull a fast one?
This could have been on Chris Dwyer’s mind when he wanted to caution a Two Mile House, Co. Kildare, goalkeeper in a Leinster club championship clash with Westmeath side Shandonagh.
The goalie offered him Didier Cordonnier when he asked his name for yellow-carding. As it happens, his dad is from France... not exactly, in the words of Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh, a GAA stronghold.
Didier (yes, that is his real name) was in no rush with his kick-outs: his side were losing a lead, fast, and the opposition had kindly provided a bevy of balls for him at the back of his goal, so he’d have no excuse for delaying restarts. Young Cordonnier kicked one of these away from the goal and was cautioned for time-wasting.
Club chairman Des Healy said: ‘The ref asked him his name and he said Didier Cordonnier, at which point the official suggested he was taking the mickey. Didier told him he wasn’t and asked him to check the programme.
‘The ref asked him to spell it, which he did, and he was again told he was taking the mickey. The referee then apparently sent him off on a second yellow card for dissent. The management were absolutely shocked. He’s a young lad who has never been in bother before and all he did was tell the ref his name.
‘Surely the correct course of action was write down the name, as the player spelled it, and if there was a problem later then all the ref had to do was confirm this was the name the player gave on the day.
‘The club will now have to appeal the second yellow as although he doesn’t get a ban, if Didier was unlucky enough to get sent off in another match this one could count against him.’
However, referee Dwyer dismissed the claims and told us: ‘He was not issued a second yellow card for the reasons you suggest.’
A Leinster council spokesperson said a disciplinary hearing will be ‘convened in due course.’
It’s not the first time such an incident has happened to the Two Mile House team. A few years ago an under-age side had a player sent off in similar circumstances. His name? Bond... James Bond.
There was a similar case before with James Bond